Team Reba Real Estate

Buying a foreclosure home in WA State? Be prepared that excise tax may become your responsibility if this Senate measure passes.

Filed under: Pierce County, King County, title/escrow, property taxes, Snohomish County, townhouse, Conventional loans, FHA/VA, single family, market activity, tax issues, buyer, seller, economic issues, legal issues, Puget Sound, foreclosure, real estate, condo, mortgage/loan, Washington — Reba Haas @ 10:54 am

WR Urges Call to Action on Proposed Tax Increase
Please send a message immediately to State House members to stop taxes on real estate. The Senate’s budget increases the B&O .25% on real estate professionals, as well as shifts the real estate excise tax onto the buyer of a foreclosed home. The Senate’s budget passed the Senate and is now being considered in the House.

The message above was sent out to real estate agents who are members of the local multiple listing service along with a link to the site where we could send a message to our representatives. For the general public, I realize that you may not care if real estate professionals are hit with a higher Business & Occupation (B&O) tax, but know that we have the highest rate of such a tax in this state.

The more important issue to the home buying public is the shift of moving the excise tax payment burden from the seller to a buyer of a foreclosed home. All this does is help lessen the costs of banks when selling their foreclosed inventory and it puts a higher cost burden on the buyers, who in many cases for first time buyers are just barely qualifying for the amounts that they’re purchasing in. If excise tax, which runs 1.78% here, is now put on them as a closing cost fee, then that buyer ends up paying the tax twice because they’ll have to pay it again later when they sell the home at whatever that new value will be at that time. Also, it will lessen the amount of home purchasing power that they’ll have, at least when it comes to buying bank owned homes because that will likely be part of the qualifying factors for the lender when they do their underwriting review. If a buyer is qualified at $200k for a traditional purchase but now 1.78% ($3,560 in this case) must be considered, then a buyer may not be able to buy a $199k home because the excise tax payment requirement puts them just out of reach if they originally only needed $7,000 for down payment via FHA (3.5%), PMI payment of roughly the same amount (possibly wrapped into financing) still increasing cost of loan and impacting qualifying factors, and reducing what they might have in their “reserve” accounts which are also factored in for qualifying because most banks want 3-6 months worth of funds available at closing.

If you are in support of not having the excise tax payment shift made to buyers, please contact your State representative immediately!

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New Price Under Conforming Loan Limits - Fairwood Greens

Filed under: FHA/VA, single family, golf course community, golf course home, fairwood greens, King County, NWMLS, mortgage/loan, Seattle, real estate, Renton, staging, buyer — Reba Haas @ 4:09 pm

$414,950 - Fantastic Fairwood Greens Golf Community!

Location: Fairwood Greens

Come live in the fantastic Fairwood Greens neighborhood overlooking the 14th tee! Inviting and cheerful, updated 1973 home with new carpet on main floor. Open, circular floor plan with a nice flow of living room, dining room, great room has kitchen w/ slider access to deck and its expansive BBQ deck w/ gas hook up. Four bedrooms on main, Master bath with walk in shower. Additional full bath on main and guest 1/2 bath on lower level. Join the community clubhouse via a social or golf membership. Nearby shopping and parks make this a convenient place to call home. Enjoy the 2 car garage where groceries can be unloaded right into the house on those rainy daysâ€”no dodging raindrops. Welcome home!

Contact Information

Reba Haas

info@teamreba.com

(425) 970-3697

Pricing

Price: $414,950

Property Location

16931 155th PL SE

Renton, WA 98058

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Features

Bedrooms: 4	Bathrooms: 2.25
Parking Spaces: 2	Year Built: 1973
Subdivision: Fairwood Greens	Lot Size: 10800
Garage Size: 2	School District: Kent
Square Footage: 2880	Agent Name: Reba Haas / Team Reba
Broker: RE/MAX Mertro Realty Inc.	MLS #: 2881

Attributes

Appliances

Range/Oven

Full Refrigerator

Washer/Dryer

Dishwasher

Sink Disposal

Microwave

Interior Amenities

Fireplace

Vaulted Ceilings

Basement

Exterior Amenities

Patio

Grass Lawn

Partially Fenced

Natural Gas Avaiable

Located on Golf Course

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VFLYER ID: 3135375

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All information in this site is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed and is subject to change

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An interesting video explaining One West Bank profit model on “short sales” of former IndyMac loans

Filed under: King County, market activity, tax issues, real estate, Pierce County, Snohomish County, Conventional loans, FHA/VA, single family, condo, mortgage/loan, seller, economic issues, legal issues, buyer, Puget Sound, foreclosure, short sale, interest rates, Washington — Reba Haas @ 10:12 am

This is an interesting video about former IndyMac loans that were purchased by One West Bank and how the short sale process enriches that company. I had a short sale that I negotiated for a client last summer that included a 1st lienholder as IndyMac (now One West Bank) and our understanding of how these transactions worked helped us close a great deal for our buyer - without the… seller taking on a promissory note. What frustrates me is to see the lenders who buy discounted notes and won’t negotiate in good faith on the “short”.

Watch Video

Keep in mind, that if the short sale was an investment property, there is not only the possibility of a promissory note to the seller, but there are tax implications for any forgiven debt. Currently, with the Mortgage Debt Relief Act of 2007, primary residences have had some reprieve from taxation on forgiven debt, but a lot of underwater loans belonged to people convinced of buying single family homes as investment properties who weren’t that financially stable to begin with but who had hoped to grow their assets but who are now losing nearly everything.

If you know someone who is in a position of needing to do a short sale in the King, South Snohomish or North Pierce County areas, please feel free to have them call us to learn some of the options available to them.

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FHA albatross of a townhome condo transaction is almost over!

Filed under: real estate, condo, market activity, King County, FHA/VA, Redmond, mortgage/loan, seller, economic issues, buyer, Puget Sound, HOA, Washington — Reba Haas @ 9:18 am

Many of you have read various posts from me over the past few months regarding FHA and the nightmares that it has been causing when trying to sell condos or townhomes with HOA’s. Well, my longest lasting closing is just about to finish this Friday. Tonight, I was able to give the happy news to my client that we got the final sign off on FHA approval to insure the loan on this property sale.

When the newer FHA rules came in to play we got caught up in the middle of it all in November when we learned that the reserve study the HOA had in hand hadn’t been approved by the board yet and FHA now would not accept spot approvals for anything with a reserve study outside of 12 months. Because of this, we thought it was a dead deal and the contract was rescinded in early December. Then it was like Phoenix Rising as in late December we heard that a lender was willing to consider the loan by using the budget review of the HOA as the determining factor. Ok, we said! So, back into contract we went.

Then December moved slowly on by and our goal of a January 6th closing extended further into January, with our extension for closing pushed to mid-January. Mid-January came and went and the next thing we knew it was pushed to late January.

Now, during part of this time I began to learn that the buyer was also dragging his feet. It became a catch-22 as the buyer wouldn’t follow up with loan conditions as he waited for FHA to move first with their approval. This caused unnecessary delays as having the closing loan conditions cleared would have helped with moving the loan into the hands of FHA earlier.

One of the many beneficial things we did on the seller side of things (I am the listing agent in this scenario) was for me to contact other listing agents in the same complex to build support for homeowners to apply pressure to their board to accept the reserve study - even if it was with conditions for review of certain elements. This along with another agent working with yet another lender to submit a full FHA approval packet for the development (only 1 out of 5 divisions had originally held FHA approval) which was approved within a day of our spot approval. Our client had at least passed an FHA appraisal in November and I believe that helped us as well since it would have been recorded against the property in the FHA database, plus at least 3 other homes had sold via FHA loans in the 6 months prior to all these changes.

So, our last extension put us to a Friday closing of this week. My fellow agents and our friend/clients out there, please cross your fingers for us and knock on wood that this is it!!!!

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Hard work pays off in getting FHA approval on a condo complex

Filed under: professionalism, real estate, title/escrow, townhouse, FHA/VA, condo, mortgage/loan, seller, economic issues, buyer, Puget Sound, HOA, Washington — Reba Haas @ 11:42 am

We’ve been working on a transaction for one of our clients since late October 2009. The client came to us the year prior thinking it would take him 2 months to get ready for on market, but then took 7 months to get there. I’d done a lot of early review of the property to try and determine our chances with FHA since only one part of the complex was initially approved when the development was completed. For those not familiar, if your complex isn’t already approved you can do what is called a “spot approval” with FHA but only IF your building meets certain criteria. At the beginning we were in good shape.

However, late 2009 brought lots of changes in FHA and as most of us agents know the spot approval process was in jeopardy of going away - and that’s exactly the kind of buyer we ended up in contract with so we knew it might be touch and go as we targeted a closing to meet the initial 1st time buyer tax credit deadline. The FHA spot approval cutoff is now pushed to Feb 1st of 2010, but many of the tightening aspects of FHA have been happening along the way to that new deadline. For one, we got hit with this transaction failing at one point because even though we’d had an FHA appraisal completed, we got turned down for spot approval because the association hadn’t yet approved their recent reserve study. FHA was requiring that reserve studies be within the 12 months prior and the last approval of one was from 3 years ago - even though the association had a study in hand, it just hadn’t been approved by the board yet as they continued getting bids for the roofing element.

The buyer’s agent and the lender for this deal have been great about staying diligent with the file and found alternate ways to have the budget review of the association used for the spot approval - and on my end I was coordinating with other listing agents with clients in the complex to have us all pushing support of approving the reserve study. One agent had her client’s lender submitting the entire complex to FHA for approval.

With all of us working in concert with each other we got the wonderful news on Friday that our approval from FHA was accepted! Not just for my client’s spot approval, but the entire complex will now be approved. YEAH! Now, we are back on track for closing - 2 months later than expected - but closing nonetheless. All the selling clients involved are very relieved and the buyers are all starting to get excited about their purchases again. It’s a new day and time in real estate, and those of us with the nerves of steel and willingness to work hard, and together, to overcome the obstacles that arise for our clients it is very worthwhile.

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Snohomish County Courthouse holidays (closures) for 2010

Filed under: Snohomish County, title/escrow, townhouse, single family, commercial real estate, FHA/VA, market activity, real estate, economic issues, legal issues, seller, mortgage/loan, condo, Washington — Reba Haas @ 10:49 am

Much like the folks in King County, there are days in Snohomish where the recording office is closed. This will affect the closing of any real property transfers, sales, and refinances. Below are the dates affected:

January 1st - New Year’s Day, January 18th - MLK Day

February 15th - President’s Day

May 31st - Memorial Day

July 5th - Independence Day

September 6th - Labor Day

November 11th - Veteran’s Day, November 25/26 - Thanksgiving

December 24th - Christmas

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King County Courthouse holidays for 2010

Filed under: title/escrow, King County, single family, commercial real estate, real estate, mortgage/loan, legal issues, seller, buyer, Puget Sound, Washington — Reba Haas @ 10:29 am

In order of the calendar:

Jan 1 - New Year’s, Jan 18th - MLK Day

Feb 15 - President’s Day

May 31st - Memorial Day

July 5th - Independence Day

September 6th - Labor Day

November 11th - Veteran’s Day, November 25th/26th - Thanksgiving

December 24th - Christmas, December 31st - New Year’s Eve

If you’ll be buying or selling property in King County throughout this year, it might be good to put these dates on your calendar so you don’t inadvertently put the closing date of a contract on the wrong day and have an automatic bump to the next business day. Also, these dates are announced without King County having put in any furlough days, as they did in 2009. If budget issues arise, you might expect to see that again as those were instituted and then updated not necessarily at the beginning at the calendar year in 2009. So, for 2010 keep your eyes open for any possible changes. Next up…. Snohomish County recording office closure dates.

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Lending a helping hand to friends & family in a foreclosure or short sale position

Filed under: Pierce County, King County, market activity, tax issues, Snohomish County, townhouse, commercial real estate, Conventional loans, FHA/VA, single family, real estate, condo, buyer, seller, economic issues, legal issues, Puget Sound, interest rates, mortgage/loan, foreclosure, short sale, Washington — Reba Haas @ 2:55 pm

This is a year for the record books! We’ve seen unemployment hit a 26-year high, a skyrocketing federal deficit, massive bank bailouts, and plummeting personal investments leaving many with decimated retirement accounts. Let’s face it, this recession is brutal, and it truly has touched everyone in some shape or form.

While most of us have merely had to pare back spending, you may know someone experiencing much harder times, possibly due to circumstances beyond their control. Maybe long-term unemployment or a major-medical crisis has caused them to get behind on their mortgage payments, and now they’re looking at foreclosure.

We have an unusual request to make. If there is someone like this in your life—a friend, a family member, a coworker—who is facing foreclosure or needs help getting out from an upside-down mortgage, we’d like to ask that you give them our number. We might be able to help them find some relief.

High Success Rate of Closing Short Sales

At Team Reba, we have developed our education and area of expertise as short sale specialists, and over the past several years we have successfully helped many sellers avoid foreclosure, so we know the realities.

We use a proven, systematic process that ensures a sale goes through as quickly as possible—typically closing between 60 to 120 days. Timing is critical, because the longer it takes to close the sale, the greater the impact on the seller’s credit.

Serving Our Clients with Compassion and Integrity

So what would this process look like? We’ll sit down with your friend or family member and have a confidential and compassionate discussion that’s completely non-judgmental. They can feel free to open up about their financial situation and address any concerns. We’ll ask them if they’ve explored all the options such as loan modification or turned to family and friends for help. Then we’ll discuss how the process works and give them the information they need to determine whether a short sale is a viable option.

Please understand that our goal is not to prey on or profit from the misfortunes of others. You know us better than that, and you know we have a deep and caring commitment to serve all of our clients with integrity, especially those who are dealing with difficult circumstances. However, this service has been so effective with other clients, we wanted to spread the word, so that someone you know who might be struggling with their mortgage could begin to turn things around.

If someone you know fits this description, we encourage you to have a frank conversation and have them call us for a confidential discussion. There is absolutely no obligation and there is no direct cost to the seller if they choose to work with us. It’s certainly worth the call to give someone you care about some peace of mind.

From all of us at Team Reba of RE/MAX Metro Realty

Michael Lindekugel, Robin Tomazic, and Rebecca “Reba” Haas

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The extended home buyer tax credit is passed - read the new rules and how they may apply to you!

Filed under: townhouse, title/escrow, single family, FHA/VA, Conventional loans, market activity, tax issues, buyer, seller, mortgage/loan, condo, real estate, economic issues — Reba Haas @ 11:46 am

Well, a huge and collective sigh of relief for a lot of homeowners and wannabe homeowners has been let out this week with the passage of the tax credit extension. The big bonus is that there is an expanded package available and so to keep you all abreast of the new changes, here is a link to a chart that spells out all the new details.

For those that weren’t aware of it, the expansion part includes a new $6500 tax credit for purchasers who are moving into a different property (must be $800,000 or less) and who have lived in their current home for at least 5 consecutive years out of the past 8 years. This means current homeowners who may have been sitting on the sidelines wishing there was more in it for them to sell now and move into a new place (move up or downsizing, or just getting into a new neighborhood), there are some incentives to go along with the lower prices now available. Be sure to read all the provisions and limitations because the tax credits do also have income limitations and phase out rules.

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Temporary price reduction to $289,500 to meet 1st time buyer tax credit deadlines of 11/30/2009! Tip top move-in ready home in Kent Ridge (Kent, WA) neighborhood. 4bd/2.5ba near parks, transit, and Microsoft Connector

Filed under: FHA/VA, single family, King County, Conventional loans, Microsoft, Microsoft Connector, Kent, Fair Housing, staging, buyer, seller, Puget Sound, HOA, real estate, mortgage/loan, Washington — Reba Haas @ 1:36 pm

$299,500.00 - Kent Ridge Estates 4bed/2.5ba home $299,500 - In Private Cul-de-Sac

Location: Kentridge

Updated kitchen with Corian counters, newer appliances: dishwasher, refigerator, & stove. Convenient breakfast bar area, & built in home office. New roof installed 10/09. New Vinyl Clad windows, new furnace, and central air with a new heat pump to heat/cool efficiently. 10 min to Microsoft Connector.

Contact Information

My Pic Association Logo

Reba Haas

425-970-3697

Pricing

Price: $299,500.00

Property Location

27900 123rd Pl SE

Kent, WA 98030

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Links

Virtual Tour - All photos

Features

Bedrooms: 4	Bathrooms: 2.5
Parking Spaces: 2	Year Built: 1988
Subdivision: Kent Ridge Estates	Lot Size: 5797
Garage Size: 2	School District: Kent
Square Footage: 1890	Agent Name: Rebecca Haas
Broker: Remax Metro Realty, Inc.	MLS #: 29143318