Good bye 2007 - Hello 2008

Saying goodbye to our 2007 real estate woes is an easy task. Making 2008 a better year will be slightly harder. Here are a few ways you can help yourself over the course of next year:

1. Refinance your home - Rates are extraordinarily low right now - a 2 year low to be exact. Why not take advantage of a sub-6% 30 year fixed, expecially if you have had the loan for 5+ years? A lower interest rate, lower payment, and the security of borrowing at such an inexpensive rate are great reasons to refi this year.
2. Home Equity loans - Yes, you can use your home's equity (if you are fortunate enought to have some). The caveat is don't use it to buy that above-ground pool you've always wanted, the 2009 car that's new on the lot, or tickets to the SuperBowl. As a general rule-of-thumb, if borrowed money doesn't offer more value to your home after you have spent it, then don't do it. That does not include sickness, job loss, college funds, etc.
3. Prioritize Repairs - nothing says "DANGER" to a buyer like a leaky roof, peeling paint, or holes in walls. Start a home improvement project list and make it your mission to get your home in tip-top shape.
4. Energy Efficiency - call the power co. and have them do a free energy audit. If you need insulation, they give you a credit. Will save you money immediately.
5. Shop around for home insurance - with the departure of many of the large home insurers, the gap has been filled by smaller upstarts with strong financials. Call your insurance agent and ask that they review your policy. You might be able to save a few shekels very easily with no loss of coverage.

A Home for the Holidays 30-year Fixed Rate Loans Available

If your holiday shopping includes searching for a new home, Pinellas County Housing Finance Authority is offering low 6.1 percent fixed-rate, 30-year mortgages for residents looking to purchase a home in Pinellas, Pasco or Polk counties.

Save Our Homes challenged in Court...

Very interesting, especially in light of the new Amendment coming up for vote in Jan. I especially like the part about the tax inequities widening to 400+% in 2026 between Homesteaded property and Non-Honesteaded property.

Sorry I can't post the text (copyrighted) but the link is below:

http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/n1-121707.cfm

Sellers, the bleeding continued through November and we broke a few multi-year records. If you have to sell, PRICE IT RIGHT! Don't price it like your neighbor, who sold a year ago. Heck, even 6 months ago is too recent. Make buyers WANT to write an offer.

If you are upside-down in the property financially, there are avenues of assistance. You need to contact a Realtor immediately - please don't only listen to your lender. They are in tough times and every dollar they can get out of you helps them, not you.

Buyers, what in the heck are you waiting for. My clients closed on Tuesday with a 5.5% 30 year fixed rate. Granted they have sterling credit, but it was a 97% loan! Looking back over the history of interests rates, it's like free money at sub-6% rates. High inventory and motivated sellers are a no-brainer for moving up, moving down, or moving to the water, or moving to a golf course, or mov...you get the picture.

By the time you start hearing good news in the newspapers, it will be too late. Call or email me!

When discussing property taxes and their effect on the Florida real estate market, I am beginning to hear a recurring theme that is rooted in a common misconception - with the declining real estate market, property taxes will go DOWN.

To be perfectly honest, I thought the above was true - until I decided to delve deeper to see what was going to happen to my family's tax bill.

Remember the old saying "The Devil is in the details"? Well, let me introduce you to a little devil called the Recapture Rule! (I swear I didn't make this up).

Ok, stay with me. The local municipalities calculate your property's worth 3 ways:

1. Just/Market Value - a market value assigned by the taxing authority



2. Assessed Value - the value of the property assigned for tax value (usually less than Just/Market Value)



3. Taxable Assessed Value - after exemptions, the amount you, the owner, are taxed on.

For most homeowners, their Just/Market Value will be higher than their Assessed Value. If they have Homestead, then the max their Assessed Value can increase on a yearly basis is 3% (or the CPI).

So let's say your Just/Market Value is $200,000 and your Assessed Value is $150,000. Next August when you receive your TRIM notice, you will see a decrease in your tax bill because your Just/Martket Value will be less than $200,000, right? WRONG. Please read the snippet below that is taken directly from the Pinellas County Property Appraiser website, http://www.pcpao.org/:

Details, meet Devil. Devil, meet Details.

Keep on keeping on!

Cut Property Taxes Now!
www.CutPropertyTaxesNow.com
1.35% property Tax Cap –

1) 25-40% tax cut for Florida taxpayers;

2) applies to homesteaders/non-homesteaders;

3) Preserves Save Our Homes cap,

4) Applies to Taxable Value,

5) Allows school Funding to be preserved;

6) forces local governments to cut their budgets down to size. ……we need you to gather signatures!

¨ Coalition Grows – Floridians for Property Tax Reform add their support and volunteer network to get 1.35% plan on ballot! (http://www.saveourhomesforever.com/)
¨ Bradenton Herald offers supportive comments for 1.35% plan!
¨ Anna Maria city Commissioner endorses 1.35% plan!
¨ We need you to collect signatures for our 1.35% petition and donate at www.CutPropertyTaxesNow.com

Below is a letter of endorsement and an opinion piece in the Bradenton Herald supporting our 1.35% plan. Will you join our campaign?

In Today's Bradenton Herald (12/2/07) (letter to the editor)

Help pass 1.35% cap

I read with interest and hope about a ballot initiative supported by House Speaker Marco Rubio that calls for a flat 1.35 percent cap on all property taxes. The ballot proposal is sponsored by the coalition Cut Property Taxes Now and you can read more about their proposal at their Web site www.cutpropertytaxesnow.com.

This is a grassroots initiative and they need more than 600,000 verified voter signatures by the end of January for it to be placed on the ballot. What particularly caught my attention was the acknowledgement by Rubio that we (the people) need to rein in government spending. Our Legislature, local representatives and Gov. Crist have clearly demonstrated a lack of will and competence to address the citizens' concerns about spending and taxes; therefore, we, the people, need to take action. I strongly urge all concerned citizens to complete the petition form and notify your friends and family about this important ballot initiative. Let's show Tallahassee we, the people, can make a difference.

Dale Woodland,

Anna Maria city commissioner

City of Anna Maria

Tax plans aplenty (12/2/07, Bradenton Herald)

Finding fairest of them all

Just in the past few weeks the war against property taxes has expanded across several more fronts - each one more responsible than the Legislature's vain effort at reform during October's special session.

One proposal, a citizens petition, restricts property taxes to 1.35 percent of a parcel's taxable value. The tax bill on a piece of property valued at $100,000, with no exemptions, would be $1,350, amounting to a 26 percent reduction on average. The plan, which retains Save Our Homes and the homestead exemption, cuts property taxes by $8 billion statewide.

A new statewide coalition called Cut Property Taxes Now is sponsoring the measure, which could land on next November's ballot.

Another proposal, from a powerful statewide panel, seeks to repeal many of the state's sales-tax exemptions and exclusions and use that money, estimated at $9 billion annually, to replace local property taxes that fund public schools. The savings on property-tax bills would range from 30 percent to 45 percent.

The Taxation and Budget Reform Commission, which is appointed every 20 years by the governor, House speaker and Senate president, is charged with re-examining the tax code and can place proposed constitutional amendments before voters - this one, too, in November 2008.

Both merit further discussion and analysis.

And both come on the heels of an act of desperation by the Legislature, which spit out a last-minute plan for property-tax relief during the waning moments of yet another special session. Their proposed constitutional amendment, which comes up for a vote Jan. 29, would chop property taxes $12.4 billion over five years with school revenues taking a $2.8 billion hit.

The plan doubles the $25,000 homestead exemption, amounting to an average tax savings of $240 a year; allows homeowners to retain their accrued Save Our Homes benefits when they move; and sets a 10 percent annual cap on nonhomesteaded assessments. The doubling of the homestead exemption would not apply to schools.

This ballot issue has come under fire from a number of quarters, including those who question its fairness to nonhomesteaded property owners and those concerned with education. A St. Petersburg Times-Bay News 9 poll taken in November shows waning public support - at 53 percent among registered voters, well short of the 60 percent required for passage of a constitutional amendment. That number plummets to 47 percent when respondents learn about the plan's specific provisions.

This proposal is not measuring a passable pulse, yet Gov. Charlie Crist - who campaigned on Save Our Homes portability and doubling the homestead exemption - is plowing full steam ahead. He has appointed a top aide to run a statewide effort to boost support for the plan, and he is seeking donations from business trade groups in order to fund an advertising campaign.

This plan, though, only serves to compound inequities in the state's tax system, and we suggest Crist put his efforts elsewhere.

The 1.35 percent proposal, though, applies to all properties, including homes owned by snowbirds - making it more fair than January's amendment. But the plan faces a steep uphill climb in order to secure a spot on the November ballot, needing some 61,000 signatures on petitions by the end of December to trigger a Florida Supreme Court review of the ballot language. If that passes muster, roughly 550,000 signatures would have to be collected by the end of January.

The sales-tax measure - long a pet project by Bradenton businessman and former state Senate president John McKay - targets hundreds of materials and services currently untaxed. Many are justified and such "necessities of life" items as food, prescription drugs and health services would remain exempt. McKay is also not going after lawyers or advertising. The commission's tax code committee is looking at Internet sales, courier services, pro sports franchises, lawn care and swimming pool services, to name a few.
With support from two-thirds of the commission's 25 members, the amendment could be placed on the November ballots - though it, too, would require 60 percent passage.

With another $1 billion revenue shortfall predicted several weeks ago and continued economic grief ahead for the state, Florida will be challenged to come up with a more equitable tax system - whether that comes from a citizens initiative or a political effort. At least now there are more ideas on the table. We hope voters agree on one thing: January's ballot measure is not the answer.