All posts by jd

Real estate broker, civil engineer and general contractor.
Business

Now That Tax Season is Here, Be Careful of Companies Offering Tax Relief

As tax day approaches, Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today urged Californians to avoid “phony tax-relief companies” that charge taxpayers up to $3,000 in up-front fees to reduce or eliminate back taxes owed to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), but provide no actual relief.

“Every tax season, phony tax-relief companies emerge to exploit cash-strapped Californians who owe back taxes to the IRS,” Brown said. “Taxpayers should be on high alert, avoid paying up-front fees to these companies and never ignore notices from the IRS.”

Throughout the tax season, tax-relief companies advertise on the radio, television and internet promising help for taxpayers in distress. For an up-front fee ranging from $2,000 to $3,000, these companies claim to reduce or even eliminate tax debts to the IRS and stop back-tax collection.

However, soon after collecting up-front fees, these companies typically inform taxpayers that they do not qualify for a relief program or that the IRS has rejected their attempt to reduce or eliminate the back-tax debt. Often these companies never even contact the IRS directly. Rather than reduce or eliminate the amount owed in back taxes to the IRS, these companies increase taxpayers’ debt burden.

Brown offered the following tips to taxpayers who owe back taxes and are having trouble paying:

– Don’t ignore notices from the IRS. Call and ask about collection alternatives, as you may be eligible for a monthly payment plan. In some cases, it is possible to pay less than the total amount you owe.
– Don’t trust promises from companies that imply that you are “qualified” or “eligible” for an IRS program to resolve your back-tax debt. Only the IRS can make that determination.
– Don’t pay up-front or advance fees for tax-debt relief services.

Continue reading Now That Tax Season is Here, Be Careful of Companies Offering Tax Relief →

Real Estate

George Stephanopoulos’ Home Sells For $5.45 Million

George Stephanopoulos’s home in Washington’s Georgetown neighborhood, just listed in January, has sold for $5.45 million, about 14% less than the $6.35 million asking price.

The new anchor for ABC’s “Good Morning America” bought the five-bedroom home in 2006 with his wife, actress Alexandra Wentworth, for $5.2 million. The four-story brick home of roughly 5,600 square feet has a terrace and a private elevator.

Prior to his move succeeding Diane Sawyer, Mr. Stephanopoulos, 49 years old, helmed the ABC Sunday morning show “This Week” and, before that, advised President Bill Clinton. Ms. Wentworth’s films include the recent “It’s Complicated.”

The couple recently bought a 4,500-square-foot shingled home in the resort town of East Hampton, N.Y., for $3.5 million. He declined to comment. Giorgio Furioso of TTR Sotheby’s International Realty represented the couple.

Source: Wall Street Journal

John J. O’Dell
Real Estate Broker
Looking for real estate in Nevada County?
Search  at JohnOdellRealty.com

Real Estate

Help for Short Sales Start Today

April 5, 2010

A short sale, also known as a pre-foreclosure sale, is a solution to avoid foreclosure in which the bank allows a person (the homeowner or a third-party investor) to satisfy a loan by paying off a percentage of the loan amount

The Federal government has a program called Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program or HAFA

Starting today

  • Complements HAMP by providing a viable alternative for borrowers (the current homeowners) who are HAMP eligible but nevertheless unable to keep their home.
  • Uses borrower financial and hardship information already collected in connection with consideration of a loan modification.
  • Allows borrowers to receive pre-approved short sales terms before listing the property (including the minimum acceptable net proceeds).
  • Requires borrowers to be fully released from future liability for the first mortgage debt (no cash contribution, promissory note, or deficiency judgment is allowed).
  • Uses standard processes, documents, and timeframes/deadlines.
  • Provides the following financial incentives:
    • $3,000 for borrower relocation assistance;
    • $1,500 for servicers to cover administrative and processing costs;
    • Up to $2,000 for investors who allow a total of up to $6,000 in short sale proceeds to be distributed to subordinate lien holders, on a one-for-three matching basis.
  • Requires all servicers participating in HAMP to implement HAFA in accordance with their own written policy, consistent with investor guidelines. The policy may include factors such as the severity of the potential loss, local markets, timing of pending foreclosure actions, and borrower motivation and cooperation.

Further Requirements:

— Sellers must be unqualified for a loan modification under the Home Affordable Mortgage Program or be unable to afford the modification.

— The bank will set an acceptable value of the home upfront, based on an appraisal or broker’s price opinion.

— Lenders must approve or deny a purchase offer within 10 days of it being submitted.

— Once the bank approves a home for short sale, sellers may stop paying all related mortgage payments, and unpaid mortgage debt will be forgiven.

— These mortgage payments will not be shown as late on credit reports.

John J. O’Dell
Real Estate Broker
Looking for short sales or foreclosures
Go to JohnOdellRealty.com

Real Estate

Big Houses For the Comman Man

The upper price homes are coming down in price. Like the four bedroom villa with marble imported from Italy, a winery and a fruit orchard on 14 acres reduced in price from $4 million to $3.2 million.  Now this is a deal, since the seller states that $4 million is the amount of money he spent for the land and construction. So, if you happen to have $3.2 million in your wallet and you just need to spend it, here’s the deal for you.

This is a great video from the Wall Street Journal

Read the full story at Wall Street Journal Online

John J. O’Dell
Real Estate Broker
Searching for real estate in Nevada County?
Searching for short sales or foreclosures?
Find it on JohnOdellRealty.com

animals, Local Writers & Contributors

Pets, Allergies, and You

by Lisa J. Lehr

It’s spring!

While most people are busy doing little happy dances about the longer days and warmer, sunnier weather, allergy sufferers often have a different reaction: dread.

For people with year-round allergies to pets, however, spring just adds insult to injury. Tragically, allergies are among the most common reasons people give up their pets, and the misguided fear that a child may develop allergies prevents some people from having pets in the first place.

The good news is that this is all totally unnecessary. Some education about pets, people, and allergies will save a lot of pets from the animal shelter, and a lot of kids from the deprivation of growing up without pets.

Recently, numerous studies have found that kids who grow up in a home with dogs and cats actually have a significantly lower risk of developing common indoor and outdoor allergies. This means not only to cats and dogs, but also to dust mites, grass, ragweed, and Alternaria, a fungus found in the air.

Many studies have found lower rates of allergies and asthma among children who grew up on a farm and were around lots of animals, as well as among people who have continually owned a pet as compared to new pet owners or to people who had pets earlier in life but not currently.

In the February 2006 issue of Reader’s Digest, “Scratch Those Allergies” (page 208), with advice from allergist Clifford Bassett, MD gives the following suggestions:

–Ban pets from the bedroom, and get a HEPA air purifier.

–No pet is completely hypoallergenic, but those that shed more trigger more symptoms.

–Vacuum and dust often to eliminate sneeze-inducing dander and fur.

–Bathe and brush your pet often, especially if he sheds. If your symptoms are severe, have someone else do it for you.

I’d like to add a few points:

Continue reading Pets, Allergies, and You →

Real Estate

Uncharted Waters for Home Mortgage Interest Rates

Just as we are getting some signs of stabilization in the housing market, we are charting into unknown waters starting next week. The Federal Reserve will end its purchase of mortgage securities this week. This could mean that mortgage rates will rise and put a damper on home sales.

However, it’s expected that private investors will step in to buy mortgage securities. If they do, analysts expect they will rise less than a quarter of a percentage point in the next three months. That gain would increase a monthly payment on a $250,000 mortgage by $30.

In a statement released March 12, Freddie Mac predicted that mortgage rates would average 5.2 percent on a 30-year fixed loan after the Fed stops buying. Fannie Mae put the rate slightly higher at 5.13 percent.

We’ll have to see what happens in the next few weeks as we go through this transition of selling mortgage securities and how it will affect mortgage interest rates.

John J. O’Dell
Real Estate Broker
Looking for short sales and foreclosures?
Go to JohnOdellRealty.com
Call 530-263-1091

History, Nevada County Information

Nevada County Airport

Nevada County Airport was built in 1932 by Errol McBoyle, owner of the Idaho Maryland Mine. The purpose was to fly gold to Mills Field which is now the San Francisco International Airport. In 1956, Charles Litton of Litton Industries gave the airport to Nevada County.

Nevada County Air Airport covers an area of 117 acres (47 ha) at an elevation of 3,152 feet (961 m) above mean sea level. It has one asphalt paved runway designated 7/25 which measures 4,350 by 75 feet (1,326 x 23 m)  For those that are pilots, GOO is the National Inventory of Airports designator for Nevada Count Airport. In 1995, over $5 million was invested in improvements at the airport. Over 30,000 take-offs occur each year.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buYZzj-ORmA
Video of Nevada County Airport

According to MyNevadaCounty.com “Nevada County Airport is home to the California Division of Forestry (CDF) Grass Valley Air Attack Base. This center of wild land fire fighting from the air is the permanent location for two Grumman S-2 Air Tankers that drop fire retardant, and an air attack lead plane that coordinates the efforts of the tankers. Aircraft from Nevada County Airport are on standby, ready at a moment’s notice, to respond to fires throughout the foothills and mountains. When larger fires occur nearer to the airport, many other fire fighting aircraft use the airport as a base for fuel and supplies.

Search & Rescue and Medi-Vac aircraft also use the airport year round for public safety missions.

Aircraft used in law enforcement are a common site at the Nevada County Airport. The California Highway Patrol, the Nevada County Sheriff’s Department, and the FBI are only a few of the State and Federal agencies that have used our airport facilities.”

John J. O’Dell
Real Estate Broker
Looking for property in Nevada County
Go to JohnODellRealty.com

Real Estate

Thinking of Walking Away From Your Home? Here’s IRS’s Rules

Generally, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) treats debt forgiveness by a creditor as taxable income. However, under federal legislation that took effect in 2007, certain home mortgage debt cancellations—such as loan modifications, short sales, or foreclosures—may be exempted from federal taxes. Other exemptions are also available.

Important rules to consider

• Homeowners considering a loan modification, short sale, or foreclosure should note that the federal tax exclusion under the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 only applies to mortgage balances on a qualified principal residence and not on second homes, rental real estate, or business properties.

• The maximum amount of forgiven debt eligible under the 2007 law is $2 million for married taxpayers filing jointly and $1 million for single taxpayers.

• The debt reduction can only be for loan amounts used to buy, build, or substantially improve a principal residence, including refinance loans as long as an increase in the total mortgage debt if any is attributable to renovations and capital improvements of the house. However, if refinance proceeds were used for other personal purposes, such as paying off credit card bills, purchasing cars, or investing in stocks, then the mortgage debt attributable to those expenditures is not eligible for tax exclusion under the 2007 law.

• California homeowners who sold their house in a short sale or were foreclosed upon in 2009 still may have to pay state taxes on forgiven mortgage debt. The California legislature did not extend the tax exemption for mortgage debt forgiveness for state taxes. However, lawmakers are working on a bill that would provide the same tax relief on state taxes as the federal government currently offers.

To read the full story, please click here: Los Angles Times

Notice that the debt reduction states that if the home owner paid off credit cards or bought toys (cars, boats, vacations), stocks etc. than the debt reduction will be classified as income. Ouch! That can hurt, since I know some of my friends did that with their equity loans. In other words, if you took an equity loan for $100,000 and spent it on anything but improving your home the IRS counts that as earned taxable income.

So before walking away from your home check with your accountant or tax attorney.

John J. O’Dell
Real Estate Broker
Looking for real estate in Nevada County?

Find it at JohnODellRealty.com

Bits & Pieces

Nevada City Area’s Campaign For Google Fiber Network

As you may or many not know, a lot of cities are vying to have Google invest in bringing high speed internet connection to their city.  We are talking here of having internet connections 100 times faster than most Americans have access to today. Even if you are not interested in high speed internet connection this video gives you the dynamics of this community and how many tech companies there are here. We consider Nevada County as a mini Silicon Valley, with many tech companies that have started and grown up in this area.

This video is Nevada City’s area (95959) to convince Google to bring Google Fiber to their community. It’s very well done.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFhPPAYjdVU

Here’s Google’s Statement as to what they are trying to do:

“Our goal is to experiment with new ways to help make Internet access better and faster for everyone. Here are some specific things that we have in mind:

  • Next generation apps: We want to see what developers and users can do with ultra high-speeds, whether it’s creating new bandwidth-intensive “killer apps” and services, or other uses we can’t yet imagine.
  • New deployment techniques: We’ll test new ways to build fiber networks, and to help inform and support deployments elsewhere, we’ll share key lessons learned with the world.
  • Openness and choice: We’ll operate an “open access” network, giving users the choice of multiple service providers. And consistent with our past advocacy, we’ll manage our network in an open, non-discriminatory and transparent way.”

To read their entire mission go to Experimental Fiber Network

John J. O’Dell
Real Estate Broker

Looking for real estate in Nevada County?
Looking for short sales & foreclosure?

Go to JohnOdellRealty.com

Real Estate

Nabbing a Bargain-Basement Mortgage Before Rates Rise

The Federal Reserve has been purchasing mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac since early last year.  The purchase program has helped maintain low interest rates for borrowers.  As planned, the Fed this week announced it will stop purchasing these securities at the end of this month.  Many analysts anticipate this will result in a slight rise in rates by year’s end.

Making sense of the story for consumers

  • Interest rates have hovered at or near historic lows for much of the past 18 months, resulting in lower payments for many borrowers.  With the Fed discontinuing its purchase program, some analysts believe a rise in interest rates could range from 0.25 percent to as much as 1 percent by the end of 2010.
  • The federal tax credit for home buyers also is scheduled to end April 30.  The tax credit combined with the expectation interest rates will increase has created a sense of urgency for many home buyers.  In fact, 23 percent of California home buyers purchased a home in 2009 due to the perception that interest rates will rise and they would be priced out of the market, according to C.A.R.’s 2009 Survey of California Home Buyers.
  • Rising interest rates will have an effect on home buyers.  For example, a qualified couple with a combined pretax income of $100,000 per year and debt obligations (excluding mortgage) of $500 who receive a mortgage rate of 5 percent could qualify for a loan of up to $590,000, assuming a 20 percent down payment.  If the interest rate were to rise to 6 percent, as analysts at Barclays Capital predict, the same couple could only qualify for a mortgage of $540,000.

So in short, now is the time to buy real estate while home prices and interest rates are low.

John J. O’Dell
Real Estate Broker

Looking for Real Estate in Nevada County?

Find it at JohnOdellRealty.com

Do you have a question that’s holding you back
from buying or selling now? Call me, I can help
you!  530-263-1091