Bend, Oregon First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit ~ The Facts!

$8,000 FIRST TIME HOME BUYER TAX CREDIT

As modified in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

Enacted February 17, 2009 by President Obama

Amount of credit ~ Maximum credit amount is $8,000.
Eligible Property ~ Any single family residence(including condos, co-ops, townhouses) that will be used as a primary residence.
Refundable ~ Yes. Reduces, or can eliminate, income tax liability for the year of the purchase. Any unused amount of the tax credit refunded to purchaser.
Income Limit ~ Yes. Full amount of credit available for individuals with adjusted gross income of no more than $75,000/year or $150,000 on a joint return. Phases out above these caps($95,000 and $170,000).
First time Home Buyer Only ~ Yes. Purchaser (and purchaser's spouse) may not have owned a principal residence in 3 years previous to the purchase.
Revenue Bond Financing ~ Purchasers who utilize revenue bond fianancing can use credit.
Repayment ~ No repayment for purchases on or after January 1, 2009 and before December 1, 2009.
Recapture ~ If home is sold within 3 years of purchase, entire amount of credit is recaptured on sale. Applies only to homes purchased in 2009.
Termination ~ Tax credit expires on December 1, 2009.
Effective Date ~ January 1, 2009

If you are a first time home buyer and would like to know more about taking advantage of this credit and other exciting opportunities in the Bend, Oregon real estate market please contact me. If you would like to search Bend, Oregon homes for sale or our surrounding communities click here. I look forward to exceeding your expectations of what a real estate agent can do for you.

Troy Batson is a Licensed Broker in the State of Oregon ~ troybatson.com ~ Duke Warner Realty ~ Bend, Oregon

Bend, Oregon Foreclosures and Short Sales Report

Active Residential Listing Report ~ February 11, 2009
                            BEND    REDMOND   SISTERS    PRINEVILLE
Active Res. Listings -   1,823          750          187              365

Res. Short Sales -        275 (15%)     143 (19%)  20 (11%)      36 (10%)

Res. Bank Owned -       120 (7%)       41 (5%)     4 (2%)        22 (6%)



I will be compiling this report monthly in hopes of identifying the bottom of our Central Oregon market. With almost 25% of the Bend, Oregon active residential listings being short sales and foreclosures it looks like we have a ways to go. Until these numbers decrease significantly I predict Central Oregon home prices to remain soft.

For a list of Bend, Oregon Foreclosures or other Central Oregon Foreclosures click here.

Troy Batson is a Licensed Broker in the State of Oregon ~ troybatson.com ~ Duke Warner Realty ~ Bend, Oregon

Northwest Bend, Oregon Home Prices.............

I had a client today ask me how bad the home prices in Bend, Oregon have fallen. I told him it depends on the location of the home in Bend, knowing that to be the case, but not really having the numbers to back it up. I knew, without checking, that Northwest homes had faired far better than the Northeast homes, but I wasn't exactly sure about the home prices in the Southeast and Southwest Bend area. So off to the MLS I went to run some reports.

Turns out Bend, Oregon median home sale prices have dropped 30% from January '08 to January '09. I was surprised to find out the Southeast median home sale price dipped only 14%, and that the coveted Northwest area came in at an 18% decline over last year. I was not surprised to discover that the Southwest and Northeast median home sales prices both fell 32% from last year.

While none of this is good news for home owners, it shows the importance of location when home buyers are choosing a new home. These numbers prove the importance of location when shopping for a new home, and prove the importance of using a good Realtor® to help you in your decision making process. You can't completely mitigate your risk when purchasing a home, but you can definitely reduce it with a good agent.

Troy Batson is a Licensed Broker in the State of Oregon ~ troybatson.com ~ Duke Warner Realty ~ Bend, Oregon

The Financial Stability Plan aka TARP 2

Timothy Geithner's press conference just ended, with a thud. The stock market is dropping like a rock, currently down $306. Bank stocks are down 10% on average. The financial news reporters are picking apart the plan.

Not the WOW factor we were hoping for yesterday. President Obama teased the plan last night during his first press conference, now I know why he didn't deliver it. The Financial Stability Plan is going to be very costly and come with strings attached.

Geithner started by explaining the causes of our current crisis situation, basically greed and no oversight. From there he formulated the reasoning for the following changes in U.S. policy:

- The new policy must be comprehensive in scope.
- It must be sustained until economic recovery is well established.
- Government support will be transparent. New website to monitor this is www.financialstability.gov
- Private capital will be mobilized and backed by the government.


With these changes in the Treasury policy Geithner rolled out a three point plan to get credit flowing and raise consumer confidence.

1. It will require lenders to go through a "stress test" to analyze the assets and liabilities on their books. After a passing grade government capital will come with conditions and terms to encourage lenders to convert government funds to private investor funds.

2. A public/private investment fund will be created(aka bad bank) to finance the toxic assets. The starting price tag is $500 billion. The structure of this fund has not been created and they are still looking for input. It will be managed by private asset managers.

3. Finally, the plan calls for committing up to $1 trillion, in addition to the previous $500 billion, in funds to ease the credit for consumers and businesses.


The Treasury Secretary finished by mentioning the Housing Program Plan which will be rolled out in the coming weeks. This plan will target our slumping housing market and ways to keep foreclosures to a minimum and reviving the demand for housing.

Like a wrote yesterday we needed this plan to be well accepted by investors, consumers and have bipartisan support. I'm not sure President Obama and Treasury Secretary Geithner pulled it off. I didn't see the knockout plan we needed to revive our slumping Bend, Oregon housing market.

Troy Batson is a licensed Broker in the State of Oregon ~ troybatson.com ~ Duke Warner Realty ~ Bend, Oregon

Obama's Bank Rescue Plan

President Obama's bank rescue plan will be unveiled Tuesday by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. The plan, scheduled to be released on Monday, was delayed due to the expected vote in the Senate on the latest Stimulus Package. The bank rescue plan is rumored to rely heavily on private sector funding backed by government guarantees and financing incentives. It may also include some of the $350 billion in unused T.A.R.P. money.

The Obama administration has not ruled out the creation of a "Bad Bank", much like the one created during the Savings and Loan Crisis, to buy up illiquid assets on lenders books. This option proved to be profitable in the long run last time.

Geithner is also expected to expand $200 billion in Federal Reserve funds in hopes of loosening up credit for U.S. consumers.

With all this being said, Tuesday is going to be a very important day for all of us. The unveiling of the bank rescue plan strikes at the core of our slumping industries problem; access to credit. How the stock markets, investors and consumers react to this plan will determine how long the housing market will struggle. Without credit, the blood of our industry, the housing market will remain lifeless.

If this plan is widely accepted by investors and supported in a bipartisan fashion, coupled with the $15,000 home buyer tax credit, then I will be optimistic about our near future in the housing market. If the bank rescue plan fails to impress and President Obama and Treasury Secretary Geithner can not garner support for their plan, I do not foresee an end to our housing crisis.

We need credit to flow freely in the market. I hope President Obama understands the importance of this crucial issue and does what's right for the U.S. economy. The U.S. economy runs on credit and without it, well just look where we are. I will be tuned in on Tuesday, hoping for a knockout.



Troy Batson is a Licensed Broker in the State of Oregon ~ troybatson.com ~ Duke Warner Realty ~ Bend, Oregon

Mortgage Rate Proposal Shot Down by Senate

Senator John Ensign's(R-Nev.) housing recovery plan was defeated Thursday in the Senate by a vote of 62-35, largely along party lines. The proposal was designed to reduce mortgage interest rates to as low as 4% for home buyers and existing homeowners looking to refinance.

The bill also included incentives to lenders to increase loan modifications for those facing foreclosure and various tax breaks for small businesses as well as low and middle-class families.

The Democrats believed it would be a windfall for the lending institutions and included tax breaks they did not support.

I was personally hoping this would be passed and coupled with the recent $15,000 tax credit to all home buyers give the Bend, Oregon housing market a much needed boost. I am still trying to wrap my mind around why the Democrats would not support this bill.

The Bend,Oregon housing market needs buyers and sellers confidence to rise. I believe this would have been a boon for our market. Just look at the great deals out there today.


Troy Batson is a Licensed Broker in the State of Oregon ~ troybatson.com ~ Duke Warner Realty ~ Bend, Oregon Real Estate

$15,000 Home Buyer Tax Credit

The U.S. Senate voted yesterday to amend the 2008 American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Act to include ALL homebuyers and increase the $7,500 tax credit up to $15,000 or 10% of the purchase price. The Senate acted unanimously to pass the amendment sponsored by U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga.

The amendment will make this $15,000 tax credit on any primary residence available for one year after the bill is enacted. It also changes the $7,500 tax credit from the initial act to a true tax credit, not a zero interest loan that had to be repaid over 15 years.

The amendment is part of the Stimulus Package that includes more wasteful spending than useful economic stimulus needed to get our slumping housing market jump started. The Republicans are currently proposing holding mortgage interest rates at 4% for home buyers or those wishing to refinance their current mortgage. The U.S. Treasury would subsidize the difference between current mortgage rate levels and the 4% target rate.

The mortgage proposal, if enacted, and the $15,000 home buyer tax credit will definitely be the helping hand we need here in Central Oregon. For those buying or trying to sell their home in Bend, Oregon it couldn't come at a better time. The Bend housing market has been hit hard in this economic slowdown with foreclosures and short sales dragging down our home prices.

The good news in all of this is the opportunity it provides for home buyers in Bend and those struggling to sell their homes. The increased demand the $15,000 tax credit will create will help us thin out our bloated supply of homes and hopefully stabilize home prices.

If you have been thinking about buying a home in Bend, the time to act is now. Remember this tax credit will only last for one year and the great deals out there will go sooner than that.

Troy Batson is a Licensed Broker in the State of Oregon ~ troybatson.com ~ Duke Warner Realty ~ Bend, Oregon