California Real Estate and Life

For years selling vacant land was my expertise. I loved everything about selling land. Walking a land listing is one of my favorite things. But there have been bad things too.

Land for Sale in Riverside County

Over the past couple years-specifically from the middle of 2007 to now, land in my area hasn’t sold very well. Land values have gone down, but many of the Sellers don’t want to admit this is true. Buyers/Investors weren’t buying land like they were before, and this left many sellers frustrated. Why wasn’t their land selling? And you know who these sellers are…they are the ones who go Agent to Agent thinking it is the Agents fault. Normally it isn’t!

There are a host of reasons why land doesn’t sell, and in today’s Market it isn’t that the Agent isn’t doing enough, it is more that buyers aren’t buying on speculation like they were, and getting a land loan is much harder than it used to be.

Several months ago I wrote about a home Inspector from Rancho Cucamonga in Southern California, Joseph Lang of Pillar To Post Professional Home Inspection.

I first “met” Joseph a couple years ago, and from day 1, I was impressed with how thorough and transparent he was. My old Broker said he hated Home Inspections because they always messed up his deals. YIKES…….

I want my clients to know what they are buying! I am not a used car salesman, and want to be able to sleep at night. When I do have a buyer for a single family home I always recommend a Home Inspection! And since Joseph of Pillar to Post is in my area, he is the only one I would recommend. I have learned to trust him.

Now do I get a kick-back, or any compensation for this recommendation…..absolutely not. I will only recommend someone I trust to do a good job for my clients. And after reading all of Joseph’s Posts, and actually talking to him a few times, I am comfortable that he is the best for my clients.

Joseph Lang- Home Inspector for Inland Empire, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Western Los Angeles Counties.

The Riverside County Assessors Office has, or will, be mailing out notices to more than 400,000 people that their properties have been re-assessed   and devalued for tax purposes.

Properties bought after 1999 were the ones recently re-assessed, including commercial properties and vacant land.

Anyone that believes their property has lost value but didn’t get a notice of a new assessment  can file  a decline in value application,  it’s  FREE online, and you have until September 1, 2010 to file.

If you did receive a notice from the Assessor but don’t agree with it you can file an appeal by filing with the Clerk of the Board online, or call (951) 955-6200.  Time line is July 2nd- Nov. 30, 2010.

Talk has gone back and forth about extending the current tax credit for 1st time home buyers, but nothing is concrete at this point.  The bill to extend the credit has to pass both the Senate and the House, before going to the President to sign.

The tax credits would be available to home buyers who sign sales agreements by the end of April 2010. In order to receive the tax credit (according to Senate’s current version of the  legislation) home buyers would have to close (Settlement or close Escrow) by the end of June 2010.  This bill also would include current owners who have owned and lived in their home for a least 5 of the past 8 years.

Now DON’T get all excited yet…..apparently the Senate passed their version, but that doesn’t mean anything!  Remember it still has to pass the House, and be signed by the President.

The Senate tacked this homebuyer extension on with 2 other bills, one for extending unemployment benefits, and one for a tax credit for struggling businesses.  The House could vote on this as early as today!

Update: Thurs Nov.5th- the House just voted 403 to 12 to extend the home buyer tax credit,  President Obama is expected to sign this bill, then it will extend the tax credit as outlined above.

President Obama signed the extension!

Wondering if you should buy a home….looking at those Short Sales and Foreclosures, and figuring they are the best deals?  The California Association of Realtors just released these stats:

“ Forty-nine percent of all buyers purchased a home through a traditional market sale, while 38 percent purchased a REO/bank-owned property, according to the survey. Reflecting the difficulty in closing short sales — properties selling for less than the loan amount — only 13 percent of buyers purchased a short-sale property. Home buyers who purchased a REO or bank-owned property experienced the highest level of difficulty in obtaining financing, compared with a more traditional transaction. They rated the level of difficulty as 8.9 (on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 representing the greatest level of difficulty in obtaining financing) compared with a 7.7 for home buyers with a traditional market sale and 7.6 for short-sale home buyers.”  Courtesy of CAR Newsline