A New Day for Homebuyers' Tax Credit

It's official! President Obama today signed legislation H.R. 3548, which includes a provision to extend and expand the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit, with a new $6500 Credit for current homeowners wishing to move up. The New Jersey Association of REALTORS® (NJAR®) anticipates that the newly signed legislation will help maintain the recent momentum seen in the New Jersey real estate market and spur the state's economy as a whole.

"It's a brand new day for those first-time home buyers who were rushing through their transaction in anticipation of the original November 30th deadline because they now have more time to complete the process," said NJAR® Executive Vice President Jarrod C. Grasso, RCE. "The extension to April 30th of next year is key because these new buyers now have the opportunity to analyze every aspect of their purchase carefully and still close in time to obtain the $8,000 credit."

The legislation will extend the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit past its original November 30 deadline, and it will now be available through April 30, 2010. Additionally, existing homeowners who have lived in their homes for at least five consecutive years out of the last eight will be eligible for a credit that can total $6,500. In both cases, a written, binding contract to purchase must be in effect by April 30, 2010, and the purchaser needs to close by July 1, 2010.

On the "trading up" side, Goldman Sachs estimates as many as 70 percent of owners will be eligible.

"The credit has been shown to be a powerful incentive that significantly spurred the real estate market here in New Jersey," said Diane Dilzell, president of NJAR®. "Expansion of the tax credit to current homeowners is bound to aid in continuing to elevate the housing market and the economy further as it offers a bonus to those buyers. In addition to experiencing low prices and low interest rates, current homeowners are now faced with a prime opportunity to trade up to the home of their dreams."

The new law raises the limits for first-time buyers. The new limits for obtaining the full credit are $125,000 for a single person and $225,000 for a married couple. Individuals earning up to $145,000 and married couples earning up to $245,000 are eligible for partial credit.

According to data from the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (NAR), in New Jersey, the home buyer tax credit has brought in an additional 6,500 buyers into the market in 2009 compared to 2008. NJAR® is hopeful that the credit extension and expansion can lead to continued growth in 2010.

More than 1.4 million people nationally have claimed the original tax credit, based on figures provided by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). About 350,000 of those would not have made their purchase without the tax credit, according to estimates from NAR.

A New Day for Homebuyers

It's official! President Obama today signed legislation H.R. 3548, which includes a provision to extend and expand the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit. The New Jersey Association of REALTORS® (NJAR®) anticipates that the newly signed legislation will help maintain the recent momentum seen in the New Jersey real estate market and spur the state's economy as a whole.

"It's a brand new day for those first-time home buyers who were rushing through their transaction in anticipation of the original November 30th deadline because they now have more time to complete the process," said NJAR® Executive Vice President Jarrod C. Grasso, RCE. "The extension to April 30th of next year is key because these new buyers now have the opportunity to analyze every aspect of their purchase carefully and still close in time to obtain the $8,000 credit."

The legislation will extend the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit past its original November 30 deadline, and it will now be available through April 30, 2010. Additionally, existing homeowners who have lived in their homes for at least five consecutive years out of the last eight will be eligible for a credit that can total $6,500. In both cases, a written, binding contract to purchase must be in effect by April 30, 2010, and the purchaser needs to close by July 1, 2010.

On the "trading up" side, Goldman Sachs estimates as many as 70 percent of owners will be eligible.

"The credit has been shown to be a powerful incentive that significantly spurred the real estate market here in New Jersey," said Diane Dilzell, president of NJAR®. "Expansion of the tax credit to current homeowners is bound to aid in continuing to elevate the housing market and the economy further as it offers a bonus to those buyers. In addition to experiencing low prices and low interest rates, current homeowners are now faced with a prime opportunity to trade up to the home of their dreams."

The new law raises the limits for first-time buyers. The new limits for obtaining the full credit are $125,000 for a single person and $225,000 for a married couple. Individuals earning up to $145,000 and married couples earning up to $245,000 are eligible for partial credit.

According to data from the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (NAR), in New Jersey, the home buyer tax credit has brought in an additional 6,500 buyers into the market in 2009 compared to 2008. NJAR® is hopeful that the credit extension and expansion can lead to continued growth in 2010.

More than 1.4 million people nationally have claimed the original tax credit, based on figures provided by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). About 350,000 of those would not have made their purchase without the tax credit, according to estimates from NAR.

The Well Rounded Home

Nothing like thinking of the box in home design. Building materials and construction techniques are part of the story, but even once a residence is built there are furniture objects, wall fixtures and all kinds of other design elements that make rounded homes a radical challenge inside and out. Thanks to dornob.com.

Time to Move UP?

Had very good turnout at my Open House in Nutley. 10 sets of people with no audible complaints about the roomy split level. First time in a long time that majority of buyers were current homeowners looking to upsize.

Experts are now predicting that the "first-time buyer" tax credit will be expanded to "move-up homeowners. Crucial Senate vote should come in next couple of days. Let us pray...

No Paws Left Behind

Displaced borrowers haven't been the only victims of the foreclosure crisis. An alarming number of pets are being abandoned in vacant homes and properties. Shelters in areas with high numbers of default properties and foreclosures have warned of over-crowding of animals while neighbors of foreclosed properties report stray animals roaming the streets and parks.

No Paws Left Behind is one way that Real Estate Professionals can help save these animals. 63 percent of U.S. households own a pet, according to the 2007-2008 National Pet Owners Survey, which equates to 71.1 million homes. If foreclosure rates continue at current levels, more than one million animals could be abandoned over the course of the next year.

Bloomfielders for the 350 Project

Congratulations to Bloomfield's environental groups led by Bloomfield College.for your valiant efforts, on a stormy Saturday, in supporting the 350.org efforts on climate change awareness.
I just wish they were positioned a little closer to the cameras.(Click on photos to enlarge)

New British Map shows Impact of Climate Change

The British government yesterday raised the political stakes on climate change when it published a new map of the world that details the likely effects of a failure to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

The map shows the impact of an average 4 degree Centigrade rise in global temperature, which John Beddington, the government's chief scientist, said would be "disastrous". A study by the Met Office last month said that such a 4C rise could come as soon as 2060 without urgent and serious action to reduce emissions.

There's Still Time to Get Your $8,000

Know anyone ready to purchase their first home? There's still time to move to receive that $8,000 Tax Credit before it expires on November 30. We work with attorneys and Mortgage specialists who(depending on the situation) can help you close on a home in less than 4 weeks -- if you act NOW.

Treehouses On the MLS

Tree houses are a dream living space for so many kids, yet some of the most amazing tree buildings are planned, designed and constructed for adults – from restaurants and resorts to homes away from home. Not something you'd expect in NJ, this one posed a bit of a challenge for one Montclair homeowner. We have mobile homes in Wayne listed for less than this sky high property -- but that's another story.

Once a far-fetched futuristic idea, a living tree building is now not only possible but is also a reality – amazing living architecture that uses growing trees as their structural supports, twisted, shaped and connected as they make their way skyward.

Mortgage Delinquicies Mapped by County

The Federal Reserve considers the record rate of mortgage delinquencies, foreclosures and their impacts on communities an urgent problem. The New York Fed uses its expertise and knowledge to provide detailed data on U.S. credit conditions to the public to establish a body of factual data for use in forming policy decisions and developing mortgage foreclosure mitigation efforts.

The website, which also tracks other measures of consumer credit, including auto loans, student loans, and bank loans, is intended to help "government agencies, community groups, commercial institutions and other practitioners better understand, monitor and respond to local conditions associated with foreclosures and credit and mortgage delinquencies.

(The New York Fed's site has full data on each county.)
Red indicates counties where delinquencies have worsened, green indicates areas where conditions have improved, and the gray shading indicates areas where there has been no change. See extended comments at Huffington Post:

Climate Change Brewing Washington State

Visibility dropped to zero in parts of eastern Washington on October 4, as a large dust storm blew through. This image of the storm was captured on NASA’s Terra satellite shortly after noon. According to local news, the storm brought strong winds gusting to 43 miles per hour in places that propelled the dust across the southeast corner of the state. After numerous multi-vehicle accidents, sections of Interstate 90 near the town of Moses Lake and several local roads had to be closed for several hours.

Looking a bit like a new Starbuck's concoction, A thick, rippling plume of dust runs northeast to southwest through the center of the image. Dust stretches as far south as the cities of Pasco and Kennewick, which sit on opposite banks of the Columbia River.

Building An Even Better Lightbulb

Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), though far more energy efficient than their incandescent, have their critics. The lighting quality tends to be less intense and cool. They also contain trace amounts of mercury, posing health-related breakage and disposal concerns.

The L Prize is the first government-sponsored technology competition designed to spur lighting manufacturers to develop high-quality, high-efficiency solid-state lighting products to replace the common light bulb. Among the requirements is that the bulb must last more than 25,000 hours -— about 25 times longer than a standard light bulb.

The competition will substantially accelerate America's shift from inefficient, dated lighting products to innovative, high-performance products. Just as Thomas Edison transformed illumination over a century ago, the L Prize will drive innovation and market adoption.

The Department of Energy has announced that Philips Electronics has submitted the first entry in the L Prize competition. "The race is on," said DOE Solid-State Lighting Program Manager Jim Brodrick. "Philips is the first to submit a formal L Prize entry, demonstrating their leadership and corporate commitment to energy conservation in lighting. Philips' entry into the competition is a clear signal that massive energy savings from solid-state lighting are within our grasp. The field is wide-open, and we hope to see more entries from both large and small manufacturers."

Avoiding A Housing Relapse

Bloomberg is warning that the recovering housing market may be heading for a relapse as President Obama and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke consider ending support for the industry that is widely viewed as he source of the global financial crisis.

The Obama administration is studying whether to let a first-time home buyers’ tax credit expire as scheduled at the end of November. The $8,000 credit has had a major impact on the demand for hew and existing homes in most markets nationwide, with new-house sales rising 9.6 percent in July from the prior month, the most since 2005.

Ending these efforts may stifle the housing rebound by depressing sales and pushing up both mortgage-backed bond yields and interest rates on home loans, even in the face of the record-low zero to 0.25 percent short-term rates the Fed has engineered, said economist Thomas Lawler.

New FDIC Info to Prevent Foreclosures.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) announced on Wednesday that it is releasing a free tool kit of information that will help borrowers, community stakeholders and the banking industry avoid unnecessary foreclosures and stop foreclosure "rescue" scams that promise false hope to consumers at risk of losing their homes.

The tool kit includes critical information to help borrowers know who to contact and what documents they need to have available to apply for a loan modification that could save their home from foreclosure. This tool kit also describes the warning signs of potential foreclosure "rescue" scams and how consumers, community stakeholders, and bankers can report scammers and prevent fraud. The public can access the free tool kit at http://www.FDIC.gov/foreclosureprevention.

Does Living Green Increase your Life Expectancy?

It's no coincidence that healthy living has a direct connection to green living. People that care about the health of the planet often care about eating well, being outside, and avoiding the crap that will shorten their time on this beautiful planet. So it wasn't a huge surprise that when Prevention Magazine and Planet Green came up with a list of Surprising Signs That You'll Probably Live Longer, many of them fit right into a green lifestyle.