Kappa Alpha Psi Scholarship Luncheon

Twenty five young men were awarded a laptop computer and a minimum of $1000 by the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity at its 37th Annual Luncheon at the Marriott City Center Hotel in downtown Denver May 23, 2009.

My son and I were lucky enough to be the guest of one of the scholarship recipients, Dustin, he is my son’s best friend. They have attended this luncheon for at least the past four years and I never made the connection of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity and the Kappa Tower on 22nd and Downing. The Kappa Tower houses low income seniors. I’ve driven by this building a million times, as I was sitting in the room, I read a little blurb about the building, why and when it was built and low and behold our very own Dustin’s grandfather helped buy the land and develop the project. Wow! I love learning something new every day about this great city that I grew up in!

The lunch was fantastic, the speakers were impressive, and the ballroom was packed with at least 650 people. The Scholarship recipients were videotaped and shown off for all of us to see. What a great day it was to see all of these kids, who will inevitably be great leaders in our community, just like the leaders who were speaking and who were in attendance.

I hope to attend another luncheon where Dustin will be the speaker, remembering his high school days in the recession and how this group has provided him excellent connections to help his dreams become reality.

Top 10 Myths About Credit Scores Debunked

Below is an article I thought everyone should read about credit.

RISMEDIA, May 7, 2009-With many Americans considering a home purchase or refinance, seeking a new job, purchasing a new car, or striving to pay off credit card debt, 2009 might be the year of the credit score, said Bills.com president Ethan Ewing.

“Many Americans hold mistaken beliefs about credit scores,” cautioned Ewing, who heads the free online consumer portal at Bills.com. “Misinformation on television and in hearsay from friends and neighbors only compounds the problem.”

Here are the top 10 commonly held myths surrounding credit scores:

Myth #1: A credit score is a credit report. The credit report is a detailed listing of all debts and payments, going back throughout an individual’s entire payment history, Ewing explained. For each entry, it shows the creditor’s name, amount owed, the highest balance owed, the available credit, whether the account is open or closed (and who closed it), the number of late payments and whether the account is in default. A credit score is a number between 300 and 850 that is based on complex formulas incorporating all the data in the credit report.

Myth #2: Those who are not in default do not need to check their credit report. Everyone should check his or her credit report at least once a year (quarterly is not a bad idea in today’s market) to be sure the report contains no erroneous information. Visit www.annualcreditreport.com for a free, no-obligation copy of the report.

Myth #3: Checking a credit report damages credit. Reviewing your own credit information has no effect on a credit score, Ewing said. Neither does a credit report review by a prospective landlord or employer.

Myth #4: Everyone has one credit score. Credit score calculations are compiled using data from three different credit scoring agencies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion). The resulting scores might vary slightly among the three agencies if they have slightly different information, but they will be similar.

Myth #5: Married couples share a credit score. If all of a couple’s accounts are joint, their scores will likely be similar, but each individual maintains a unique credit record and credit score. On the flip side, after a divorce, ex-spouses need to follow protocol to have creditors remove either party from a joint account.

Myth #6: Shopping for a loan destroys credit. It is true that “hard inquiries” – examinations of a credit score in preparation for extending credit can have a small negative impact on credit. However, credit bureaus take into account that consumers might inquire about a loan from multiple mortgage companies or auto lenders. “If multiple inquiries are received from the same type of lender within a 14-day period, the credit scoring companies do not count each inquiry against the borrower,” Ewing explained. But credit card account inquiries to open new accounts are counted individually.

Myth #7: To improve a score, close unused accounts. An important component of a credit score is available credit, or the unused credit that has been offered (on a credit card, for instance) but not used. Closing unused cards removes those available balances from the equation and can actually lower a credit score. Today, some banks are automatically lowering limits or closing accounts to reduce their own credit exposure. Individuals whose debt load is manageable should not experience an extreme effect on their scores.

Myth #8: To boost credit quickly, just pay off bills. Credit scores reflect performance over time. Scores will not change overnight.

Myth #9: For a fee, vendors can fix a bad score. Again, credit scores show historic behavior. Be cautious about companies that claim to “fix” or “repair” credit. “You yourself can remove inaccurate information,” Ewing said. “Beyond that, be aware that some companies send credit scorers a deluge of letters asking that they verify – and in the process, remove all past negative information. If and when truthful information is verified, however, it will quickly return to the credit report.”

Myth #10: Never get help – it is too hard on credit. It is true that credit counseling, debt settlement and bankruptcy all can cause significant black marks on a credit report. “If you are in real trouble, however, you can and should seek help,” Ewing urged. “Which option you choose will depend on the severity of your situation. Credit counseling can help to manage bills, and lower interest rates and monthly payments to creditors. Debt settlement firms can negotiate to lower the principal amount of your debts, typically providing a faster path to debt freedom than credit counseling. Bankruptcy, an even more serious alternative, should be discussed with a bankruptcy attorney.”

“Credit is important, but knowing the truth about credit might be even more important,” Ewing concluded. “Before taking action that might hurt or help your score, check your facts to be sure your actions will help your financial picture.”

Technology Saved Us from Multiple Offers

Yes, multiple offers… they are back!

We have many agents in our office who have had been in bidding wars with other buyers during the past few weeks.

Yesterday one of my buyers and I went to look at a new listing in a neighborhood that we have been watching for about a month and decided to make that seller an offer.  The listing agent called as soon as she received my call, thanking us for braving the elements to show the property and was happy to hear I would be sending an offer.  Normally I would have driven to her house or office to personally deliver the offer but with a foot of snow on the way, she said she would be happy to receive it by e-mail and thought they would be able to get back to us that night with an answer even though we gave them until the morning.  A half an hour later, she called and told me another agent called to say that they were were going to send her an offer.

My buyer and I immediately talked through the options and sent back a revised offer and because we knew they were technologically savvy, not only did we give them a great offer (price and terms) we only gave them 2 hours to respond.  We didn’t want them to even look at another offer.

While driving home through the spring blizzard, my son was texting the other agent (as directed by me of course)  as we drove to pick up his tuxedo for prom the next night.  By the time we got home we received a phone call from the other agent.  They accepted our offer as we wrote it and they hadn’t seen the other offer yet.

This morning I dropped of the earnest money check and the first signed offer.  I called the agent a couple hours later to make sure she did receive it, she told me that they received 4 offers this morning!  WHEW!

The reason this place had so many offers in less than 2 weeks was because they were priced RIGHT, they were immaculate, they were ready to move on to their next home.

From the buyer’s stand point, we are grateful that we were not in a bidding war.  From a seller’s stand point, maybe they could have received more money, maybe they would have lost all five buyers, there are 4 other really great properties who have been on the market for a longer period of time, who would possibly take a lower offer than they are asking.

Sellers: price it right and get it off your hands so you can move on to your next chapter and not be in limbo. You will see multiple offers if you are priced right. The buyers are waiting to find the cream of the crop that is priced right. If they don’t know the prices in the neighborhood, the agents will and your house will show like crazy until you have it under contract.

Buyers: know the neighborhood and the prices or trust that you have hired a great agent who will tell you when it is a great deal.  And remember, a GREAT DEAL, means finding a home you love in your price range.  The interest rates right now make every neighborhood a great deal, but it is only a great deal if it is a home you want.

Who’s looking at your house? Page Views vs. Traffic

What do page views mean you?  Do you want more traffic through your house?

We all know almost everyone start looking at homes on the internet before they actually decide to buy and many times before they decide to start looking with a real estate agent. As this prospective home buyer is looking on line at homes on websites such as DenverRealEstate.com or Realtor.com or even OBEO.com the websites track how many people have looked at the website and each room. It even tracks where the consumer came from. Did they go directly to that site or were they referred to that site and which site sent them there.

Buyers: You want to make sure you are looking at sites that are updating daily with the local MLS, or you might be looking at homes that are no longer on the market. Best thing to do is contact a full-time Realtor like me to help you. If you do go to my site, you can simply sign up for a daily e-mail with the newest listings in your parameters.

Sellers: You will want to make sure your full-time Realtor has your house posted on as many sites as possible. My recent experience is that once a listing starts seeing 30 showings per day on at least one site, it is getting close to selling. I used to be able to tell that we were getting close to receiving an offer by how many people entered the house, now, the internet is guiding us.

All of my listings are posted to each website above and are also posted to as many as 40 other sites. Driving traffic to your house is one of the most important parts of my job. I use our conventional and dependable resources and in addition, I am posting to Criags List, Twitter, Facebook, Delicious, Digg.  The Kentwood Company and I  partner with Leading Real Estate Companies of the World which links to an addition 700 other real estate firms and their websites.

Buyers and traffic, doesn’t mean just showing up in the car anymore, it means the buyer must like it online before they show up in the car.

My personal sites: Obeo, www.AmyCesario.com, LinkedIn, Twitter. If you’d like to talk face to face, we can even set up a skype conversation.

What is your “Walk Score?”

So you want to be able to walk to the neighborhood happenings? That means something a little bit different to all of us so if you are interested in how “walkable” your neighborhood is, go to www.walkscore.com. You can type in your address and see how you rate.

If you are looking to see how walkable a neighborhood that you might want to live in is, you can check that out as well. You will, of course, want to make sure the things that you want to walk to are listed in that neighborhood.

Denver is ranked 11th as one of the most walkable cities. San Francisco was number one. It’s a fun site to check out!

2009 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit FAQ’s

How could this effect my mortgage payment?

• Assuming you are eligible for the full $8,000 refund it would be like reducing your monthly payment by $667 dollars a month!

• Example: You purchase a home for $200,000 and use the FHA program to finance a $193,000 mortgage at 5% with a payment of principle and interest $1,036/month.
• In theory if you took the full $8,000 refund and put it towards your monthly mortgage payment it would be like paying $370 a month for the first year!

Who is Eligible?

• First-time home buyers purchasing any kind of home – new or resale – are eligible for the tax credit. To qualify for the tax credit, a home purchase must occur on or after January 1, 2009 and before December 1, 2009.
• For the purposes of the tax credit, the purchase date is the date when closing occurs and the title to the property transfers to the home owner.

How do you define a first time home buyer?

• The law defines “first-time home buyer” as a buyer who has not owned a principal residence during the three-year period prior to the purchase. For married taxpayers, the l aw tests the homeownership history of both the home buyer and his/her spouse.

How is this different from the 2008 tax credit?

• The most significant difference is that this tax credit does not have to be repaid. Because it had to be repaid, the previous “credit” was essentially an interest-free loan. This tax incentive is a true tax credit. However, home buyers must use the residence as a principal residence for at least three years or face recapture of the tax credit amount. Certain exceptions apply.

Is a tax credit the same as a tax deduction?

• No. A tax credit is a dollar-for-dollar reduction in what the taxpayer owes. That means that a taxpayer who owes $8,000 in income taxes and who receives an $8,000 tax credit would owe nothing to the IRS.

• A tax deduction is subtracted from the amount of income that is taxed. Using the same example, assume the taxpayer is in the 15 percent tax bracket and owes $8,000 in income taxes. If the taxpayer receives an $8,000 deduction, the taxpayer’s tax liability would be reduced by $1,200 (15 percent of $8,000), or lowered from $8,000 to $6,800.

How much will I get back?

• The fact that the credit is refundable means that the home buyer credit can be claimed even if the taxpayer has little or no federal income tax liability to offset. Typically this involves the government sending the taxpayer a check for a portion or even the entire amount of the refundable tax credit.
• For example, if a qualified home buyer expected, notwithstanding the tax credit, federal income tax liability of $5,000 and had tax withholding of $4,000 for the year, then without the tax credit the taxpayer would owe the IRS $1,000 on April 15th. Suppose now that the taxpayer qualified for the $8,000 home buyer tax credit. As a result, the taxpayer would receive a check for $7,000 ($8,000 minus the $1,000 owed).

Are there income limitations?

• The tax credit amount is reduced for buyers with a modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) of more than $75,000 for single taxpayers and $150,000 for married taxpayers filing a joint return. The tax credit amount is reduced to zero for taxpayers with MAGI of more than $95,000 (single) or $170,000 (married) and is reduced proportionally for taxpayers with MAGIs between these amounts.

Does new construction qualify?

• Yes. For the purposes of the home buyer tax credit, a principal residence that is constructed by the home owner is treated by the tax code as having been “purchased” on the date the owner first occupies the house. In this situation, the date20of first occupancy must be on or after January 1, 2009 and before December 1, 2009.

Why should I buy now?

• Mortgage rates are at historic lows.
• Housing prices have come down over the past 2 years and it is a buyers market.
• The government has never implemented a program like this – it is like giving you a check for up to $8000!

Have we hit bottom?

Where are we?  Have we hit bottom?  When is the best time to buy? or sell?

These have been the questions on the tip of everyone tongue for the past two years.  Check out this graph and let’s talk about the best time to buy.

Are we hanging out between Panic and Despondency?  That is what the 6:00 news makes me think.  Maybe we are between Despondency and Depression?  That would be great…

We don’t need and exact point of where we are.  The best time to buy is between Panic and Hope.  The closer to Panic you are there is some risk, but you will be collecting tax breaks that you wouldn’t have if you wait for Hope.  There is less risk in Hope, but by then the prices have started going up so you may not receive the best deal in the neighborhood.

We won’t know when bottom is until we have passed it.  When our prices start to increase is when we start feeling the Hope.  We aren’t seeing price increases yet as a whole city.  This makes me think we aren’t there yet.

The interest rates are amazing and hopefully will continue to be this way through the year.  As market continues to change, so will we.

If you are selling…could you be making the worst decision?  No!  What a great time to get your house sold.  The inventory is low, in some neighborhoods the buyers have already seen everything and are waiting for you!  This means there is a great opportunity for you to sell and move into the next price range while it is at a great price and an even better interest rate.

Feel free to share this with a friend who may be thinking about buying or selling and always feel free to leave a comment.  Next week I will know more about the inventory and have a comparison from January of last year to January of this year and as we head into spring, we will soon see if we have pent up inventory, which means prices will stay flat and we haven’t hit bottom, yet.

MSNBC Interactive – 10 real estate myths for buyers and sellers

Barbara Corcoran is a great leader in our Real Estate world.  I thought this was concise and important for everyone to see.

MSNBC Interactive – 10 real estate myths for buyers and sellers

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Time for Change

December vs. January is like black and white.  Showings on the homes that are for sale are up, not only from December, but from a year ago.  I have had at least three times as many showings on my listings in these first three weeks than I had in the whole month of December. 

I had two open houses this weekend, one in Cherry Creek East and one in Hilltop.  Both were busy but Sunday was non-stop!  I felt like it was a summer day, people out walking, running and being pulled by their dogs.  Some were looking for ideas, thinking that moving might be in their future.   There were others that had a plan: their homes are going on the market this spring and they are doing research on the neighborhoods they love so that they can make a smart decision.  And then there were those beautiful people moving here from another city and state because we have such “a great city with a great quality of life.”  

The interest rates have also had a positive impact for our buyers.  They can afford more now than they could in December.  There wasn’t the fear I heard just a few weeks ago, there was hope.   Sunday evening after the non-stop open house I heard Warren Buffett talking about the consumers fear tuning into hope, just confirming my experience over the past two weeks. 

Today I am mesmerized by the television, talking about the Marade today celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, adding to the excitement of our new leader, Barack Obama, taking office tomorrow.  The news talked about changing their theme today, not just reporting on all the negative but telling some positive stories as well!  Wow!  I hope they can keep it up.  This is a way they can give back to the community and do their part in making this a better world.  I think I may change my watching habits just because of their commitment to hope.

In December, I thought how nice it would be if we could just flip a switch and go from dark to bright.  I will be watching carefully and report back to you, it seems as though the switch has been flipped.  I think we have one of those energy efficient bulbs, where is just takes a minute to warm up, then it is bright, cost efficient and will reduce our carbon footprint.

Amy Cesario Joins The Kentwood Company at Cherry Creek as Broker Associate

Amy Cesario Joins The Kentwood Company at Cherry Creek as Broker Associate

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