The Find's Eye

Hopefully this credit extension passes because it has been amazing for my first time buyers and definitely helps stimulate our local Houston market.  The inventory in the first time buyer price range has usually sold quickly and the offers have been very competitive.  Cross your fingers!

Today the Senate may approve the extension:
"Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Senate may approve as early as today a $45 billion plan to expand a tax credit for first- time homebuyers, extend jobless benefits and provide tax refunds to money-losing companies.

The Senate voted 97-1 to end debate on the measure and clear the way for final approval. The Senate is likely to pass the legislation and send it to the House, where Democratic leaders predicted it would be quickly forwarded to President Barack Obama to be signed into law.

The plan would be the first major extension of provisions in February’s stimulus package. It would continue until April 30 the $8,000 homebuyers’ tax credit, slated to expire this month, which would be expanded to include people with higher incomes and some who already own homes. The credit would cost $10 billion, according to Congress’s Joint Committee on Taxation.

The measure includes $2.4 billion to extend unemployment benefits for as many as 20 weeks, enough to aid the jobless through the holiday season. It would loosen tax rules for homebuilders and other money-losing companies to let them claim an estimated $33 billion in tax refunds this year, according to Joint Committee on Taxation estimates.

Senators voted 85-2 on Nov. 2 to advance the legislation. It has been delayed for weeks by Republican demands for votes on amendments to the plan.

“Republicans used every trick in the book to slow and stall and ensure we can’t do important work,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said today. "
"

Increased Credit

The Senate plan would allow homebuyers who have lived in their residence at least five years to receive a $6,500 credit. Couples earning as much as $225,000 a year and individuals earning up to $125,000 would qualify. That is up from the current $75,000 limit for individuals and $150,000 for couples.

Those buying homes worth more than $800,000 wouldn’t be eligible for the credit. Those who sell their new home or stop using it as their main residence within three years would have to repay the credit.

Senator Christopher Bond, a Missouri Republican, had called the tax credit a waste of money, saying studies show that most of those claiming the break would have bought homes anyway.

“For the vast majority of cases, the homebuyer credit amounted to a free gift since it did not affect their decision to purchase,” he said on the floor this week. “The homebuyer tax credit is a terribly inefficient, irresponsible and poor use of scarce taxpayer resources.”

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said in a research note yesterday that the credit probably spurred 200,000 home sales that otherwise wouldn’t have occurred.

Excess Housing

Extending the credit to people who own homes wouldn’t reduce the excess housing blamed for the slump because “every buyer taking advantage of the move-up credit would necessarily be a seller,” Goldman Sachs said. It said the plan may increase housing prices by 1 percent because “sellers are likely to incorporate a fraction of the credit amount in their sale prices.”

The bill would provide 14 additional weeks of unemployment benefits in all states, plus another six weeks in states with the highest jobless rates. The extension would be the fourth since the recession began. The share of unemployed people who have been out of work at least six months has reached the highest level in at least a half-century, according to the Labor Department.

The legislation also would expand provisions in the stimulus package allowing companies to apply their losses to previous years’ income, thereby reducing their tax bills and allowing them to claim refunds. Banks and other institutions receiving assistance from the Treasury Department’s Troubled Asset Relief Fund wouldn’t be eligible. "

To contact the reporter on this story: Brian Faler in Washington at bfaler@bloomberg.net
And of course, if you want great service on your first time home purchase in the Houston Market, contact Ginny Jackson at 713-524-0888.  I am here to help guide you through the process or answer any questions about your investment.

   Ah, the glamour of being a residential real estate broker in Houston!  Six years in this business and still not one work week where I can predict what will happen next, where I'll be, or who I'll meet.  I'll admit -- it's kind of addictive being a Realtor.  A true love/hate relationship.  Running around aerating lawns in my heels, remembering comps, avoiding traffic between houses, and recalling square footage and recent sale prices off the top of my head -- it takes the work of a magician sometimes and that's why I love it. 
   Allow me to introduce myself:  I am married to a wonderful Houston guy named Alex Jackson.  We live in a historic home that we completely gutted and renovated in Winlow Place with our British lab, Dolly Puddin.  Professionally, truth be told, I am a bargain shopper masked as a businesswoman.  Luckily buying and selling houses is actually a form of shopping in disguise!  As a Realtor I do everything from working with buyers to listing properties to consulting.  Because I have "other lives" as an interior decorator and artist, I love working with my real estate clients who are planning on renovating,  or advising  them about staging, paint colors, curb appeal, landscaping, building materials, and finish selections. I've acted as general contractor on more than 7 investment properties.  Most of all, I love getting a deal for my clients.  
    The flexible schedule of a Realtor is fabulous, but it is not controlled by me -- it's my clients calling the shots.  I've worked with everyone from my best friends to people relocating, Houston Texans football pros and country singers.  Foreclosures and short sales? First time buyers? Your grandmother who has lived in the same house for 50 years?  Done that too. If someone needs to see a house I must drop what I'm doing and get to showing right away. 
   People tell me that I have "an eye."  (Also in this blog I will refer to some of my "finds" as "the find's eye")  What I think they are saying is that I sell houses as if I were buying them myself.   I do not let my buyers purchase homes that I would not want to sell in the future.  I am completely honest with them, but I do recognize how to listen to their needs. It saves them from making huge mistakes like settling for a property that is missing major appeal for most future buyers or committing to property that cannot be fixed. Ultimately it is their decision, but it is also the biggest investment in their lives so they tend to listen to me. 
     Most realtors are not as bad as those on tv -- Million Dollar Listing (although I am a huge fan) is quite the cheese-filled unprofessional depiction of our job.  Allowing a seller to settle for a first offer that is 1 million below asking price?  Ridiculous --Where is the counter offer?  Stupidity! I do not stand on tables when negotiating deals, and my hairstyle is irrelevant to selling homes.
    HGTV is another irresistible indulgence, but again the realtors and designers on many of the shows do not often give the public the wisest advice.  Don't think of realtors greedy monsters or slimy pushy salespeople.  I am here to help calm the chaos of purchasing and selling property. Welcome to the glamourous life of this realtor -- at least I don't have TMZ trailing me.