Eugene Oregon Real Estate Blog

Good Morning!

There are many questions about the new tax plan currenty beeing looked at by the Senate.  How will it affect all of us?  There is much debate ahead and mostly likely many changes ahead before a bill is passed. The following is an article from "Realtor.com"  that goes over what is currently being discussed.

After months of internal debate among Republicans, the House Ways and Means Committee released the details of its plan to overhaul the U.S. tax code for businesses and individuals. The highlights include lower rates for many individual households but not the highest earners; fewer individual tax brackets; a larger standard deduction for households who don’t itemize their tax bills; trimmed-back deductions for state and local taxes; eventual repeal of the estate tax; and much lower rates for corporate profits and profits for individuals on unincorporated business income. Here is a look at all of the details.

New tax brackets and rates

Tax treatment for the wealthy is among the hottest issues. The House Republican tax plan will preserve a top individual tax rate of 39.6%. Republicans last year had been discussing a top rate of 33%, and then moved to 35% earlier this year.

The retention of the 39.6% individual tax rate marks a shift in the way Republicans think about tax policy. For years, they had focused on driving down that top tax rate. President Trump says he is instead focused on middle-income cuts and large changes to the business tax code, which he argues will boost growth and hiring.

Effect on deductions and credits

The plan aims to increase the standard deduction, while adjusting several other deduction and credits.

House Republicans had planned to release the bill Wednesday but delayed it until Thursday to finish technical work on the legislation and address thorny issues such as how to treat deductions for state and local taxes. Party leaders want to repeal the deduction, but that has sparked a rebellion from lawmakers in high-tax states like New York and New Jersey and set off a scramble for compromise, centered on keeping the deduction for property taxes.

Standard Deduction

• Current law for 2017: $12,700 (married); $9,350 (head of household); $6,350 (single)

• Proposed for 2018: $24,400 (married); $18,300 (head of household); $12,200 (single)

Personal Exemption

• Current law for 2017: $4,050

• Proposed: Repealed Child Tax Credit

• Current law: $1,000

• Proposed: $1,600 plus $300 each for the taxpayer, a spouse and any non-child dependents

State and Local Taxes

• Current law: Itemized deduction

• Proposed: Deduction capped at $10,000 for property tax only

Charitable Donations

• Current law: Itemized deduction

• Proposed: Unchanged

Mortgage Interest Deduction

• Current law: Itemized deduction on loans up to $1 million

• Proposed: Itemized deduction for loans up to $500,000 on new home purchases

Alternative Minimum Tax

• Current law: Parallel tax that disallows personal exemptions and state deductions• Proposed: Repealed

Retirement Accounts

• Current law: 401(k) plans allow pretax deferral of up to $18,000

• Proposed: Minor changes

Have An Awesome Week!

THIS WEEK'S HOT HOME LISTING!

927 S. 58th Street Price: $299,900 Beds: 3 Baths: 2 Sq Ft: 1522 Beautiful brand new home from builder Gary Konold. One level home features CORETec floors, granite counters, vaulted/high ceilings, gas fireplace & Great Room. Dining area w/ slider, kitchen w/ SS appliances, recessed lighting & peninsula with eatin... View this property >>

AND HERE'S YOUR MONDAY MORNING COFFEE!! 

36946 PARSONS CREEK RD Price: $389,900 Beds: 3 Baths: 1 Partial Baths: 1 Sq Ft: 1890 Rustic Tuscan country-style charm! Terra Cotta tile, wood flr, rustic dr & window wood trim, steel beams, large windows. Remodeled kitchen w/ ship lap feature wall, galvanized metal backsplash, butchers block countertop & eating bar. Kitchen opens t... View this property >>

AND HERE'S YOUR MONDAY MORNING COFFEE!! 

Good Monday Morning!

September home sales in the Eugene and Springfield market area cooled slightly, but the overall home sale market remains good.  The inventory of homes for sales remains low at just 2.1 months of inventory.  Even with the onset of Fall, the Real Estate market remains favorable for sellers and maybe slightly improved for homebuyers.  Here are the statistics for September 2017.

927 S. 58th Street Price: $325,000 Beds: 3 Baths: 2 Sq Ft: 1522 Beautiful brand new home from builder Gary Konold. One level home features CORETec floors, granite counters, vaulted/high ceilings, gas fireplace & Great Room. Dining area w/ slider, kitchen w/ SS appliances, recessed lighting & peninsula with eatin...View this property >>

AND HERE'S YOUR MONDAY MORNING COFFEE!! 

Good Monday Morning!

Yes, Fall is a great time to purchase a home.  This year in particular, you will have more homes to choose from and less competition.  The following is an article from "Realty Times" that gives some reasons as to why Fall home buying may be a smart move.

Seeing fewer for-sale signs now that summer is over? That can be great news for buyers who are looking to score a new home and buyers who want to get rid of their place and buy a new one. If you think you missed the boat on making your move this year, we're here to tell you why buying and selling in the fall can work for you.

Less competition

Yes, there may be fewer homes on the market, but there are also fewer buyers out there competing for the same home you want. That gives buyers an important edge. "Families on a mission to move into a new home before school starts are out of the picture," said Forbes. "Competition for houses drops off in the fall, a time many people consider to be off-season in real estate. But there are still homes for sale - and in some cases, there's just as much inventory as there was during the spring and summer."

The benefit to sellers is that those buyers who are out there tend to be more serious, which means yours REALTOR® can key in on the real buyers without having to sift through the riffraff.

Tax breaks

If you're a buyer who closes escrow before December 31, and you may get a nice write off on your taxes. "Property tax and mortgage interest are both deductions you can take for your whole year's worth of income, even if you closed on your home in December," David Hryck, a New York, NY tax adviser, lawyer, and personal finance expert told Realtor.com. "Any payments that are made prior to the closing of the loan are tax-deductible. This can make a serious difference in the amount you owe the government at the end of the year."

There are also potential tax breaks for home sellers. "You can include all sorts of selling expenses in the cost basis of your house," said The Balance. "Increasing your adjusted cost basis decreases your capital gain because this is what's subtracted from the sales price to determine how much of a gain - or loss in some cases - you've realized. If you have less of a gain, you're more likely to fall within the exclusion limit, and if you're gain isn't excluded, you'll pay taxes on less." And that's just the beginning. Closing costs and home improvements may also be write offs for sellers. Check out the full list here.

Home for the holidays

Buy or sell early in the fall and you could be nicely situated in your new home in time for the holidays and before winter weather hits. Moving during a calmer time of year also means you may have better access to movers and other necessary resources than during the busier spring and summer seasons.

The right price

Did you list in the spring or summer with an exorbitant number that you thought you'd have no trouble getting because it was a hot market? That's pretty common these days. Whether you've had a revelation about the price you should be asking or have made updates to your home to justify a higher price, you're probably in better shape to get your (realistic) asking price in the fall. If you're a seller and you establish a smart pricing strategy, you could find your home standing out in the crowd and selling while others sit on the market under a blanket of snow.

Buyers also may have a better time getting a home that's within their budget because when there is less competition for homes, there is less chance of bidding wars and over-asking-price sales.

Fall may be safer for buyers and sellers

Here's something you may not have thought of. "Did you know that burglars have peak seasons? They do, Sarah Brown, a home safety expert for SafeWise.com, told Forbes. "July and August are prime months for burglaries to take place. Waiting until the fall [to buy] gives you an advantage when learning about a home and the neighborhood. You'll be settled in your home and can take precautions—like setting up that new alarm system—before the next burglary season rolls around.

For sellers, less competition for your home can be a good thing if it means your home is safer from theft.

Great deals on stuff to fix up your home

Coordinate the timing right, and those items you need to fix up your home for sale in the fall or update and upgrade after a purchase might be priced to your advantage. Check Consumer Reports for a full list of the best times of year to buy everything, and keep in mind holiday and Black Friday sales. You could score some great deals at this time of year.

Have An Awesome Week!

THIS WEEK'S HOT HOME LISTING!

28667 HILLAIRE ST Price: $615,000 Beds: 3 Baths: 2 Sq Ft: 2000 Horse property only 5 mins from town! Nearly 6 level acres, backs up to canal & great for trail riding along Amazon. Wonderfully updated home with 2-car garage. 1 bedroom guest house w/ carport has income producing potential. 2 barns w/ 11 stalls, i... View this property >>

AND HERE'S YOUR MONDAY MORNING COFFEE!! 

Good Morning!

If you are interested in what is taking place with our national housing market, the following article will give you a good idea as to what is taking place.  This article from "Realtor.com", talks about the shortage of homes for sale and the effect it is having on home prices.

It's anyone's guess just how much higher home prices will go—and if they'll ever slow down. Besides, if you could see the future, wouldn't you rather focus your energies on predicting the winning lottery numbers?

Nationally, the median existing-home price for single-family abodes zoomed up to $255,600 in the second quarter of the year, according to the new quarterly report from the National Association of Realtors®. (Existing homes are previously lived-in residences as opposed to newly built abodes.) That was up 10.1% from the first quarter of the year and represented a 6.2% rise from the second quarter of last year.

Prices are continuing their steady climb because there simply aren't enough homes on the market to go around. As the economy has improved, more people who held off on becoming homeowners or trading up to bigger, better abodes are getting into the market. "Household incomes may be rising and giving consumers assurance that now is a good time to buy," NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement. "But these severe inventory shortages will likely continue to be a drag on sales potential the second half of the year."

The cost of buying a single-family home increased in about 87% of the metros that NAR looked at. Prices dropped in just 23 markets.

That might explain why sales of all existing homes, which include both single-family residences and condos, fell 0.9% in the second quarter. They hit 5.57 million, according to the seasonally adjusted numbers in the report.

"With new supply not even coming close to keeping pace, price appreciation remained swift in most markets," Yun said. "An increasing share of would-be buyers are being priced out of the market and are unable to experience the wealth-building benefits of homeownership."

Even the median prices of lower-priced condos and co-ops shot up to $239,500. That's up nearly 9.5% from the first quarter of 2017 and represented a 5.4% rise from the second quarter of last year. Sorry, buyers.

The most expensive metros were, unsurprisingly, primarily in California. Silicon Valley's San Jose topped the list with a median price of$1,183,400 for a single-family, existing home, according to the report.

Silicon Valley buyers are "commonly very well-to-do people in their mid-20s to mid-40s. Most typically are working in high tech," says Realtor® Avi Urban of Keller Williams Palto Alto. "Many of them are making enormous amounts of money."

But prices fluctuate during the year depending on the season as well as the local job market, he says.

"As long as the Silicon Valley economy is doing well, I do not expect prices to go down," Urban says. "I expect prices to continue with more gradual, moderate appreciation."

San Jose was followed by its neighbor to the north, San Francisco, at $950,000; Anaheim, CA, at $788,000; Honolulu, at $760,600; and San Diego, at $605,000.

Meanwhile, the cheapest metros were Youngstown, OH, at $87,000; Cumberland, MD, at $98,200; Decatur, IL, at $107,400; Binghamton, NY, at $109,000; and Elmira, NY, at $111,600.

 Have An Awesome Week!

THIS WEEKS HOT HOME LISTING!

87716 ERDMAN WAY Price: $309,900 Beds: 4 Baths: 2 Sq Ft: 1850 Seclusion & privacy! 360 degree tree views on level 5.04 acres. Land is subdividable; potential for multiple dwellings. City water plus well. 2 septic systems. RV parking, huge lawn, lg deck, + small wildlife & deer sightings. Spacious 1-owner manuf...View this property >>

AND HERE'S YOUR MONDAY MORNING COFFEE!! 

Good Monday Morning!

The national housing market could be very close to seeing a huge surge in the number of homebuyers actively looking for and purchasing new homes.  This is a surge that is sure to hit the housing markets acrosss the nation and have a huge impact at some time soon.  The following is an interesting article about "Boomerang" buyers from "Realty Times".

Remember all those people who defaulted on their homes during the last housing crisis? Well, those bankruptcies are about to be discharged, or they already have been, and that means we could soon see an avalanche of homebuyers hitting the market.

Just what constitutes an avalanche? "More than 12.8 million homes entered the foreclosure process - roughly 29 percent of all homes with a mortgage," between 2007 and 2014," said The BIG Picture. "At the peak of foreclosures in 2009, more than 650,000 homes, 1.5 percent of those with a mortgage, entered foreclosure in a single quarter."

According to CoreLogic, this is a key year for boomerang buyers because seven years have passed since the peak of foreclosures in 2010. A whopping "1.9 million homeowners who faced owner-occupied foreclosures between the start of the housing crisis in 2007 through 2010 will have met the seven-year period after which the Fair Credit Reporting Act requires derogatory information to be removed," they said. "By the end of 2020, another 1.2 million homeowners who lost their homes to foreclosure between 2011 and 2013 will become eligible."

A new TransUnion Study Found that, "1.5 million homeowners negatively impacted by the mortgage crisis could re-enter the housing market in the next three years."

But do they want back in?

Many think so.

"The chief attraction is strong motivation, Kent Temple, broker/owner of Keller Williams Realty - The Temple Team in Mooresville, N.C., said on Bankrate. "If you've been through a foreclosure, you've already been a homeowner. "You know what it's about. You know the process. You've been through hell sometime in the last seven years, and if you really want to buy a house, you are so willing to do whatever it takes."

But some aren't so sure.

"As those foreclosures began to clear, many observers speculated that a slew of ‘boomerang buyers' was poised to return to the housing market," said The BIG Picture. "Those buyers have been slow to materialize. So what's hindering their return?"

Oh, little things like:

• Rising home prices
• Rising mortgage rates
• Low inventory
• More stringent lending requirements
• Credit scores that haven't jumped back up to where they need to be because of other delinquency issues

There may also be the fear factor. Do buyers who lost a home to foreclosure once before want to take the risk again? If they do, they are largely looking to be more careful this time around, said Jami Harich, a real estate agent with Avery-Hess Realtors in Fredericksburg, VA, in the Washington Post. "Most buyers I work with now, especially if they lost a home in the past, don't want to get in over their heads. They start with a monthly payment that they want to stick to, and then I show them what they can find on the market that fits in that budget."

Whatever their reasoning, "History says not all those buyers are likely to come back," said The BIG Picture.

"According to a 2016 study by CoreLogic, fewer than half of those who lost a home in 2000 or later have purchased new homes, even among those 16 years past a foreclosure." The boomerang rate has been especially low so far for people who lost their homes during the crisis. A little over 30 percent of borrowers who lost their homes in 2000 had purchased another home seven years after the event. But only about 15 percent to 20 percent of borrowers who lost a home between 2006 and 2008 had returned to the housing market after seven years."

Quick or slow

Perhaps it's the rate at which boomerang buyers have been returning (or not) to the market that has surprised industry experts the most. Instead of the rapid return like many had predicted, the boomerang effect has been more tempered, according to CoreLogic.

"While millions of former homeowners reentering the buying market would have a significant impact on home sales, historical data shows a more gradual return rate for these so-called boomerang buyers, with less than half returning to homeownership even 16 years after the foreclosures were completed. Historical return rates show recent incremental volumes of 150,000 boomerang buyers returning per year, or 12,500 per month. Of the 4.4 million owner-occupied foreclosures completed since 2000, 1 million foreclosed homeowners have returned."

Have An Awesome Week!

THIS WEEK'S HOT HOME LISTING!

56324 MCKENZIE HWY Price: $349,000 Beds: 3 Baths: 2 Sq Ft: 2070 Riverfront Retreat on 2.48 Acres! Enjoy river views spanning south end of property. Unwind in hot tub, walk short trail for easy river access & relax on large deck. Beautiful park-like yard w/ horseshoe pit, sand volleyball ct, garden & mature trees...View this property >>

AND HERE'S YOUR MONDAY MORNING COFFEE!! 

Good Monday Morning!

The sales numbers are in for July 2017 home sales in the Eugene and Springfield market areas.  Although, sales cooled slightly and the inventory also increased, the overall sales market remains strong.  Here is the report.

87716 ERDMAN WAY Price: $309,900 Beds: 4 Baths: 2 Sq Ft: 1850 Seclusion & privacy! 360 degree tree views on level 5.04 acres. Land is subdividable; potential for multiple dwellings. City water plus well. 2 septic systems. RV parking, huge lawn, lg deck, + small wildlife & deer sightings. Spacious 1-owner manuf...View this property >>

AND HERE'S YOUR MONDAY MORNING COFFEE!! 

Good Morning! I am often asked about home mortgages and what home loans are the best way to go.  There are many options out there today and some options are certainly better than others depending on your situation.  The following article is from "Realty Times" and it talks about the differences between loans with low down payments and those with higher downs.   The minimum down payment on an FHA loan is 3.5 percent, which makes it a popular choice among those who don't have the funds for a large down payment (and also those who don't meet the higher credit score requirements for other types of loans). And that's not even the lowest you can go. Loans like this one require only three percent down, and if you're a veteran or are buying a home in a rural area, you may be able to buy a home for nothing down. But should you go that low just because you can, or are you better off making a larger down payment? We're breaking it down. The case for 20 percent There are several advantages to putting down 20 percent when buying a home, like: Since the bank will generally consider you a lower risk because you have "more skin in the game," you may be able to get a lower interest rate than you would with other types of loans—as long as you have the credit score to support it. You'll have built-in equity as soon as you move in. You can avoid paying private mortgage insurance (PMI). It's that last part that drives a number of people to strive for that 20 percent down payment since PMI can add several hundred dollars to a new homeowner's monthly payment, and it can be hard to get rid of it. "If you can put 20% down and avoid PMI, that is ideal, said certified financial planner Sophia Bera on Business Insider.   The case for as little down as possible The biggest roadblock to homeownership for many people is coming up with the down payment, so minimizing that expense sounds great, right? "The good news is a first-time buyer can purchase a home for a little as three percent down - and even no money down in some cases," said U.S. News. But is that a smart move? "The less you put down, the higher the mortgage insurance is," Casey Fleming, author of "The Loan Guide: How to Get the Best Possible Mortgage" and a mortgage professional in the San Francisco Bay Area, told them. "With five percent down, the mortgage insurance is quite high."  Yep, there's that pesky PMI again, which, for many first-time buyers, pushes their monthly payment to a level they're not comfortable with. Another bummer about PMI: "If you need to pay PMI, the size loan you can get will be slightly smaller, to allow for the bigger payment," they said. You may also have trouble qualifying for a loan even if you have a high enough credit score because you don't have enough cash reserves; if you are using all your savings for the down payment and the lender questions where the funds for your closing costs, taxes and insurance, and any needed repairs are coming from, you could have a problem. But, on the flip side, a smaller down payment will up your rate of return, said The Mortgage Reports. "Consider a home which appreciates at the national average of near five percent. Today, your home is worth $400,000. In a year, it's worth $420,000. Irrespective of your down payment, the home is worth twenty-thousand dollars more. That down payment affected your rate of return. With 20 percent down on the home - $80,000 - your rate of return is 25 percent. With three percent down on the home - $12,000 - your rate of return is 167 percent." Even when you add in the PMI and a higher interest rate, the equation comes out in favor of the lower down payment. "With three percent down, and making adjustments for rate and PMI, the rate of return on a low-down-payment loan is still 106 percent - much higher than if you made a large down payment. The less you put down, then, the larger your potential return on investment." The case for somewhere in between Finding that balance between down payment and savings is a challenge for many homebuyers, and the sweet spot will be different for everyone depending on their unique circumstances and financial situation. Most financial experts will say that saving and scrounging to get together 20 percent at the risk of depleted savings and zero emergency funds is a shaky strategy, at best. "If putting 20 percent down means that you use all of your savings, then don't do it! I would much rather see people put five percent down, wipe out all their other debt with cash, and still have three months of emergency savings versus putting 20 percent down on a house," said Bera. Especially when you consider all the added costs you may be facing once you buy: "yard work, home repairs, renovation costs, property taxes, insurance, etc. It's important to consider all of the costs and not just compare the monthly mortgage payment to your current rent amount," she said. Another thing to consider when evaluating how much you should put down is what would happen if you had an emergency. It's easy to lose sight of real-life issues that can arise when you are so driven to buy a home and focused on saving the money to get there. "A financial event can leave you wishing you had access to the money without selling," said The Mortgage Reports. "Say you lose a job for three months. An extra $20,000 would be a nice safety cushion. And, if you lose your source of income, you can't take home equity out via a cash-out refinance or home equity line of credit (HELOC). Lenders won't approve a new loan to someone between jobs. In short, the more you need to get at the money, the less access you have to it." If you have further questions on home loans, contact me.  I work with some of the best mortgage professonals in the Eugene and Springfield area and I can get you connected with one of them. Have an awesome day! 1350 DAVID AVE Price: $227,500 Beds: 3 Baths: 2 Sq Ft: 1920 Spacious and bright! Triple-wide manufactured home on its own lot. Features an open layout, vaulted/high ceilings & lots of natural light. Large living rm plus family rm. Kitchen w/ island & eating bar. Large open dining area. Master suite with 2 cl... View this property >>

1350 DAVID AVE Price: $235,000 Beds: 3 Baths: 2 Sq Ft: 1920 Spacious and bright! Triple-wide manufactured home on its own lot. Features an open layout, vaulted/high ceilings & lots of natural light. Large living rm plus family rm. Kitchen w/ island & eating bar. Large open dining area. Master suite with 2 cl...View this property >>

AND HERE'S YOUR MONDAY MORNING COFFEE!!