As the housing downturn has shown, home ownership is about more than buying a home – you have to make sure you can keep the home over the long term. If you’re thinking about buying a home, these five steps can help ensure you get the right house for you and the affordable financing that helps make home ownership a long-term success:

1.  Get Educated. A little mortgage know-how goes a long way toward ensuring you get an affordable mortgage

Before you hire an agent or find a lender, get educated on the loan process and key factors that make a loan affordable.  You’ll  want to know about loan types – fixed-rate mortgages, adjustable-rate mortgages, FHA and VA loans – and the full range of line items that contribute to the total cost of securing the loan, including discount points, appraisals, and real estate agent commissions.

If you would like more in-depth information, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) can put you in touch with the nearest housing counseling professional in your area. Visit www.HUD.gov for more information. You can also check with local government, neighborhood associations and neighborhood bank branch offices for information sessions on home buying as well as home-buyer-education programs.

2.  Get Your Finances in Order. Given today’s stronger lending guidelines, it’s more important than ever to get your finances in order

First, get a copy of your credit report, which usually includes your credit score. If your credit score is low (anything below 620), take the time to improve it.  If you find errors on the report, take the time to correct them.  This may put your home buying plans on hold (creditors typically look for a two-year history of consistent, on-time bill payment to establish good credit), but it could result in a better loan and more affordable rates.

3.  Establish a Budget. Before you start searching for your home, make sure you know how much home you can afford

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Californians have a brief window of opportunity to receive up to $18,000 in combined federal and state homebuyer tax credits.  To take advantage of both tax credits, a first-time homebuyer must enter into a purchase contract for a principal residence before May 1, 2010, and close escrow between May 1, 2010 and June 30, 2010, inclusive.  Buyers who are not first-time homebuyers may use the same timeframes to receive up to $16,500 in combined tax credits if they are long-time residents of their existing homes as permitted under federal law, and they purchase properties that have never been previously occupied as provided under California law.

Under the federal law slated to soon expire, a first-time homebuyer may receive up to $8,000 in tax credits, and a long-time resident may receive up to $6,500, for certain purchase contracts entered into by April 30, 2010 that close escrow by June 30, 2010.  Additionally, under a newly enacted California law, a homebuyer may receive up to $10,000 in tax credits as a first-time homebuyer or buyer of a property that has never been occupied.  The new California law applies to certain purchases that close escrow on or after May 1, 2010 (see Cal. Rev. & Tax Code section 17059.1(a)(4)).  California law generally allows buyers of never-occupied properties to reserve their credits before closing escrow, but buyers seeking to combine the federal and state tax credits will not be able to satisfy the timing requirements for such reservations (see Cal. Rev. & Tax Code section 17059.1(c)(1)(A)).  Other terms and restrictions apply to both tax credits.

In all cases, check with your accountant or tax attorney before buying your home if you want to take advantage of this program

John J. O’Dell
Real Estate Broker
Have a question about real estate?
Call me, I’ll be glad to help
530-263-1091

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The IRS has spelled out guidelines for eligibility for the home buyer credit when co-borrowers purchase a property.

When a home-owning parent of an adult child co-signs for a mortgage and both names appear on the note, the IRS says that under some circumstances, the first-time home buyer can qualify for the whole amount.

The IRS says the parent doesn’t qualify for any portion of the credit, but if the child hasn’t owned a home during the three years preceding the current purchase and can qualify based on income, he or she can be allocated the entire $8,000 credit.

When unmarried individuals co-purchase a home and only one of them is eligible for the credit, then the full $8,000 can be allocated to the eligible buyer.

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Putting your house on the market requires some common sense precautions.  There are many crooks out there with clever ways of taking advantage of vacant homes or stealing furniture and valuables from your home. We are fortunate here in Nevada County that we haven’t had anywhere near the problems that are experienced in the Bay Area.

But here are some lessons from our neighbors. 

“These thefts certainly occur in the Bay Area as well. From the New York Times in April, ’09:

…..Professional decorators stage unoccupied homes that are on the market with borrowed furnishings and appointments to help fetch top dollar, especially now that real estate sales have wilted like a week old flower arrangement…..but the same painstaking efforts to attract buyers have also attracted thieves.

In the East Bay, staged houses have been burglarized in Orinda, while in Piedmont, “the discriminating criminals have made off with bath linens, dressers, upholstered chairs and sofas, table lamps, mirrors and end tables (not to mention the flat-screen televisions).”

Police noticed several aspects of these crimes that should be of interest to sellers and agents.

1. In some cases, the thieves “appeared to have cased the homes during open houses and surreptitiously unlocked a window for future access”

2. Other crimes involved the use of cutting tools to remove lockboxes on the doors

3. Thieves can also remove door handles to get the house key out of the lockbox

4. Online advertising can work against the seller: a clearly staged home also clearly announces the home is vacant

The Indio California Police Department, where similar crimes are on the rise, explains the situation thus: Property crimes are going up in the bad economy.

Indeed, going up so much that the Oakland Association of Realtors has developed some tips/warnings for agents and sellers:

1. Use heightened vigilance…..let neighbors know that no one is authorized to take property out of a house

2. Consider an alarm system “to thwart the use of bump keys, a burglary tool illegal in California.”

3. Consider showing homes by appointment only: abolish the Sunday “anyone can come in at all” practice that works so well for thieves

Other common sense tips:

1. Don’t leave patio furniture or expensive plants outside of vacant homes

2. Agents should hold open houses with a team so that one person alone is not trying to watch the whole house

3. Homeowners, you might want to stick around the open house, too.”

Source: SF Gate

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Elizabeth Dunn

Hello readers, I am Elizabeth. John has extended an invitation for me to contribute to this blog. My contributions will revolve around the continuing education of my profession. I have a degree in Landscape Architecture and some people are still surprised that such a degree is available. In this first post, however, I will talk about the design process learned in school. We learned this process over and over for all sorts of projects including, private home landscapes, private business developments, community parks, vacation resorts, public developments, state and national parks, etc. During those 5 years of undergraduate education, these 5 steps were essential to creating a successful design.

Step 1 – Existing Site Survey: This is the map showing the current conditions of the property. The map would delineate the property lines, utilities, existing buildings, significant paved areas, etc. During step 1, the owner of the property should also be interviewed to discover what the intentions and desires are for the project site.

Step 2 – Site Analysis Plan: This plan builds upon the existing site survey by noting the physical conditions that affect the property. These may include, the location of the sun throughout the year, the direction of the winds, the flow of the water over the land, views to enhance, views to screen, etc. The second step includes the creation of a narrative from the interview in step one. The narrative defines the objectives of the project and guides the design in the remaining steps.

Step 3 – Concept Drawings: In the pen and paper days, this is the step that would have crumbled up pages strew over the floor. The pages would get thrown over a shoulder throughout the day and night as ideas continued to evolve. Finally a concept is developed that best meets the majority of objectives. Of course the designer and the client might not always agree which concept does this. Then more crumbled up paper would be strew about until eventually, the final concept is defined.

Step 4 – Construction Documents: This package of drawings help narrow the different interpretations of the concepts so all the different eyes on the project are seeing the same thing. These documents describe with detailed drawings how the ideas will come to life by studying the individual elements in relation to the specific environmental factors of the site.

Step 5 – Construction Administration: This fancy title describes the continued communication between the designer and installer. This communication is important, because even with the perfect set of construction documents, questions arise during the installation of a project. The other important part of this step is to create a set of As-Built drawings. These drawings record who installed the project, the final location of underground lines (i.e. irrigation and electrical lines), type of materials used and where they were purchased and specific plants installed.

So those are the 5 steps learned over 5 years in school. 1 year of tuition for 1 step in the process. You’d think I would have learned it all for that price! It is true that those years of education taught more than just those 5 steps and it also taught me to continue to study my profession. So thanks to John for providing me the motivation to get the books out!

Elizabeth Dunn is a licensed Landscape Architect. She spends the majority of her work days in the studio of Rebecca Cofffman Landscape Architects in Nevada City, CA.

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More than 80 percent of new single-family homes have at least two bathrooms, which occupy an average of 300 square feet of floor space, or 12 percent of the total area, according to a study by the National Association of Home Builders.

The home builder’s study reports a major return on value for extra bathrooms: “When the number of bathrooms is approximately equal to the number of bedrooms, an additional half-bath adds about 10 percent to the home’s value, and one additional bath adds about 19 percent.”

A mid-range bathroom remodel, which costs $10,500 on average nationwide, repays a home buyer at least 100 percent of the outlay when the property is sold, the home buyer study concludes.

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