Just reported on MSNBC “Senators agree to extend homebuyer tax credit”

Senators agreed to extend the existing tax credit for first-time homebuyers while offering a reduced credit of up to $6,500 to repeat buyers who have owned their current homes for at least five years, said Regan Lachapelle, a spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

The bill, in which the Credit is a part of, could come up to vote as soon as Thursday.

There are lots of different ideas about how Congress is going to address the First Time Home Buyer Credit which ends at the end of November.  The only thing that is clear is that the topic is being actively discussed in Congress .  On Monday I wrote about the Bloomberg article that reports the Credit phasing out though next year. That story is titled “Nelson Says Senate to Extend, Reduce Homebuyer Credit (Update3)“ Posted October 26, 2009 17:58 EDT.

There were more articles yesterday.  The National Association of Realtors quotes a Bloomberg story today that is also cited on Calculated Risk and OregonLive’s Front Porch.  That story is “Senate Close to Deal Replacing Homebuyer Tax Credit (Update2)” posted October 27, 2009 18:31 EDT and includes this:

The deal would reduce the size of the tax credit to 10 percent of the sale’s price, capped at $7,290, the people said. The credit would be available on home purchases that are under contract by April 30, and borrowers would have 60 days more to close the sale. The existing credit is due to end Nov. 30.

Reuters also has a story today (posted 10/28 4:38 eastern).  “Senators eye extending home credit to end of April“.  In part:

Under an agreement reached by key senators, the tax credit would be extended through the end of April and be expanded to cover repeat buyers who have been in their homes at least five years, sources familiar with the plan said.

First-time buyers would continue to get an $8,000 credit, while repeat buyers of primary residences would be eligible for a credit of $6,500, the sources said.

They said the credit would be available for individuals making up to $125,000 a year and couples earning up to $225,000 per year.

Case Shiller for August reports that the Portland housing market is up from July but not by much and behind the national average.  Portland increased from was up .40 points to 150.4.  The national 20 city index was up 2.3 points.

The Portland real estate market has risen 3.61 points since its low in April.

More later.

Time is running out for the First Time Buyer Credit but Congress seems to be moving towards an extension. The possibility of writing an offer and closing on a short sale property before the deadline passed weeks ago.  The comfort zone for closing a “regular” sale has passed and gotten to the risk of not closing by December 1.  Not impossible, still doable but don’t cash that check ’til you qualify.

Bloomberg.com reports today:

Oct. 26 (Bloomberg) — Senate leaders are negotiating to extend and gradually reduce an $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers through 2010, Senator Bill Nelson of Florida said.

“We should be able to extend that later this week,” Nelson, a Democrat, told reporters traveling today with President Barack Obama on Air Force One to a speech in Jacksonville, Florida.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus of Montana, both Democrats, may seek to add the homebuyers extension to legislation extending unemployment benefits that may be debated as early as this week, according to Regan Lachapelle, an aide to Reid.

Lawmakers are under pressure from real estate agents, mortgage brokers and homebuilders to extend the $8,000 credit before it expires Nov. 30.

Baucus and Reid made a proposal last week to Senate Republicans that would extend the homebuyer credit through 2010, Lachapelle said. First-time homebuyers who close before April 1 would get the full $8,000, and the credit’s value would be reduced by $2,000 in each successive quarter until expiring at the end of the year.

See for complete article.

Case Shiller Index released tomorrow.

Multnomah County has long been heralded for its PortlandMaps website as the resource for just about everything relating to the public record  for real estate inside of Multnomah County.  But what about Washington County permit and tax information?

Washington County’s online presence now has InterMap.  From Intermap, if you click on Assessment & Taxation Information subcategory you can look at the tax record for an individual address within in Washington County. I do not see the current tax year amount amount due  listed but you can get to the amount from the online payment center.  There is a convenience fee for paying online.

The site also has a very good explanation of what your tax bill means (click graphic to enlarge and here to open description in a new window).

There are also instructions on how to appeal your property taxes (by Dec. 31).

You can also skip InterMap altogether and go straight to the taxation and assessment website.

Portland area property tax bills are in the mail and available online for Multnomah County (note the disclaimer on their site).  The one I am looking at now reveals:  the Real Market Value is down two percent from 2009.  The tax assessed value is up exactly three percent.  The total dollar amount due is up one half of one percent.  There is a $77.88 discount if the bill is paid in full by November 16th.  Each tax bill is unique to the property, different areas have different mill rates.

For more information: Division of Assessment, Recording and Taxation.

More coming soon on other counties.

Every year, the National Association of Realtors publishes a cost value report.  The graphic to the right is from their 2008 report.  It is important to note that not a single item on the list has a return equal to its cost.  That though doesn’t tell the whole story.

In years past, it was fairly easy for a buyer to access cash to complete renovations and remodels.  Then equity lines and other sources of money got harder to acquire which then limits the buyer’s ability to take on a project house rather than a completed house.  Even in the case of building sweat equity the buyer still has to be able to fund the materials cost.

The result is that we are seeing move-in ready houses sell faster than project houses.  The question becomes what remodeling to do?  The answer isn’t set in stone but here are my thoughts:

The house needs to be commensurate or better in relation to itself and its surroundings- avoiding extremes.   If your gutters are falling off they need to be fixed but they don’t need to be copper gutters unless all the surrounding houses have copper gutters. Your buyer probably won’t pay more because its the only house on the street with copper gutters.

Looking at the house itself, what sticks out as not being on par with the rest of the property?  The 1970s wall oven may function perfectly but it sticks out as being out of place in  remodeled kitchen.  I wouldn’t refinish wood floors if I wasn’t going to paint walls but you’ve also got to aware of the snowball effect of remodeling.  If it sticks out and is viable to do something about it, do it.

In my opinion, adding a half bathroom to a three bedroom one bathroom house has more value than adding a full bathroom to a four bedroom two bathroom house even if the projects cost the exact same amount.  There is less return as you get away from minimums (adding a second garage space does not have the return of adding the first).

You need to address what you want versus what the buyer wants.  That really cool customized space for your wigimillwallit is really cool but only cool for your wigimillwallit.  If you are going to get years of enjoyment out of it before selling, go ahead and customize it but don’t be hurt when the buyer conveys the first thing they are going to do is rip out your wigimillallit holder.  It is not a selling point for most.  Do you need to remove it before selling?  Pools are similar.  Great if you want a pool but not everyone wants a pool.

Everyone has their own opinions and needs.  The reason brokers are so fond of Realtor Beige (also known as Latte, Cashew or light brown) is that its pretty noncontroversial.   The buyer probably isn’t  going to lovvvve it but they probably wont haaaaate it either and ask, “why the hell they do that?”.  Then again, it’s just paint.

RMLS Market Action September 2009 was released today (Portland Metro or whole report).  Inventory dropped slightly from August which contrasts with rises month-over-month in 2007 and 2007 between August and September.

Cumulative days on market is 144 days but a quick search in RMLS shows that 243 properties sold in the last two months with days-on-market of seven or less in Portland. Area-wise: North Portland averages 89 days, NE Portland 84 days, West Portland 152 days, and SE Portland 228 days.  A unit in the South Waterfront’s John Ross recently closed that was 1382 days on market.

Access to public transportation is a key factor in may home buying decisions.  The appeal of not needing a car or needing to rely on one for everyday use is very appealing.  RMLS has both BUSLINE and LT-RAIL as search enabled fields (there is no streetcar field at this time).  There are currently 870 listings in Portland with at least one of the fields listed. In 2015 Trimet will open a new light rail route from PSU to Milwaukie crossing the to-be-built multi-use transit bridge by OMSI (image from Trimet.org).  It will cut across the river near where Cirque du Soleil sets up between the Marquam and Ross Island Bridges.

A part of the Sellwood Bridge replacement plan has provisions to revamp the west side on-ramp to accommodate extending the streetcar line from its current end point in the South Waterfront to Lake Oswego.

The house passed legislation last week extending and clarifying the First Time Buyer Credit for those in the military.  The Service Members Home Ownership Tax Act of 2009 allows service members who are deployed overseas and therefore do not maintain their tax credit-eligible home as their primary residence for three years to keep the credit.  It also extends the date of required purchase for a year for those that were overseas in 2009.

Oregon Representative Earl Blumenauer was key a figure introducing the bill to Congress.