Shore to Shore
Lake Lanier GA and AL Gulf Coast Real Estate News
January 12, 2009
In this Issue:
Our World: Interest is high, motivation is low.
Special Report: Look at your tax situation in 2010
Featured Article: Play the learning game, not the blame game
Recommended Resources: Financial Resolutions for the New Year
Interest is high, motivation is low.
Buyer interest is high but motivation continues to be low. Buyers know there are great values to be had but seem to be reluctant.
For buyers that aren’t playing speculative flip games, but have the desire to be end user owners with long term plans we recommend watching the following video of Ron Insana being interviewed on the Today Show.
The NorthGaLife.com Team: Long time lookers are starting to tour properties more often. There is still reluctance to pull the trigger by many even though there are many bargain values to be had.
The GulfShoresLife.com Team: Parking lots are filling and commerce is increasing as the usual influx of snowbirds arrive following the holidays.
Buyer appointments have increased considerably over the past 3 months and offers are being made. Offers on short sales and foreclosures continue to be frustrating necessitating long waits to get responses from asset managers of the lending institutions. However, many of these properties are already deeply discounted from market peaks and strong offers that are at or near the asking prices tend to get quick responses and many times acceptances of those offers.
Serious buyers should strongly consider whether it makes good sense to go through the exercise of making offers that further discount values when there is little likelihood that the offer will do much more than collect dust on the asset managers desk while they await higher and better offers.
So, do we need to remind serious buyers they should watch Ron Insana being interviewed on the Today Show?
Special Report
Look at Your Tax Situation in 2010
OK, you probably read all the end-of-the-year articles (maybe even in this e-newsletter) about the tax moves you should make before the New Year.
But now that 2010 is here, it’s time to think ahead so that you’re not scrambling around next December, when the tax landscape is sure to be different.
Remember, if you qualify for the first-time homebuyer or “move-up” buyer tax credit, closing on a new home before the end of June will earn you a pretty hefty tax credit. For many, that will be the biggest impact of tax laws for 2010.
However, if you’re planning purchases of energy-efficient windows or a car, you could get a tax break buy going green on those rather large purchases as well. It’s worth checking into.
In 2010, a new law allows for the conversion of a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA without income limitations, and allows converters to divide their tax bill over two years, 2010 and 2011.
Also remember that the Bush administration tax breaks are set to expire, and with the current Federal deficit, it’s questionable whether they will be extended. Without extension, the Estate Tax is likely to come back, and both regular income tax and capital gains tax could go up beginning in 2011.
Keep in mind that under the Bush cuts, capital gains taxes are tied to income – the rate tops out at 15 percent for those in the 25 to 35-percent brackets and is zero for those in the 10 and 15-percent brackets. If you have investments that will be subject to capital gains tax when sold, it might be a good idea to talk to an accountant or tax preparer about cashing in this year.
It’s never too early in the year to start thinking about tax strategy. Don’t wait until December!
Featured Article
Play the Learning Game, Not the Blame Game
On Christmas day, Dec. 25, we learned that that a man aboard an airplane bound for Detroit had tried to blow up the plane and had to be subdued by fellow passengers and crew.
Shortly after, we learned that this man’s father had warned officials of his son’s extremism but the warnings didn’t keep him from getting on the plane.
And after that, we learned President Barack Obama said that “shortcomings” led to the attack, and learned that the White House ordered beefed-up security measures and increased intelligence-sharing between government agencies.
Let’s hope the learning doesn’t stop with the facts that have come to light. Let’s hope the learning comes FROM the facts that have come to light.
It’s easy to play the blame game after an event like that. Not as easy, but far more important, is what we learn from the event, so that we can avoid the same mistake. Sometimes, people get so caught up in the blame that they completely miss the lesson.
We have to be careful that doesn’t happen with the global economic condition we live in right now. At least here in the United States, it appears we are finally learning lessons rather than pointing fingers.
Sure, it was easy at first to blame greedy banks or unscrupulous fund managers for the near-collapse of the finance industry. But the saying goes that what gets you into the bubble never gets you back out of it, and quite a few banks, and quite a few fund managers dealing in mortgage-backed securities, aren’t even around any more to try to get out of it.
Unfortunately for some, the fallout of the actions of greedy bankers and shady mortgage brokers has stuck around even as they have disappeared from the landscape. The houses that were financed with payments that became unaffordable, that became impossible to refinance because of falling values — those houses are still around. And to blame them for the crash would be like blaming the car in an automobile accident.
An interesting article at Newsweek.com cited a report that Americans withdrew $682 billion worth of equity from homes in 2006 and another $473 billion in 2007. By the second quarter of 2008, however, that equity was instead turned negative, drawing money from properties instead of the other way around.
The result, the article says, is that it has changed the way Americans purchase, borrow and invest. Spending is down, yes, but it also may be getting smarter. If there’s more saving, more spending from money earned rather than money borrowed, it would appear that a lesson has been learned.
It’s up to you, as an individual, whether you will be part of the learning game as 2010 unfolds, or whether you will continue to instead play the blame game.
The blame game won’t help you undo what has already happened. The learning game will.
Recommended Resources
Financial Resolutions for the New Year
As mentioned above, it’s not too early to start planning some tax strategies for 2010. Tax moves aren’t the only financial moves to make in 2010, however. Morningstar.com offers this article of New Year’s financial resolutions as a reminder to include your finances in your goals for a better you in 2010. Click the link below to read about these resolutions.
http://news.morningstar.com/articlenet/article.aspx?id=321692
Have a great week!
Cal Carter and The GulfShoresLife.com Team
Keller Williams Alabama Gulf Coast
Fairhope, AL
Laura Carter and The NorthGaLife.com Team
Keller Williams Lanier Partners
Gainesville, GA
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
While the space changed decor nightly, certain design elements remained. Thermosensitive pillows by NunoErin and authentic race chairs from Jaguar and Ferrari (inset) were interior highlights in the loft-turned-home party space
I applause Dubai with its great real estate investments. Now the crown is at Dubai. Unbelievable 818 meters high building. It is a crown, isn’t it?
I am surprised at the lack of motivation in the market too. It is hard to act like Warren Buffet and buy something when the outlook is bleakest, but that is how most fortunes are made. Let’s hope the outlook improves in 2010.