Bass Lake Realty's Real Estate Blog

All real estate licensees are not the same. Only real estate licensees who are members of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® are properly called REALTORS®. They proudly display the REALTOR “®” logo on the business card or other marketing and sales literature. REALTORS® are committed to treat all parties to a transaction honestly. REALTORS® subscribe to a strict code of ethics and are expected to maintain a higher level of knowledge of the process of buying and selling real estate. An independent survey reports that 84% of home buyers would use the same REALTOR® again.

Real estate transactions involve one of the biggest financial investments most people experience in their lifetime. Transactions today usually exceed $100,000. If you had a $100,000 income tax problem, would you attempt to deal with it without the help of a CPA? If you had a $100,000 legal question, would you deal with it without the help of an attorney? Considering the small upside cost and the large downside risk, it would be foolish to consider a deal in real estate without the professional assistance of a REALTOR®.

But if you’re still not convinced of the value of a REALTOR®, here are a dozen more reasons to use one:

1. Your REALTOR® can help you determine your buying power — that is, your financial reserves plus your borrowing capacity. If you give a REALTOR® some basic information about your available savings, income and current debt, he or she can refer you to lenders best qualified to help you. Most lenders — banks and mortgage companies — offer limited choices.

2. Your REALTOR® has many resources to assist you in your home search. Sometimes the property you are seeking is available but not actively advertised in the market, and it will take some investigation by your agent to find all available properties.

3. Your REALTOR® can assist you in the selection process by providing objective information about each property. Agents who are REALTORS® have access to a variety of informational resources. REALTORS® can provide local community information on utilities, zoning. schools, etc. There are two things you’ll want to know. First, will the property provide the environment I want for a home or investment? Second, will the property have resale value when I am ready to sell?

4. Your REALTOR® can help you negotiate. There are myriad negotiating factors, including but not limited to price, financing, terms, date of possession and often the inclusion or exclusion of repairs and furnishings or equipment. The purchase agreement should provide a period of time for you to complete appropriate inspections and investigations of the property before you are bound to complete the purchase. Your agent can advise you as to which investigations and inspections are recommended or required.

5. Your REALTOR® provides due diligence during the evaluation of the property. Depending on the area and property, this could include inspections for termites, dry rot, asbestos, faulty structure, roof condition, septic tank and well tests, just to name a few. Your REALTOR® can assist you in finding qualified responsible professionals to do most of these investigations and provide you with written reports. You will also want to see a preliminary report on the title of the property. Title indicates ownership of property and can be mired in confusing status of past owners or rights of access. The title to most properties will have some limitations; for example, easements (access rights) for utilities. Your REALTOR®, title company or attorney can help you resolve issues that might cause problems at a later date.

6. Your REALTOR® can help you in understanding different financing options and in identifying qualified lenders.

7. Your REALTOR® can guide you through the closing process and make sure everything flows together smoothly.

8. When selling your home, your REALTOR® can give you up-to-date information on what is happening in the marketplace and the price, financing, terms and condition of competing properties. These are key factors in getting your property sold at the best price, quickly and with minimum hassle.

9. Your REALTOR® markets your property to other real estate agents and the public. Often, your REALTOR® can recommend repairs or cosmetic work that will significantly enhance the salability of your property. Your REALTOR® markets your property to other real estate agents and the public. In many markets across the country, over 50% of real estate sales are cooperative sales; that is, a real estate agent other than yours brings in the buyer. Your REALTOR® acts as the marketing coordinator, disbursing information about your property to other real estate agents through a Multiple Listing Service or other cooperative marketing networks, open houses for agents, etc. The REALTOR® Code of Ethicsrequires REALTORS® to utilize these cooperative relationships when they benefit their clients.

10. Your REALTOR® will know when, where and how to advertise your property. There is a misconception that advertising sells real estate. The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® studies show that 82% of real estate sales are the result of agent contacts through previous clients, referrals, friends, family and personal contacts. When a property is marketed with the help of your REALTOR®, you do not have to allow strangers into your home. Your REALTOR® will generally prescreen and accompany qualified prospects through your property.

11. Your REALTOR® can help you objectively evaluate every buyer’s proposal without compromising your marketing position. This initial agreement is only the beginning of a process of appraisals, inspections and financing — a lot of possible pitfalls. Your REALTOR® can help you write a legally binding, win-win agreement that will be more likely to make it through the process.

12. Your REALTOR® can help close the sale of your home. Between the initial sales agreement and closing (or settlement), questions may arise. For example, unexpected repairs are required to obtain financing or a cloud in the title is discovered. The required paperwork alone is overwhelming for most sellers. Your REALTOR® is the best person to objectively help you resolve these issues and move the transaction to closing (or settlement).

REALTOR.com® is the official site of the National Association of REALTORS® and is operated by Move, Inc.

“Motor” Fire Update 11 – Aug. 30, 2011

South Central Sierra Interagency

Incident Management Team

Acres Burned: 5,231

Containment: 50%

Total personnel assigned to the fire: 1,201

Structures threatened: 0 – Structures destroyed: 0 – Injuries: 0

Evacuation Update:

All evacuations were lifted at 9:00pm, August 29. Evacuations include Rancheria Flat, Cedar Lodge, Incline, and el Portal Trailer Village. Law enforcement personnel will be assisting residents in returning to their homes.

Highway 140 will be opened at 6:00am for traffic traveling eastbound toward El Portal. Westbound traffic will be open at 6:45am

Firefighters and equipment will remain along Highway 140 and in the communities. Residents are advised to please use caution when driving along these routes

Fire Update:
Today fire crews concentrated on building containment lines on the east side of the fire. Crews made good progress on the fire throughout the day. Helicopters made good progress in supporting fire crews through the day as needed

Closures:
Stanislaus National Forest Road 1S12 is closed from Yosemite Park Boundary to Five Corners

Contact fire information: 209.372.0327 or 209.372.0329
or visit www.inciweb.org/2520

This information is provided by Yosemite Gateway Partners on behalf of the South Sierra Central Interagency Incident Management Team.

Stephen Welch, Owner/Broker of Bass Lake Realty, attended the Crane Valley Dam Update meeting that was held August 18th, 2011 in the Lakeview Room at The Pines Resort at Bass Lake. Here is the latest news on their progress and anticipated plans for completion:

“Lake drawdown will begin Tuesday September 6th. Expect the level to go down about 2 feet/week. It will be about 6 feet further down (total of -16”) by September 26th and 18 feet further down (total of -28’) by October 16th. It will remain -26 to -28 feet down for the winter to accommodate their work.
Rubber boat ramp extensions will be added to the Pines Marina to allow for launching this winter
Current work includes blasting in the quarry, trucking rock from Raymond (about 32 trucks/day now and then 64/day from 8/29 to 9/13), and reinforcing the west end downstream portion of the dam.
Additional permitting is underway to haul an additional 50,000 cu yards of material and to create an additional 13 acre storage site near the existing quarry for storage of the material
Expect to commence work on the upstream side in February 2012
Lake level next summer: again -10 feet
Lake level next winter: again – 26-28 feet
Last phase is to increase the height of the dam about 7 feet – to be done winter of 2012-2013
Completion Spring 2013

“As you may recall, the original schedule called for completion April of 2012. The delay is caused by the lake coming up prematurely this past winter due to the above normal precipitation and the unforeseen need to import additional granite from Raymond and the permitting related to that. They anticipated 20% waste from the quarry and actually are at about 40%. This has slowed the process and necessitated the importing of additional rock. This delay is unfortunate for all but as a great philosopher once said…”it is what it is…”

For ongoing updates and information, feel free to log onto the home page of our website at www.BassLakeRealty.com and click on “Crane Valley Dam Seismic Retrofit Information”. You may also click on the DamCam photo on the home page to view the work in progress; or go directly to: www.BassLakeDamCam.com

Mind Reading 101: How the IRS Gets into Your Head to Determine if Your Sale Qualifies for Tax Deferral

Most owners of real estate will tell you that if they bought a property for $75,000 and sold it a month or two later for $100,000, that it was a great investment. If they also deferred paying taxes by doing a 1031 exchange, they may be considered a genius! However, the IRS would not consider this to be an act of genius; it would be very likely to determine their 1031 exchange was invalid because they sold inventory and would assess taxes, interest and penalties.

So, what should an investor do to ensure the sale qualifies for tax deferral under section 1031?

The intent by the taxpayer to hold property “primarily for sale” and not “primarily for investment” will prevent the property from qualifying for 1031 treatment.

While in general, most properties owned by builders, developers and people intending to fix up and resell them will be considered to be held primarily for sale (and not entitled to deferral under section 1031), the IRS will look at the intent at the time of sale. In order to qualify for a 1031 exchange, the Exchanger must be determined to have held the property for either productive use in a trade or business or for investment (“qualified use”).

Here are a couple of factors that the IRS will look at that can determine the taxpayer’s property was “held for sale” and does not qualify for a 1031 exchange:

1. The frequency and number of real estate transactions entered into. The more property sales by the Exchanger, the more likely the IRS will consider that the property is “held for sale” and does not qualify for 1031 treatment. An example of this is the person who buys foreclosed/distressed properties, fixes them up and then immediately attempts to sell (flip) them for a quick profit.

2. The nature and extent of efforts by the taxpayer to sell the property. This relates to the sales efforts of the taxpayer and includes advertising efforts, use of sales personnel, etc. The IRS will look at the proportion of the Exchanger’s income that is derived from the sale of the property, and the extent of the taxpayer’s involvement, time, effort and control over the sales activities regarding the property.

As you can see, the time factor alone (how long the property was held by the taxpayer prior to sale) generally is not what determines intent. For more information about the “qualified use” requirement, contact me. It is always advisable for Exchangers to consult with their tax and legal advisors regarding the exchange status of a property prior to selling it.

Courtesy of Ron Ricard, CES® Ron.Ricard@ipx1031.com

By: Gil Rudawsky

Published: January 7, 2011

The government closes a door on one tax break in 2010 but opens a window on another. Windows and doors can earn you up to $500 in 2011.

For two years—from 2009 to 2010—you were able to take $1,500 in tax credits for a slew of energy-efficiency improvements, including better doors, windows, and skylights. If you took full advantage of them, congratulations:

• File IRS Form 5695 in 2011.
• You’re done—you’ve hit the feds’ lifetime max.

At the last minute, the government threw you a bone, adding a suite of less-generous but still useful energy tax credits, available only to those who didn’t take advantage of the 2009-2010 program:

• For doors, you can claim up to a $500 credit.
• For windows and skylights, you can claim only up to a $200 credit. (That’s total—not per window.)
• Installation costs aren’t covered.

Tax credit limits and deadlines:

• 10% of expenditures, up to $500 for the year, for all energy improvements combined.
• Install the relevant doors, windows, and skylights by Dec. 31, 2011.
• Save receipts and labels.

By mid-January the official Energy Star site will be posting new guidelines on what exactly is covered. It’s your safest bet for information on how to get the credit.

Don’t rely solely on contractors who may not know the details or who promise their products will get the credit in order to make a sale.

Should you be thinking about window replacement?

A good rule of thumb for window replacement:

• Don’t bother if they’re less than 15 years old, says Jim Rooney, a home inspector in Annapolis, Md. Savings on your energy bills will be negligible since window technology hasn’t changed that radically and the integrity of your windows should still be intact.
• Shoddy installation or poor manufacturing may call for exceptions to the 15-year rule. Windows that are 20, 30, or more years old are prime candidates for replacement.

Most of your focus should be on windows, since they’re more numerous. However:

• Skylights are notorious for energy loss, too, not to mention water leaks.
• Exterior doors tend to outlast windows, so keep them unless the upgrade is purely for aesthetic reasons. Besides, weather stripping and snug sweeps can boost the energy efficiency of exterior doors for a whole lot less money.

Adding up the costs and savings

With windows, doors, and skylights, you get what you pay for:

• Expect to shell out between $500 and $1,000 per window, including installation, or about $10,000 total for a moderately sized house of about 2,000 square feet.
• New energy-credit-qualified doors and skylights are also in the $500 to $1,000 range, including installation.

Products on the higher end of the cost scale are usually better constructed and more energy efficient, says Tom Herron of the National Fenestration Rating Council. NFRC is a non-profit organization that administers the rating and labeling system for the energy performance of windows, doors, and skylights. 

It could take years to recoup the upfront costs, but you should see an immediate reduction in your energy bills.

In general, you’ll save $126 to $465 per year replacing single-pane windows in a 2,000-square-foot house with tax-credit-eligible windows, according to the Efficient Windows Collaborative, a trade group.

In other words, you’ll save 15% to 40% off the typical energy bill.

Do your replacements qualify for tax credit?

A label alone doesn’t guarantee your new windows, doors, and skylights qualify for the energy tax credit, but it does provide critical information related to eligibility.

To qualify, windows, doors, and skylights must have:

• U-factor of 0.30 or less. Measures how well a product prevents heat from escaping.
• Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) of 0.30 or less. Gauges how well a product blocks heat from the sun.
• Labels also carry information on light transmission, air leakage, and condensation resistance.

Energy Star may modify these requirements, so check online before making a purchase.

Herron, of the NFRC, says 80% to 85% of the manufacturers in North America provide NFRC labels. All Energy Star-qualified windows carry an NFRC label, according to Energy Star, a joint program of the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that promotes energy-efficient products and practices.

Resist the urge to trim costs by purchasing cheaper windows, doors, and skylights with poor U-factor and SHGC ratings. Not only will you miss out on the tax credit, but energy bills won’t come down much.

This article provides general information about tax laws and consequences, but is not intended to be relied upon by readers as tax or legal advice applicable to particular transactions or circumstances. Readers should consult a tax professional for such advice, and are reminded that tax laws may vary by jurisdiction.

Gil Rudawsky has been covering business and consumer issues as a reporter and an editor for 18 years, most recently as a deputy editor at the Rocky Mountain News. He lives in a house built in the 1930s, and always keeps the home’s character in mind when making upgrades.

Courtesy of NAR

Visit HouseLogic.com for more articles like this. Reprinted from HouseLogic.com with permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®

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Copyright 2011 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®