We specialize in Goodyear AZ and

Buckeye AZ real estate

The Krone Team
at Keller Williams Realty Professional Partners

1626 N. Litchfield Rd., Ste 110
Goodyear, AZ 85395

Phone: 623-337-8277
866-540-9899
Email: Info@KroneTeam.com

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photo credit: SearchNetMedia

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There has been a lot of questions lately about the new tax credit that just passed into law. Basically, there are two types of buyers who qualify.

1. $6500 is now available for buyers who have lived in their home for 5 years – That’s right, the government has now extended the credit to existing homeowners. Check it out here: http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/faq2.php

2. $8,000 is still available for the first time homebuyer – The first-time homebuyers credit has now been extended until April 30th. That’s right, $8,000 for buying a first home! Check it out here: http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/faq1.php

As always, I’m here to help with any real estate need!

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We get a lot of questions about the neighborhood of Sundance in Buckeye. Sundance is a well kept golf course community which sits right off the I-10 between Watson & Miller roads. The houses vary in size from around 1200 sq/ft to over 3,000 sq/ft. Right now you can get a screaming deal in this area. The reason being is that there was an onslaught of foreclosures in this area. Sundance was very over valued at one time, and it caused the prices to really fall rapidly.

There is one thing to watch out for when purchasing in Sundance. That is the CFD, or community facility district assessment. This is an assessment put on each home in order to pay for roads and infrastructure. There are two type of CFD’s in Sundance. There is the special assessment lien bond and the general obligation bond. The special assessment lien bond is billed directly to the homeowner twice a year. The general obligation bond is billed through taxes. Let us know if you have any specific questions on these special assessments.

The golf course at Sundance is well-maintained. They have a great golf club as well.

Contact The Krone Team today for more information on this great neighborhood!

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You’ve seen the news spots. You’ve read the newspaper. But what’s REALLY going on in our west valley market today? The name of the game right now is short sales. I ran an MLS search last night & currently short sales are outnumbering foreclosures 2 to 1 in Goodyear and Buckeye. This can be frustrating to some, and a non-issue to others. True, you can find an OUTSTANDING deal on a short sale….if you have time to wait.

The Waiting Game Currently banks are taking anywhere from 45 to 90 days to respond to an offer on a short sale. Once they have responded, closing is still 30-45 days out from that time. 45 to 90 days doesn’t seem like a lot of time when you first hear it, but when you’re waiting on an answer for possibly the largest purchase of your life, it can be an eternity. Short sales are definitely out for a first time homebuyer trying to get in on the government’s tax credit. For a person who already has a place to live in the meantime, it’s not a bad deal. We’ve come up with a formula that seems to be working. We are asking our buyer’s to put down $1000 earnest money into title when submitting an offer to the bank. This money is non-refundable for the first 70 days. This shows the bank that we are a serious buyer, and not just putting in offers left and right. It seems to be working. After the 70 days has expired the buyer has the option to get their earnest money back or continue to hang in there.
Release the hounds….no release the foreclosures! You may have heard rumors that banks are not releasing foreclosures until toward the end of the year. There is really no way to prove this one way or another. But judging by the short sale to foreclosure ratio mentioned above, one can only hope.

Bidding Wars I hear it all of the time. “I don’t want to get into a bidding war.” It is true that nobody wants to pay too much for a home. But with homes at a 50% reduction from 4 years ago, paying a couple of extra thousand to get the house you really want doesn’t seem like such a bad idea. Our market in Phoenix has always typically cycled every 2-4 years, so it’s only natural that prices will eventually go back up. And the couple of extra thousand a person paid to get into a home will be well worth it once the home appreciates possibly $10,000 or more. We’re seeing multiple offer situations on foreclosures. In a short sale the bank will typically only work one offer at a time, so this really doesn’t come into play.

What about sellers? Unfortunately sellers have to contend with foreclosures and other short sales on the market right now. Reasons homeowners are selling now are financial burden or job relocation. Unless you paid cash for your home or put down a very large down payment, you may have to do a short sale. We have short sale specialists on our team who are very knowledgeable about how to get these put through. Please call me for more information.

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The bottom of the housing decline is near, predicted analysts and home builders attending the National Association of Home Builders’ semiannual Construction Forecast Conference last week.

Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Economy.com, facetiously picked a date when home prices would stop falling: Dec. 15, 2009. Other observers weren’t so precise, but they did generally agree that the federal government’s efforts to shore up the market would take effect by the end of 2009 or early in 2010.

Analysts also predicted that consumers will spend less on remodeling. Eric Belsky, executive director at Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, predicted that spending on remodeling would fall 12.3 percent by the end of this year compared to last.

Analysts project that the credit crisis will loosen, although people with blemished credit records may continue to have trouble getting mortgage loans.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, June Fletcher (04/24/2009)

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The time to buy Goodyear real estate or Buckeye real estate has never been better. Interest rates are at an all time low, and home prices are following suite. Belive it or not, we’re starting to see multiple offers again and houses going for over the asking price. We’re still seeing a lot of foreclosures still coming on the market, but the demand is rising. This will eventually lead to the demand meeting the supply and will balance out our market. We believe we’re “skipping along the bottom” right now. Call The Krone Team today at 623-337-8277 to get started!

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Oh, the short sale. Almost 1/2 of the homes on the market today are either short sales or foreclosures. There are some advantages in buying a short sale, and also some frustrations.

By definition, a short sale is where the seller owes more money on their home than the market is willing to pay. This has become very commonplace due to the intense appreciation we were experiencing 2-3 years ago.

The advantage from a buyer’s perspective is obviously finding a good deal. Often banks are letting homes go for rock-bottom prices just to get them off their books. The disadvantage is the amount of time it takes for the bank to respond. Typically the Loss Mitigation Department works on these short sales. They are extremely backed up at the moment, so a it may take them 4-8 weeks to get an answer back on a buyer’s offer. This can be frustrating for any buyer.

Bottom line: The bargains are there, as long as time is on your side. By the way, the banks are much more timely on homes that have already hit foreclosure.

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The methamphetamine problem is continuously growing in Arizona and this affects Real Estate. The production of one pound of methamphetamine creates 5 to 8 pounds of toxic waste and releases poisonous gas into the atmosphere. These toxins tend to get dumped into drains and yards.

Real Estate Agents are required by law to reveal drugmanufacturing residue, however they are not required to discover all defects of a property. Older meth manufacturing techniques leave behind odors and stains, but new meth techniques are odorless and require actual chemical testing. Buyers need to look out for supplies such as over-the-counter medications and household cleaning products along with battery acid, antifreeze and plastic tubs – all of these products together indicate some type of methamphetamine manufacturing.

It is necessary that the home seller gives a property disclosure to the home buyers listing any defects to the property including former meth labs. Failure to provide this disclosure could result in civil and criminal action, and in some cases even cancel the sale. Not every seller knows what their property was used for; to protect the buyer and seller from court time get a thorough property inspection.

Cleaning up a property that was formerly a meth lab can cost up to $10,000 by a cleaning professional. For more information regarding Meth Labs and Real Estate visit these sites:

www.thekroneteam.com
www.kci.org

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This article on CNN.com is pretty great. Check it out:

7 year-end tax-saving moves Congress may be taking its time to protect you from the AMT, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make some last-minute moves to reduce your tax bill.
By Jeanne Sahadi, CNNMoney.com senior writer
November 19 2007: 5:20 AM EST

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — You probably don’t know what your federal tax liability will be for 2007, and Congress certainly isn’t helping. Lawmakers have yet to pass a temporary fix to the Alternative Minimum Tax, to prevent 21 million of us from having to pay the so-called wealth tax.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t take a number of steps now to reduce your bill, whatever it turns out to be.

Here are some year-end tips culled from tax information publishers CCH and J.K. Lasser, the New York State Society of CPAs, and the National Association of Tax Practitioners.

1. Re-energize your house
If you were thinking of going green (check out a recent Krone Team blog piece) in your home, you’ve got about a month left to do so and still get credit for it. That’s because two key energy tax credits are scheduled to expire at the end of this year. A credit is a dollar-for-dollar reduction of your tax bill.

You can reduce your tax bill by up to $500 if you install insulation, windows, doors or central air conditioning that meet certain energy conservation standards.

You also can take a credit up to $2,000 if you install a solar-powered hot water system or solar photovoltaic panels, which convert sunlight into electricity.

There are constraints on how much you can take for any one type of installation (e.g., no more than $200 for windows), so check here for the specifics.

2. Cut your capital gains tax
With all the punishing volatility in stocks this year there’s a good chance you’ve got some capital losses in your taxable investment accounts that you could take to offset any capital gains you’ve realized this year.

Your losses can offset 100 percent of your capital gains plus up to another $3,000 in ordinary income. If you have losses beyond that you can carry them forward to use on future tax returns.

One caveat, though: your loss will be disallowed if you reinvest in the same stock or fund that you sold within 30 days before or after the sale.

3. Maximize savings tax breaks
While it’s never too late to start saving, it can be too late if you want your contribution to count as deductible for a given tax year.

You have until Dec. 31 to make a 2007 tax-deferred contribution to your 401(k) — that will reduce your adjustable gross income and therefore your tax bill. The maximum contribution you may make this year is $15,500 (or $20,500 if you’re 50 or older).

When it comes to deductible IRAs, to which you may contribute up to $4,000 this year, you will have until April 15, 2008 to both set up the IRA (if you haven’t already done so) and make your 2007 contribution. (Check here to see if you qualify to make deductible contributions to an IRA.)

If you’re self-employed and want to set up a profit-sharing Keogh plan, you must do so by Dec. 31. But you will have until your tax return due date (which may be as late as Oct. 15, 2008) to make a contribution and have it count for 2007. The maximum you may contribute is 100 percent of compensation or $45,000, whichever is less.

If you have a Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) IRA, you have until the due date of your tax return to both set up the account and make your 2007 contributions, which can’t exceed $45,000.

If you need added incentive to save, you may qualify for an income tax credit up to $2,000 for your IRA or workplace retirement plan contributions. The saver’s credit, as it’s called, is available to taxpayers whose adjusted gross incomes are $25,000 or less for single filers, or $50,000 or less for married couples filing jointly.

4. Time your bonuses and investment gains
There are times when it makes sense for tax purposes to either defer or accelerate taking income or selling an investment.

Generally speaking, if you’re in a high tax bracket it may reduce your tax bite if you postpone some income to next year. That’s because the income ranges that apply to each tax bracket go up with inflation annually, so more of your income will be taxed in 2008 at lower rates.

The kinds of payments you might consider postponing: a bonus or payment of bills from your clients if you run a small business. In order for it to be considered 2008 income, the checks must be issued in 2008. If you get a check in 2007 and just don’t deposit it, it will still count as 2007 income.

For retirees planning to take large distributions from their IRAs, it may make sense to take part in December and part in January. By doing so, “you may avoid moving to a higher tax bracket in either year, and keep more of your Social Security benefits from being taxed as well,” said Mark Luscombe, CCH’s principal federal tax analyst, in a statement.

On the other hand, there are cases when it may pay to take more of your income this year. For instance, if you’re planning to sell some appreciated stocks or funds and you have a good chance of being in the 10 percent or 15 percent tax bracket next year if you take more income this year, you’ll enjoy a 0 percent capital gains and dividend rate in 2008.

5. Time your deductions
If your last 2007 property tax bill is due in January, opting to pay it in December will boost your deductions for this year, unless you’re subject to the Alternative Minimum Tax, which disallows deductions for property taxes. You also might consider making an extra mortgage payment this year since you can deduct the extra interest.

The same principle applies to any other itemized deductions such as charitable contributions, job-related deductions or medical procedures (if you think your medical costs for the year will exceed 7.5 percent of your adjustable gross income).

6. Mind the aging kiddie
The kiddie tax governs how a child’s capital gains, dividends and interest are taxed. A portion (currently the first $850) is tax free, another portion (currently the next $850) is taxed at the child’s tax rate (typically 5% to 10%), and anything beyond that threshold is taxed at the parents’ (typically higher) rate.

The kiddie tax still applies only to those under 18. But starting next year, it will snare an older group — specifically, those under 19 or to full-time students under 24 who don’t earn enough to pay for at least half their support.

So if your children are between 19 and 23 this year and are in the 15 percent tax bracket or less, they might do better to sell some of their appreciated assets now because their capital gains and dividend rate is only 5 percent. If they wait until next year, they’ll once again be subject to the kiddie tax, and a portion of their gains and dividends may be subject to your tax rates.

7. Make charitable contributions
Generosity is a tax-deductible event.

If you make a cash donation, you have to substantiate it with a letter or receipt from the organization, a cancelled check or a bank statement showing the donation. Any documentation must include the name of the charitable organization as well as the date and amount of the contribution.

If you donate clothes or household items, you can only take the deduction if they are in good condition.

If you give appreciated property, you often may deduct the full market value.

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Wow! Helpful information there. You’ve still got time to do these things before January.

For more information, check us out at www.thekroneteam.com

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Get more information at our website, www.thekroneteam.com or click here to go right to our listings!

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How much does it cost to do an exchange?

The exchange fee for properties under $200,000 (1 for 1) should be around $600.00, with no interest paid to the exchanger. For exchange property in excess of $200,000, the exchanger has a choice of two fee options. If the exchanger chooses to earn interest on exchange funds held, the fee is around $750 plus $250 for each replacement property. If the
exchanger chooses not to receive interest, the exchange fee is around $500 plus $250 for each replacement property.

Get more investor information at www.thekroneteam.com and don’t miss out on our short sale and foreclosure listings!

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Our motto is “Integrity Based, Service Driven” We believe integrity is the basis of any real estate transaction. Without that, we would quickly go out of business. Service Driven means that we’re always there for our clients every step of the way. We also strongly believe in service after the sale. Our clients keep coming back because we go the extra mile to ensure each client has a positive real estate experience. Our local area expertise ensures we put you in the right home for the right price, or sell your home in a timely manner. You benefit from the latest real estate technology, putting you in the driver’s seat. Work with us and you will benefit from over 28 years of real estate experience. All aspects of real estate are covered on our team, from investors to first time home-buyers to homeowners needing to do a short sale, we have the special skill set needed to navigate in this ever-changing market.

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