Category: Uncategorized

Posted June 11, 2012

With the uncertainty of the real estate climate, home staging can be an effective tool to help sell your home quickly. Hiring someone to prepare your home so it makes a good impression on buyers can really pay off for several reasons.

1. Staged Homes Sell for More Money: Research verifies that stage homes on average sell for more than non-staged home. According to the NAR, stage homes sell for an average of 6.9 to 10 percent over listing price. Additionally, the average staging investment is between 1 and 3 percent of the homes asking price.

2. Staged Homes Sell Faster: Various statistics on the effects of home staging suggest that staged homes sell for 30 percent faster.

3. Low Cost: Most people don’t realize that home staging can be accomplished at a very low cost. A 2009 Home Gain Survey found that home staging typically provides a 586% return on investment.

4. Your online photos will stand out: In today’s tech savvy world, most buyers usually begin searching for homes first online. In fact, according to a NAR profile on buyers, over 90% of buyers are searching for homes online first before deciding to visit in person. Therefore, it is necessary to give buyers a reason to drive to your home by having several photos of beautifully staged rooms.

5. Sellers cannot View their House Objectively: In other words, if you cannot see your home objectively, then you cannot sell it effectively. Therefore, having a staging professional getting your home into its most advantageous condition for showing is of extreme importance.

6.  Proper Staging Highlights your Home’s Strength’s and Downplays its Weaknesses

7. Only 10% of Buyers Can Visualize a Home’s Potential: This statistic proves why home staging is so crucial. By staging a home, you can avoid the fact of your home being overlooked and left up to the buyer’s imagination.

8.  Staged Homes Appraise for Top Dollar: Staging your home will help secure an attractive appraisal. Once you sell your home, you need the appraisal to come in high enough in order to cover you mortgage.

9.  The Money You Make on the Sale of Your Home May be Tax Free: With staging your home, there is the possibility of a tax-free capital gain by getting every dollar possibly while getting a possibly tax deductions or spending on staging services in order to improve and sell your home.

10.  Leaving your Home in it’s Original State Will Only Help Your Competitors: In today’s real estate market, competition is stiff and many buyers have been discovered to have high expectations. Therefore, the key to making sure your home stands out against those of competitors is to engage in professional staging. This is due to the fact that it not only creates compelling online presentations, but also driver buyer traffic to the home, who could ultimately be the potential buyers.

Posted June 12, 2012

  

Looking for something new and exciting to enjoy this summer? Experience Santa Barbara’s own Greek festival this July. The 39th Annual Greek Festival is taking place from 11 am to 7 pm on Saturday, July 28nd Sunday July 29th in beautiful Oak Park. This unique festival evokes the sights, sounds and tastes that define the traditional Greek culture and way of life. Long considered to be one of the highlights of the Santa Barbara summer, the Greek Festival represents the only Greek cultural celebration of the year and is for many their only chance to experience the authentic Greek culture up close. Visitors can enjoy a plethora of traditional Greek foods, distinctive drinks, soulful music, lively dancing, and unforgettable costumes. Nearly 40 years ago, the festival originated as a fundraising session with parishioners of St. Barbara Greek Orthodox Church. Since then, that single fundraising event grew into a major annual event for the church, demanding months of planning and preparation.

This delightful festival allows you to stroll through Santa Barbara’s beautiful Oak Park, and experience the simple pleasures of life in a Greek village. Dozens of volunteers for the event enthusiastically staff their booths, creating an inviting, joyful, and welcoming atmosphere. But, what keeps festival-goers returning year after year is the delectable cuisine. Favories such as gyros, moussaka, and baklava are sure to please anyone’s taste buds. You can also listen to the distinctive sounds of the bouzouki and other exotic instruments played by authentic Greek musicians. Or, delight in the beauty of the unique and elaborate costumes worn by performers as they partake in traditional dances that reflect the Greek culture. Clearly, The spectrum of activities to be enjoyed at this festival are endless.

So, for many of us longing for the sights and sounds of the Mediterranean, the Greek Festival is sure to offer a welcome escape on a sweltering weekend afternoon this July.

Posted June 29, 2012

Santa Barbara, framed by the Santa Ynez mountains and kissed by the Pacific Ocean, is a hiker’s paradise. Here are a few of my favorite day hikes. They range from a short 45 minutes to 1/2 day treks. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I do.

Inspiration Point

Whether for an early morning or evening hike, Inspiration Point is the perfect hike.

HIGHLIGHTS: ?For those who want to combine a two-hour workout, great views and access to cool spots such as Seven Falls as part of the trip up to the top, Inspiration Point is one of the best local hikes. You can reach the point from the Tunnel Road trailhead or the San Roque area, and with a shuttle make it a point-to-point trip that will test your muscles. 

How to Get There: From the Santa Barbara Mission drive up Mission Canyon Road to Foothill and turn right, then turn left several hundred yards later (by the fire station). Continue up Mission Canyon to the Tunnel Road turnoff, a half mile before the Botanic Garden. Continue several miles to the end. Park properly. The police frequently ticket illegally parked cars. The trail begins about three-quarters mile beyond the locked gate.

Cold Springs Trail

Deep and shaded by Trees, the perennial creek offers scores of places to spend an afternoon.

HIGHLIGHTS: Cold Springs represents the shortest distance you can travel to get the furthest away from Santa Barbara. Above the trailhead you will find bedrock pools and places to sunbathe, overlooks of the coastline and a route to the mountain crest.

How to Get There: From Highway 101, take the Hot Springs exit and follow this toward the mountains until you reach the Highway 192/Foothill Road. Turn left and follow this for a mile to Cold Spring Road. Turn right and continue up to Mountain Drive. Park near the point where the creek crosses the road

Elwood Bluffs/ Monarch Butterfly Preserve

HIGHLIGHTS: This lovely hike through the Eucalyptus groves and protected bluffs offers access to a beach with 80-foot cliffs and to a Monarch butterfly Preserve where thousands of butterflies come to feed during the winter months. It’s an easy hike along the bluffs and is also a pleasant way to spend the day with beautiful ocean views.

How to Get There: From Highway 101 (North) take Glen Annie/Storke Rd Exit. Turn Left, and drive half a mile to Hollister Ave. Turn Right, and follow Hollister for about a mile to Santa Barbara Shores and drive to the end. Walk through the fence and enter the bluffs.  

Rattlesnake Canyon Trail

HIGHLIGHTS: Rattlesnake Canyon is filled with cascading waterfalls and deep pools. The alder cover provides shade and a lovely green canopy. If you hike up the creek from the trailhead or take one of the many side trails leading down to the creek you’ll find the remains of a dam built in the early 1800s to service the Mission. Within just a few minutes drive from downtown Santa Barbara you can be hiking up this picturesque canyon, lost in its wilderness beauty. A connector leading to Tunnel Trail makes it possible to hike all the way to the crest.

How to Get There: From the Santa Barbara Mission drive up Mission Canyon Road to Foothill. Turn right, then left several hundred yards later (by the fire station). Continue up Mission Canyon past Tunnel Road to Las Canoas. Turn right and continue a mile and a half to an open area immediately preceding a narrow bridge. You’ll find a large sign there noting the start of the Rattlesnake Canyon Trail.

Posted November 16, 2012

Dear Friends,

Good News! The Santa Barbara Real Estate Market has been very robust in 2012. The number of sales have been up every month this year and are higher than sales for the last five years. This has caused our inventory of property listings to shrink which is pushing the demand for housing over the supply of available homes on the market. This lack of inventory has also started inching prices up slightly in certain areas of Santa Barbara.

Interest rates are at historical lows! Ihave included a chart showing the history of interest rates since the l980’s. I think you will appreciate just how fortunate we are to have rates starting under 4%. Now would be the perfect time to consider re-financing or purchasing. I have names of excellent lenders should you need help with this.

In addition, check out this informative article regarding the new “Medicare Tax” that will apply to real estate transactions starting in 2013. This 3.8% surtax was passed in 2010 to help fund the new health care mandates and kicks in next year on many fonns of investment income including some interest, dividends, rents and capital gains. Determining whether you will be subject to the tax is no easy matter. It is a confusing tax that has many tax attorneys and accountants scratching their heads. Hopefully, this article will give you useful information.

Some of you may be aware that my husband passed away in September. I am now back at work and it seems to be helping me regain my focus. As always, if you have any real estate needs I am here for you. This is a good time for me to thank you for your continued support and loyalty.

Wishing you and all your loved ones a Happy Thanksgiving,
Gail

Posted November 16, 2012

The new “Medicare Tax” will apply to real estate transactions starting in 2013.  This 3.8% surtax was passed in 2010 to help fund the new health care mandates and kicks in next year on many forms of investment income including some interest, dividends, rents and capital gains.  Determining whether you will be subject to the tax is no easy matter.  It is a confusing tax that has many tax attorneys and accountants scratching their heads.  Hopefully, this article will give you useful information.

1) When you add up all of your income from every possible source, and that total is less than $200,000 ($250,000 on a joint tax return), you will NOT be subject to this tax. 

2) The 3.8% tax will NEVER be collected as a transfer tax on real estate of any type, so you’ll NEVER pay this tax at the time that you purchase a home or other investment property. 

3) You’ll NEVER pay this tax at settlement when you sell your home or investment property. Any capital gain you realize at settlement is just one component of that year’s gross income. 

4) If you sell your principal residence, you will still receive the full benefit of the $250,000 (single tax return) /$500,000 (married filing joint tax return) exclusion on the sale of that home. If your capital gain is greater than these amounts, then you will include any gain above these amounts as income on your Form 1040 tax return. Even then, if your total income (including this taxable portion of gain on your residence) is less than the $200,000/$250,000 amounts, you will NOT pay this tax. If your total income is more than these amounts, a formula will protect some portion ofyour investment. 

5) The tax applies to other types of investment income, not just real estate. If your income is more than the $200,000/$250,000 amount, then the tax formula will be applied to capital gains, interest income, dividend income and net rents (i.e., rents after expenses). 

6) The tax goes into effect in 2013. If you have investment income in 2013, you won’t pay the 3.8% tax until you file your 2013 Form 1040 tax return in 2014. The 3.8% tax for any later year will be paid in the following calendar year when the tax returns are filed. 

7) In any particular year, ifyou have NO income from capital gains, rents, interest or dividends, you’ll NEVER pay this tax, even if you have millions of dollars of other types of income. 

8) The formula that determines the amount of 3.8% tax due will ALWAYS protect $200,000 ($250,000 on a joint return) of your income from any burden of the 3.8% tax. For example, if you are single and have a total of $201,000 income, the 3.8% tax would NEVER be imposed on more than $1000. 

9) It’s true that investment income from rents on an investment property could be subject to the 3.8% tax, BUT: The only rental income that would be included in your gross income and therefore possibly subject to the tax is net rental income: gross rents minus expenses like depreciation, interest, property tax, maintenance and utilities. 

10) The tax was enacted along with the health care legislation in 2010. It was added to the package just hours before the final vote and without review. NAR strongly opposed the tax at the time, and remains hopeful that it will not go into effect. The tax will no doubt be debated during the upcoming tax reform debates in 2013.

Click here for a printable version from the National Association of Realtors.

Posted January 9, 2013

By Kerri Ann Panchuk
January 2, 2013

The mortgage industry can breath a sigh of relief with the final fiscal cliff deal bringing back a popular tax break on mortgage insurance premiums and debt forgiveness for borrowers who go through a short-sale or some other type of debt reduction.

A topic that is still up for discussion and likely to surface later in the year is whether the popular mortgage interest tax deduction will be part of a long-term deficit reduction plan.

Still, the deal passed by the Senate and House on Jan. 1 is one that leaves room for hope in the housing market.

The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 apparently extends a law that expired at the end of 2011, which allowed for the deductibility of mortgage insurance premiums, according to a research report from Isaac Boltansky with Compass Point Research & Trading. The law now applies to fiscal years 2012 and 2013.

“The law dictates that eligible borrowers who itemize their federal tax returns and have an adjusted gross income (AGI) of less than $100,000 per year can deduct 100% of their annual mortgage insurance premiums,” Compass Point said.

“Certain borrowers with AGIs above $100,000 may benefit from the deductibility as well but are subject to a sliding scale. The tax break covers private mortgage insurance as well as mortgage insurance provided by the FHA, the VA, and the Rural Housing Service. In 2009, about 3.6 million taxpayers claimed the mortgage insurance deduction,” the research firm added.

One of the more watched provisions of the fiscal cliff was the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007, which was set to expire on Dec. 31.

The fiscal cliff deal extends it for another year, meaning homeowners who experience a debt reduction through mortgage principal forgiveness or a short sale are exempt from being taxed on the forgiven amount.

“The amount extends up to $2 million of debt forgiven on the homeowner’s principal residence,” Compass Point Research & Trading said. “For homeowner’s to qualify, their debt must have been used to ‘buy, build, or substantially improve’ their principal residence and be secured by that residence. The law, which was passed in 2007 with a 5-year sunset provision, will now be in effect until Jan. 1, 2014.”

Another minor win for housing is a provision tied to the government’s plan to increase the capital gains tax rate from 15% to 20% for individuals who earn more than $400,000. While in theory, this is harder on higher-income homeowners, Compass Point sees a silver lining through an exclusion.

Compass Point notes the law “states that only gains of more than $250,000 for individuals ($500k for households) are subject to taxes on the excess portion of capital gains. Point being, in order for an individual homeowner to be impacted by the increased capital gains tax rate they would need to have an adjusted gross income above $400,000 and gain more than $250,000 from the sale of the property. Since this exclusion threshold remained intact, the impact of the capital gains tax increase is limited.”

Source

Posted January 29, 2013

Here’s a great infographic that reveals some what first time homebuyers should expect to be paying for a home in California (with more specific numbers for Los Angeles, the Inland Empire, and San Francisco) as well as what their minimum qualifying income should be.

Posted May 27, 2013

Monthly mortgage payments for the typical U.S. home currently compare more favorably to rents than at any time since the early 1970s.  In California, prices vary widely by region.  Here are the areas in California where buying a home will save you money in the long run.

Posted September 9, 2014

Good New for Sellers–property values are up!

Good News for Buyers–interest rates remain LOW!

 

The first 6 months of this year saw a slowdown in sales from 2013. This was largely due to the lack of inventory of homes for sale. This shortage of inventory has contributed to the rise in home prices. The information below will give you detailed information on the first 6 months of South Coast Real Estate.

 

 

 

Posted October 22, 2014

It is that time of year where spooky is in. Your kids want to dress up (maybe even you) and go trick or treating. But where is safe and fun?  It is not always easy knowing where to go. We have a few ideas where there will be loads of fun.

If you’re in the Montecito area, your kids will love Ghost Village Road !! Located at Coast Village Road on October 31st, Montecito transforms into a creepy, haunted village. There will be trick or treating from 3- 5:30PM. Dress your best for the costume contest. There will be fun houses to go through and many sweets from the cupcake store, even gelato.

If you are in the Goleta area on Friday stop by the Halloween Extravaganza Calle Real Center, October 31, from 3-6 pm there will be trick or treating with a Tunnel of Terror (Courtesy of the Pet House) a Train Ride. There will also be face painters, a creative balloon master, and three spooky bounce houses! To make it more exciting they will have the AMR ambulance, Sheriffs cruiser and Santa Barbara County fire truck.

If you cant make those there is also Trick or Treat on The Plaza October 31 from 4-PM. This is located at the 5 Points La Cumbre Plaza. Selected stores have fun filled trick or treating for the kids.

If you feel like extending the fun here are some freakishly fun treat ideas that you, your family and friends will love.

The Frankenstein Rice Krispies are easy and a crowd pleaser. You need: 1 box of rice krispies, 1 bag of large marshmallows, 1 bag of small marshmallows, green food coloring, 2 bags of chocolate chips, one bag of pretzel thins and a jar of peanut butter. It is easy, fun and tasty all at the same time.

At the store you can find edible marker. This is very helpful when creating a scary healthy snack. You can use it to  draw your own ghosts face on your banana and anything else you want to make spooky. (Cookies, marshmallows, fruit, etc).

For a Gross all time, the mad jackolantern with green goblin guacamole is always a delicious pleaser. It is fun for the crowd and easy for you. The kids will love it.

Have a crazy safe time!!

Happy Halloween!!!!