Sandy Vickrey's Winters, CA Blog

After three months in escrow on this short sale the buyers have walked!  Guess they couldn’t sell their home so decided to stay put.  Anyway, that makes this an amazing opportunity for someone.   It is hard to find a nice single story with over 1600 square feet.  The home was built in 2003 and has new granite counters in the kitchen.  Very neat and clean, call me to take a look.  We just got approval on the first so should move relativley quickly.  Let’s hope so anyway!

The owner of this property is very motivated to get this house sold by the end of the year.   Yes, I know it is a little messy looking on the outside.  The tenants are in the process of moving out and it is taking some time.  However, it is now easy to show and less crowded in there with most of their things are gone.  This is a good time to buy a house so come and take a look at a cute, remodeled Bungalow in downtown Winters.   Let’s make a deal!

According to the Federal Guidelines you need to be “in contract” by Friday April 30 in order to get the $8000. tax credit for first time home buyers.  Since there has hardly been any inventory in the past 5 months not enough people are going to be able to take advantage of this in my opinion.  There is a wonderful new listing on Dorset CT for $208,000 if anyone wants to make a run for it in the next two days.    The California tax credit is in effect until it runs out of money.    My accountant told me many of the young people in his office took advantage of the Federal Tax Credit this year.  Good Luck!

Positas Road, Winters, closed on Wednesday, April 21, 2010, two days ahead of time!  Positas Road is located West of town, just west of where Pleasants Valley Rd meets Highway 128.  It is a small private road with about 10 parcels and awesome views.  I am sure the new owner will love it up there.  The house was 1304 square feet with 3bedrooms and 2 baths and was built in 2001.  It sold for $392,000. with a $3000. credit to the Buyer in lieu of any repairs.     That is a very nice comparable sale for everyone. 

Hope to see you all tomorrow at Youth Day.

Last week we had not one, but two new listings come on the market.  The first one is at 1006 Suffolk Pl and is a little over 1200 square feet.  It is a 3/2 which needs some work.  Unfortunately, is smells of cat pee.  The really cool thing is that it backs up to Dry Creek so it  has no rear neighbor and has a great view of the foothills.  The other new listing popped up Saturday morning.  It is located at 304 Edwards St.  It has three bedrooms downstairs and two bedrooms upstairs.   It is a quaint older house that has been added on to and has 2 HVAC systems.  Let me know if you are interested in taking a look at either one of them.  Have a great week, Youth Day is next Saturday, don’t miss the parade and fun at the park.

Below is a quote from an article in the San Francisco Chronicle about the new home buyers tax credit.  It seems that the verdict is still out as to whether or not this applies to current escrows are only those who go into contract May 1, 2010 or later.  I tried several times yesterday to call the California Association of Realtors attorneys for clarification on this and the lines were always busy.  Then I resolved myself to call our local Assocation of Realtors and was just referred to another website with no answer.  As you can see from the link below it looks like everyone is waiting word from the Franchise Tax Board.  Wouldn’t you think they could write a bill  specifically states this such and the current federal rule states.  Too bad there is so much confusion.  Looks like we are “still waiting”.  I need to know so I can advise my clients as some of them might be better off closing in May instead of April.   

“First come-first served eligible taxpayers must close escrow between May 1, 2010 and Dec. 31, 2010, or after December 31, 2010 and before August 1, 2011, pursuant to an enforceable contract executed on or before December 31, 2010.

Watch for clarifications from the states Franchise Tax Board“

The following is an article that came to me via First American Title.  Always want to give credit where credit is due.  The one question everyone has is ” does this apply only to those people who go into contract after the Federal Tax Credit goes away on April 30, 2010?  In other words, non “double dipping”.  I need to call the CAR attorneys on this one as a lot of people are confused.  Anyway you look at it, it  is a good thing but the time constraint here is “when the money runs out”, not the dates.  Very important to remember, ie act quickly. 

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a new bill this week that would extend the $10,000 homebuyer tax credit to Californians. The state legislature on March 22 passed assembly bill (AB) 183, which gives the Franchise Tax Board authority to extend $200m in tax credits to homebuyers in the Golden State. Buyers of new, unoccupied homes are allocated $100m in credits, and first-time homebuyers of existing homes get another $100m. The credit is extended from May 1, 2010 to Dec. 31, 2010. The credit is available to buyers on a first-come, first-serve basis, and it’s applied in equal amounts over a three-year period. According to the governor’s office, the initial $100m tax credit approved in February 2009 lasted just four months

A lot of REO (foreclosure) agents told me that we would see a “flood” of new listings come on the market the first part of this year.   Well, we are almost done with the first quarter and April 30, 2010 is fast approaching and there arent’ any listings.  Why is that date important?  Well, in order to get the first time home buyer tax credit of $8000 you have to be in contract by April 30 and then close by June 30, 2010.  If there aren’t any listings then people can’t buy and therefore, can’t get the tax credit.    Since Bank of America and Wells Fargo Bank control/own the majority of the  foreclosed homes you gotta wonder why they aren’t putting them on the market.    Is there some conspiracy going on here?  No listings, no sales, no tax credit, saves the government a lot of money?  I wish I knew but food for thought for sure.  So the next BIG question is, will the government extend the credit once again?  I sure hope so.

Well, we finally have a new listing to show our clients!  There a new listing at 313 Creekside that has a granny flat over the garage.  The City ordinance states that the owner has to live in one or the other, so an investor can’t buy a “duplex”.    The home is listed at $259,900 and 3 bedrooms and 2 baths.  This is a popular neighborhood due to the fact that there is access to the trail that runs along Putah Creek and is close to the downtown area.  Come and take a look.

It has been a busy week.  Positas Rd had two really good offers on it and the sellers finally picked one of them.  This home has a beautiful view and I hope the new owner will love it as much as the current owner does.   Have a great weekend and enjoy this gorgeous weather we are having.