Scam Alert
Scam Alert
The National Association of REALTORS® has learned that its good name is being used as part of a property rental scam. In this scam, rental property is offered to consumers, who are led to believe that NAR is functioning as an intermediary to receive rental deposits from prospective tenants and, upon receipt of the deposit, to deliver the keys to the property to the tenant. The tenant is instructed to send money via Western Union to NAR’s purported agent.
NAR is not involved in this business and believes it is a scam. NAR has contacted law enforcement officials to request that the matter be investigated.
If you have encountered this scam, be advised you may file a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center, sponsored by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National White Collar Crime Center
U.S. home prices rose for the fifth month
NEW YORK – U.S. home prices rose for the fifth month in a row in October, but the recovery continues to be uneven with only 11 of the 20 metro areas tracked showing gains.
The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index released Tuesday edged up 0.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted reading of 145.36 in October from September. Without adjusting for seasonal factors the index was flat from September.
The index was off 7.3 percent from October last year, nearly matching expectations of economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters. Many economists, however, are predicting a double dip in prices this winter as foreclosures increase and government support wanes.
(MN-RPAC)
The Minnesota REALTORS® Political Action Committee (MN-RPAC) is a stand-alone, bipartisan entity of the Minnesota Association of REALTORS®. Its purpose is to collect voluntary contributions from REALTORS® and make donations to REALTOR® friendly candidates regardless of political party, running for federal, state and local government.
MN-RPAC works for you to help preserve private property rights, reduce onerous regulation of your business, ensure a fair tax code that does not penalize real estate investment and protects and advances the American Dream of Homeownership.
Consider your contribution to MN-RPAC as an investment – the best investment you can make in your business and your future.
What has MN-RPAC accomplished recently?
Last year, thanks to your contributions, MN REALTORS® were able to:
- Defeat a 50% increase in the state deed taxS
- Defend $1.4 million from being taken from the Real Estate Research and Recovery Fund
- Limit a license fee increase
Current Real Estate Issues Addressed by RPAC
Local/Regional: Issues include time of sale housing inspection ordinances and placement of temporary off-site real estate signs. Regional issues important to REALTORS® include growth, housing opportunities and transportation.
State: The Minnesota Association of REALTORS (MNAR) develops and lobbies state-wide real estate issues. Examples are state taxes, state budget and spending, real estate licensing, agency, disclosure, Commerce Department regulations, and environmental concerns. There are many more.
National: The National Association of REALTORS® current real estate issues include keeping banks out of the real estate business, permitting associations to sponsor member health insurance plans, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac regulatory reform, FHA modernization, Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) reform, do not call regulations, HUD and federal tax issues. There are many more.
Existing homeowner credit:
Question: Existing homeowner credit: Must the new house cost more than the old house?
Answer: No. Thus, for example, individuals who move from a high cost area to a lower cost area who
meet all eligibility requirements will qualify for the $6500 credit.
Question: I am an existing homeowner. On October 25, 2009, I signed a contract to purchase a
new home. I have lived in my current home for more than 5 consecutive years and
am within the new income limits. I will go to settlement on November 20. If
President Obama has signed the bill by the time I go to settlement, will I qualify for
the new $6500 tax credit?
Answer: Yes. The existing homeowner credit goes into effect for purchases after the date of enactment
(when the bill is signed). There is no reference to the date of contract for the new credit. The
provision looks solely to the date of purchase, which is generally the date of settlement.
Question: I am a firsttime
homebuyer but was not within the prior income limits at the time I
entered into my contract to purchase on October 30, 2009. I will be covered,
however, by the new income limits. If the new rules have been signed into law by the
time I go to settlement, will I be eligible for a credit?
Answer: Yes. The new income limitations go into effect as soon as the President has signed the bill.
The income limit and other eligibility rules will look to your status as of the date of purchase,
which is the settlement date. So if the new rules have been signed when you go to settlement,
you should be eligible for the credit (or a portion of the credit if you’re within the phaseout
range).
Question: I am an eligible existing homeowner. I have a fair amount of equity in my home. I
have found a home with a nonnegotiable
price of $825,000. Will I be able to use any
of the $6500 tax credit?
Answer: No. The $800,000 cap on the cost of the purchased home is firm at $800,000. Any amount
above $800,000 makes the home ineligible for any portion of the credit. The $800,000 is an
absolute ceiling.
Question: I owned my home for 10 years, but sold it two years ago year and have been renting
since. If I purchase a home, will I be eligible for the $6500 tax credit if I meet all the
other eligibility tests?
Answer: Yes. Because you lived in the home for more than 5 consecutive years of the previous 8, you
will qualify for the $6500 credit. For example, Say John and his wife bought a home in 2000
and lived there until 2008 when he got a divorce. Whether John has been renting or bought in
the interim, he WOULD INDEED be eligible for the credit because he owned a home and
occupied it as his principal residence for 5 consecutive years out of the last 8 years. The
keyword here is “consecutive.” As long as he lived in that house for 5 years straight what he
did since 3 years doesn’t impact eligibility.
Question: I am an eligible firsttime
homebuyer. I entered into a contract to purchase on
November 1, 2009. Do I have to go to closing before December 1? How does the
extension date affect me?
Answer: You do not have to close before December 1. Once the legislation has been signed, it will be as
if the Nov 30 date had never existed. Therefore, so long as the contract settles before April 30
(or July 1, worst case), the purchaser will be eligible for the credit
Accidents are not accidents.
Accidents are not accidents.
Safety is not an accident.Your choices and decisions can keep you safe and prevent accidents in everything from do-it-yourself projects to holiday celebrations. Neglect strategic thinking and bad things can happen.The vortex of distractions that plague us during this not-quite-post-recession and not-quite-recovery period can lead us to overlook and undervalue simple, constructive decision-making that could make any “now” the best it can be.Not making a conscious choice to act proactively is a decision. Before the added stress of holiday season kicks in, match your conscious and unconscious decision-making against these 5 Sharp Thinking Strategies and their safe-holiday examples:
- Anticipate accidents instead of taking safety for granted
- The holiday season brings increased risk of home fire from faulty strings of lights, overloaded circuits, flammable decorations and unattended candles. Which precautions do you take?
- Do you have a set plan for ensuring life-saving smoke alarms are always working in top form?
- How does home maintenance fit into your plans? Regular furnace maintenance is a preventive measure that protects against deadly, invisible carbon monoxide (CO) while CO alarms provide essential back-up warnings.
- Think for yourself and stop waiting to be told how to function smartly
- As a car driver, do you wear your seatbelt and concentrate on driving, not using your cell and other technology? Or, as more jurisdictions implement cellphone-distraction laws, has the threat of fines made these decisions for you?
- Do you continue to fill your home and lungs with cigarette smoke, or have you weighed the advantages—from improved health to lowered expenses—of being a non-smoker and taking control? This is just one interior air quality hazzard. The air in our homes can be more polluted than outside air. What have you done to ensure your home is free of radon, mould and other airborne health risks?
- Plan to preserve life, wellbeing and independence whatever happens Quickly—imagine the smoke alarm outside your bedroom sounded in the middle of the night! What would your automatic reaction be as it awakens you and family members? Is this the safest reaction? Does every member of your family know at least two ways out of the house from every location? For tips on fire drills and suggestions for overcoming the hazards found in each room in your home, not just the kitchen, visit http://www.safeathome.ca/toptips.htm and read my previous column “Canadian Organizations Promote Holiday Cheer Through Home Safety.”
- Apply forward thinking to everyday decisions and stay on the winning side Horrifying televised natural and man-made disasters, combined with your experience in storms and disasters has taught you the value of emergency preparedness. You have at least 72-hours worth of water for each family member, back-up food and batteries, or a generator, all safely stored away, haven’t you? If not, what has taught you that choice is smarter?
- Avoid the self-defeating habit of learning the hard way from bad experiences Veteran firefighter John Gignac learned the hard way in December 2008 when his niece, her husband and their two children died in their sleep from carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. There was no CO alarm to save the family and, at the time, Gignac did not have a CO alarm in his home either. This silent, odourless, deadly gas does not give you a chance to learn from personal experience—unless the CO leak triggers fully-operational CO detectors which sound the alarm. Days after the 2008 CO disaster, Woodstock, Ontario reportedly sold out of CO detectors. Gignac said his relatives’ deaths were his wake up call. He has founded the Hawkins-Gignac Foundation for CO safety ( www.endthesilence.ca ) to wake up other Canadians to this completely-preventable deadly problem: “…now I have a new mission: To end the silence on the silent killer—carbon monoxide…To honour their memory, our charitable foundation will promote CO education and raise funds to purchase CO alarms to be given out by fire departments to needy families.”
- Each year, CO reportedly kills hundreds of Canadians, and, makes more than one thousand ill with flu-like symptoms.
- CO is a combustion by-product of appliances that burn gas, oil, wood, coal or other fossil fuels. Danger can arise from furnaces, fireplaces, wood-burning stoves, faulty outside vents, water heaters and car exhaust from attached garages.
- CO alarms are simple, relatively-inexpensive decisions for safety, but if your detectors are older than five years, Gignac suggests investing in a new alarms. Combined CO and smoke alarms can be practical solutions.
To further complicate safety, sloppy shopping and aggressive bargain hunting can compromise security and leave you vulnerable to danger on many levels.Doug Geralde, Director of Government Affairs and Regulator Relations for the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) warns that counterfeiting is no longer limited to luxury items: “Now, it’s almost anything,” he stresses. “In the case of certified products, if you are looking at extension cords, [light] fixtures or things to use for building, if it is ‘CSA Certififed’ or another certification, it should be on the product and on the package.”CSA Group (www.csagroup.org) is an independent, not-for-profit membership association serving business, industry, government and consumers. It’s purpose is to “make standards work for business and people” through its three divisions:
- CSA Standards (www.csa.ca)—for standards development, information products and training
- CSA International (www.csa-international.org)—for product testing and certification services for electrical, mechanical, plumbing, gas and a variety of other products, and
- OnSpeX (www.onspex.com)—for consumer product evaluation for retailers and manufacturers.
Geralde explains that counterfeiters will put “CSA Certified” on faked packaging, but not on counterfeit products because inspectors checking product manufacturing would detect the fraud. Spelling mistakes in manufacturer contact information on products can be warning signs.If the price is too good to be true, there may be counterfeiting and sub-standard products involved, says Geralde. Products like dry wall board, are not rated, so you must rely on your ability to identify reputable contractors and retailers. These professionals want to avoid counterfeit products, so they carry out due diligence that ensures consumer safety comes before their profit. Become knowledgeable enough to be sure you know what fair market value is for a service or product, so you’ll neither buy inappropriately nor be over charged.Seek out information in the right context for your decision making. Consumer opinion, online and off, can offer another valuable resource for improving safety at home and in the workplace. Consider the source before acting on advice from friends, provided references or posted comments. When researching products or services with a long shelf-life, the opinion of a recent buyer may not prove as useful as feedback from a consumer who has three or more years of actual usage to discuss
Months Supply of Inventory
News and Updates
Weekly Market Activity Report
The post-Thanksgiving bump is in effect for the Twin Cities housing market. The week ending December 5 saw pending sales swing upward from the previous week by 152 to settle at 551. This is 7.7 percent less than last year at this time, marking the third week of the last four to post pending sales numbers lower than a year ago. The aftermath of the tax credit’s initial expiration date is combining with the typical holiday slowdown to bring sales down.
Two other important metrics:
Months Supply of Inventory – At 5.7, this is the lowest MSI in more than two years and a full 32.9 percent below last year. This bodes well for sellers in general, but the higher price ranges are still buyer’s markets.
Housing Affordability Index – At 207 and improving, this is welcome news. This means that the average family income in the Twin Cities region is 207 percent of what it takes to qualify to purchase the median priced home.
GLAR Market Update – November
GLAR Market Update – November
The passing of the home-buyer tax credit’s intitial expiration date
hasn’t yet slowed the urgency of home buyers in the Greater Lakes
region, as November saw a continuation of the strong sales we’ve
seen in previous months.
There were 245 closed sales during the month, up 59.6 percent from
a year ago. New Listings were also up 18.7 percent.
The Median Sales Price for the month was $134,850, dipping 3.0
percent from the same month last year. Year to date, the median
sales price has fallen 9.9 percent from a year ago. Falling prices
have combined with still-low mortgage rates to create a favorable
affordability picture.
New Stuff
When compared to the previous week’s dive, pending sales held strong during a time of typical seasonal swoon.
For the week ending November 21, there were 604 purchase agreements, a 5.2 percent increase over the same week in 2008 and the first time in a month not to show a week-over-week plunge in sales activity.
Although sales are up over last year, they have slowed considerably from October’s tax credit gold rush.
With the winter season before us, sales will likely continue their respite into 2010.
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