REDUCED $1M!! This modest '08 Chateau neighbors the commanding Santa Rosa & Chocolate Mnts. Surrounded by 2 meticulously manicured golf courses designed by the famed British architect Clive Clark & legendary Pete Dye, this striking European-style property proposes every luxury reminiscent of grand living. The authentic stone-clad residence encompasses over 4,200sqft on the 10th hole of the Pete Dye Course w/a Double Fairway View. Offering 3 regal suites + a Guest Rm or Media Rm & sweeping views of the Mnts, private piazzas, cantera stone fireplaces, water fountains, Extensive Wine Room, interior/exterior stereo & security systems--all nestled around maturing Mediterranean landscaping. Boasting the highest quality of construction & materials including; Loewen windows, Weiland doors, interior/exterior chiseled edge Travertine, T&G Knotty Alder, Ashley Norton & Top Knob hardware, Dacor, Sub-Zero & Whirlpool Duet Appliances, Built-in Lynx BBQ & Fire-pit, a Resort-like backyard...

SELLER IS VERY MOTIVATED, MAKE AN OFFER!

Offered at $3,150,000
(760) 333-4777 / (808) 205-3000
www.PedersonPropertiesInc.com
MLS# 21319129

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Be careful about what numbers you use in your real estate marketing and MLS data. Measurement errors, even small ones, can mean thousands of dollars and are landing real estate professionals in court.

Square footage is one of the most basic tools of real estate. Salespeople often use it as they add listings to the MLS or write advertising copy.
 
Yet, few real estate practitioners are likely to have ever questioned a property’s square footage as they copied it from the tax records, the developer’s floor plan, or the listing in the MLS.
 
Do you think size—square footage—really matters? After all, if buyers love a property, do they really care if it’s 2,700 square feet or 2,560 square feet? When the housing market is strong, people generally don’t care as much about precision, but in a soft market, people become more demanding.
 
Size affects everything from whether the couch will fit in the living room to whether the HVAC’s capacity is large enough to cool the space. Also, consumers are conscious of square footage and its impact on value.
 
Measurement errors, even small ones, can mean thousands of dollars, so it’s not surprising that square-footage disputes are making news—and landing some real estate professionals in court. For example, in Brown v. Roth (N.C. Ct. App. 1999), the court held that a broker who provided inaccurate data might be liable for a breach of fiduciary duty or negligence unless he “exercised reasonable care in obtaining the square footage information and communicating it to the buyer.”

Whose Numbers Can You Trust?
 
Part of the challenge in supplying accurate square footage to clients is finding a reliable source of data. Many practitioners rely on the square footage contained in the tax assessor’s records. Those records are a convenient source, but public records were never intended to be used by the real estate industry as a source of square footage. These estimates were created by and for a mass appraisal system.
 
After comparing appraisals, MLS listings, and public records for more than four years, I found both the percentage and the size of some errors alarming.
 
One way to avoid liability is to simply avoid the question of square footage, a strategy the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® recommends. Almost all MLSs contain a general disclaimer indicating that although information is believed accurate, it’s not guaranteed.
 
The courts have generally held that these disclaimers protect real estate practitioners from liability for inaccurate square footage numbers—but do they serve the consumer? I don’t think so.
 
Another way to reduce liability is to give buyers a disclosure form that explains the source of the square footage information. Colorado has adopted such a standardized form for all residential property. Although this form doesn’t settle on one true measurement standard, it’s a big step in the right direction.
 
In Search of a Standard
 
So how do we get more accurate square footage data? One national standard sounds wonderful, but creating a single, widely accepted standard is an extremely complex challenge, no one system can account for every possible scenario.
 
The only formal national measurement standard currently available is the American National Standards Institute (ANSI  Z765-2003) method. It has been in circulation for more than a decade but is still not widely used.
 
To claim adherence to this standard, however, you must follow it completely, and not enough practitioners do to consider it a universal standard.
 
A standard that I believe is closer to the measurement practices used in the field today is the American Measurement Standard. The AMS is not new; in fact, it was first used in the early 1900s. Until recently, however, it was never formalized in writing. Many real estate practitioners and builders already use AMS, so it makes sense to me to that it become the universal standard.
 
Square footage—along with location—is one of the foundations of real estate valuation. A national standard, whatever its basis, will serve us and our customers well.

Check out the rest of this article here: http://www.realtor.org/rmonews_and_commentary/opinion/0809commentarysquarefootage

This is a mouthful of information - but very informative if you own Real Estate. If you are unaware of the Housing & Economic Act or don’t quite understand it - Please read through this & refer to the links for further information. If you have any questions or need to speak with us directly, you may do so at anytime.

H.R. 3221, the “Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008,” passed the House on July 23, 2008, by a vote of 272-152. On Saturday, July 26, 2008, the Senate passed the bill by a vote of 72-13. The President signed the bill on July 30, 2008. The bill includes the following provisions:

• GSE Reform– including a strong independent regulator, and permanent conforming loan limits up to the greater of $417,000 or 115% local area median home price, capped at $625,500. The effective date for reforms is immediate upon enactment, but the loan limits will not go into effect until the expiration of the Economic Stimulus limits (December 31, 2008).
  View 2009 FHA and GSE loan limit estimates (PDF: 1.9M)

• FHA Reform– the 2008 Economic Stimulus limits will expire on December 31, 2008. Accordingly, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the government sponsored enterprises (GSEs) have published new loan limits for 2009. Based on the permanent legislation passed in July, the new loan limits will go down from 125% of local area median to 115% of local area median. In addition, the high cost ceiling will reduce from $729,750 to $625,500. NAR is working to make the higher loan limits permanent, but has not yet been successful. Appeals to local area loan limits determined by HUD for implementing provisions of HERA must be made by December 6, 2009.
  Read more>
  FHA Loan Limits> (PDF:540KB)
  FHA’s mortgagee letter> (PDF:152 KB)

• Homebuyer Tax Credit - a $7500 tax credit that would be would be available for any qualified purchase between April 9, 2008 and June 30, 2009. The credit is repayable over 15 years (making it, in effect, an interest free loan).
  First-time homebuyer tax credit chart (PDF: 98K)
  Frequently asked questions about the first-time homebuyer tax credit (PDF: 161K)

• Additional Property Tax Deduction – HERA provides a one-year benefit that will be available to all homeowners. Under current law, property taxes are deductible only if an individual itemizes his/her deductions on Schedule A of their tax return. The new provision will permit a deduction of up to $500 ($1000 on a joint return) for all individuals who utilize the standard deduction and do not itemize. Instructions will be provided on the 2008 tax return when it is distributed at year-end.

• FHA foreclosure rescue– development of a refinance program for homebuyers with problematic subprime loans. Lenders would write down qualified mortgages to 90% of the current appraised value and qualified borrowers would get a new FHA 30-year fixed mortgage at 90% of appraised value. Borrowers would have to share 50% of all future appreciation with FHA. The loan limit for this program is $550,440 nationwide. Program is effective on October 1, 2008.
  FHA Foreclosure Rescue Chart (PDF: 87K)

• Seller-funded downpayment assistance programs– codifies existing FHA proposal to prohibit the use of downpayment assistance programs funded by those who have a financial interest in the sale; does not prohibit other assistance programs provided by nonprofits funded by other sources, churches, employers, or family members. This prohibition does not go into effect until October 1, 2008.
  More about the seller-funded downpayment assistance provision
  Tips to finding downpayment assistance programs (PDF: 39K)

• VA loan limits– temporarily increases the VA home loan guarantee loan limits to the same level as the Economic Stimulus limits through December 31, 2008.

• Risk-based pricing– puts a moratorium on FHA using risk-based pricing for one year. This provision is effective from October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2009.

• GSE Stabilization– includes language proposed by the Treasury Department to authorize Treasury to make loans to and buy stock from the GSEs to make sure that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae could not fail.

• Mortgage Revenue Bond Authority – authorizes $10 billion in mortgage revenue bonds for refinancing subprime mortgages.

• National Affordable Housing Trust Fund– Develops a Trust Fund funded by a percentage of profits from the GSEs. In its first years, the Trust Fund would cover costs of any defaulted loans in FHA foreclosure program. In out years, the Trust Fund would be used for the development of affordable housing.

• CDBG Funding – Provides $4billion in neighborhood revitalization funds for communities to purchase foreclosed homes.
  More about the CDBG funding provision

• LIHTC – Modernizes the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program to make it more efficient.

• Loan Originator Requirements– Strengthens the existing state-run nationwide mortgage originator licensing and registration system (and requires a parallel HUD system for states that fail to participate). Federal bank regulators will establish a parallel registration system for FDIC-insured banks. The purpose is to prevent fraud and require minimum licensing and education requirements. The bill exempts those who only perform real estate brokerage activities and are licensed or registered by a state, unless they are compensated by a lender, mortgage broker, or other loan originator.

• Modification of $250,000/$500,000 Exclusion – The sole real-estated related “pay-for” among the tax incentives modifies the $250,000/$500,000 exclusion of gain on the sale of a principal residence. Beginning in 2009, the exclusion, as it applies to a second home (or rental property) that is converted to a principal residence will be allocated. When the second home is sold, any gain attributable to use as a second home (or rental property) will be taxed at capital gains rates. Any gain attributable to use as a principal residence will remain excludable, up to the $250,000 and $500,000 limits. A formula is provided for computing the proper treatment of these gains.
  View some examples that illustrate the application of this new rule (PDF: 27K)

• Neighborhood Stabilization Program
  The Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP), contained in Sections 2301 through 2304 of that act, represents the first time the federal government has focused specifically on the properties and the neighborhoods impacted by the crisis. The legislation responded to mounting pressure from hard-hit areas in the Sunbelt and the Rust Belt, to help them deal with a crisis that had vastly outgrown their resources and their ability to address it.
  Download the REALTORS? and Neighborhood Recovery pamphlet> (PDF: 2M)

To view this article in it’s entirety or to browse additional articles, click here: http://www.realtor.org/buyers_and_sellers

For the second year in a row, Realtors report that exterior remodeling projects return the most money as a percentage of cost, as detailed in the 2008 Remodeling Cost vs. Value Report.

On a national level, wood deck additions and all types of siding replacements – upscale fiber cement, midrange vinyl, and upscale foam-backed vinyl – returned more than 80 percent of project costs upon resale. Of these, the most profitable project was upscale fiber cement siding, which recouped 86.7 percent of costs, followed by wood decks at 81.8 percent, midrange vinyl siding at 80.7 percent, and upscale foam-backed vinyl siding at 80.4 percent.

“Because today’s buyers have much more to choose from in the way of inventory, any home for sale must make a positive first impression,” said National Association of Realtors President Charles McMillan, a broker with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Dallas-Fort Worth. “As a trusted source for real estate information, Realtors understand what attracts and motivates their buyer clients, which is why the results of this year’s Cost vs. Value report underscore the importance of curb appeal in the buyer’s eye.”

The 2008 Remodeling Cost vs. Value Report compares construction costs with resale values for 30 midrange and upscale remodeling projects comprising additions, remodels and replacements in 79 markets across the country, expanding from 60 markets last year. Data are grouped into nine U.S. regions, following the divisions established by the U.S. Census Bureau. This is the 11th consecutive year that the report, which is produced by Hanley Wood, LLC, was completed in cooperation with REALTOR Magazine, as Realtors provided their insight into local markets and buyer home preferences within those markets.

In addition to wood decks and siding, window replacements and kitchen remodels also returned a relatively high percentage of remodeling costs on a national basis. All types of window replacements – upscale and midrange wood and upscale and midscale vinyl – returned more than 76 percent of costs. A major midrange kitchen remodel returned 76.0 percent of project costs, while a minor midrange kitchen remodel returned 79.5 percent of costs.

On a national level, bathroom remodels, while still a relatively good investment, do not return as high a percentage as in previous years. A midrange bathroom remodel was estimated to return 74.4 percent on resale, comparable to a midrange attic-to-bedroom conversion, at 73.6 percent of costs recouped, and a midrange basement remodel, at 72.7 percent of costs recouped.

As in last year’s report, the least profitable remodeling projects in terms of resale value were home office remodels, sunroom additions, and back-up power generators, returning only 54.4 percent, 56.6 percent, and 57.1 percent, respectively, of project costs.

Although most regions followed national trends, the regions that consistently were estimated to return a higher percentage of remodeling costs upon resale were the Pacific region of Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington; the West South Central region of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas; the East South Central region of Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee; and the South Atlantic region of the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.

The regions that generally returned the lowest percentage of costs were New England (Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont), East North Central (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin), West North Central (Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota), and Middle Atlantic (New York and Pennsylvania).

McMillan explained that the resale value of any given remodeling project depends on a variety of factors. “A home’s overall condition, availability and condition of surrounding properties, location, and regional economic climate are all factors that will influence the value of any remodeling project,” he said. “That’s why it’s important to consult with professionals like Realtors in your area when you want to enhance the value of your home. Realtors see hundreds, if not thousands, of homes every year with their buyer clients and can provide valuable insight into what projects and improvements will make a difference with buyers in your area.”

To view this article in it’s entirety or to view other great articles, Click Here:http://www.realtor.org/press_room/news_releases/2008/curb_appeal_matters_now_say_realtors.

A note from our National Association of Realtors President; Charles McMillan:

December 4th, 2008

“The National Association of Realtors has been advocating a four-point plan to help stimulate and stabilize the housing market and the overall economy. Part of the plan calls for changes in how the Treasury uses TARP funds and other monies to lower mortgage interest rates.

“We are pleased to see that the leadership of the Treasury Department is seriously considering the actions we discussed to lower interest rates. The result of such action will help the nation’s economic recovery and bring stability to the housing market.

“NAR estimates that lowering the mortgage interest rate by 1 to 2 percentage points can result in up to an additional 800,000 home sales. Housing has always led our economy out of downturns and lower interest rates are key to bringing home buyers back to the market.

“We strongly encourage the Treasury to move quickly with its plan to lower interest rates to encourage current buyers to act rather than continue to wait.”

The National Association of Realtors, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing 1.2 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries. To View this ‘note’ in it’s entirety as well as other great articles, Click Here: http://www.realtor.org/press_room/news_releases/2008/mcmillan_treasury_action

This is AMAZING!

See if your Brain is as old as your body OR if you're wise beyond your years!! 

Read the following instructions since the game is in Japanese:

Procedure of Flash Fabrica Game: 
1. Touch 'start' 
2. Wait for 3, 2, 1. 
3. Memorize the number's position on the screen, then click the circles from the SMALLEST number to the BIGGEST number. 
4. At the end of game, the computer will tell you the age of your brain. 

Good luck!!

Click Here: http://flashfabrica.com/f_learning/brain/brain.html

 This is AMAZING!

See if your Brain is as old as your body OR if you're wise beyond your years!! 

Read the following instructions since the game is in Japanese:

Procedure of Flash Fabrica Game: 
1. Touch 'start' 
2. Wait for 3, 2, 1. 
3. Memorize the number's position on the screen, then click the circles from the SMALLEST number to the BIGGEST number. 
4. At the end of game, the computer will tell you the age of your brain. 

Good luck!!

Click Here: http://flashfabrica.com/f_learning/brain/brain.html

--Crying I'm laughing so hard! 

 This is great, I'm filling it out as you read this;)