In landslide votes, the extension/expansionof the first time home buyer tax credit passed both houses of Congress and is now on its way to the President's desk for signing tomorrow.
The credit now goes through May 1st, which means you can sign a contract through May 1st as long as you close on the property by June 30th.
It gives up to $8000 for first time buyers (defined as not having owned a home for the past three years) and up to a $6500 credit to move-up buyers who have owned and occupied their current homes for at least five years.
Again, you have to be an owner occupant of this primary residence, no investors here, and there is an income cap for single filers at $125,000 and joint filers at $225,000. Oh, and the home you buy can't be more than $800,000.
This is great news for the economy and all those folks who drug their feet and didn't get in on the credit the first time around. Now with the expanded credit, people will be able to "move up" too!
Yamhill County Public Health is offering vaccine clinics for H1N1 and seasonal flu shots starting today. These clinics are by appointment only and will continue through next week while supplies last.
Seasonal flu clinic This vaccine includes the flu shot for low-income people and the nasal spray. Cost for the nasal spray is $39.75, which can be billed to Medicaid. For both the nasal spray and the flu shot, people without insurance or unable to pay may be able to receive the flu vaccine for a reduced price of $15.19 or less. For healthy people between the ages of 2 - 49, the live flu vaccine (nasal spray) is a good option according to Dr. Robert Moore, Yamhill County Health.
Moore adds that some medical providers and pharmacies may be receiving additional supplies of seasonal flu vaccine as they become available.
H1N1 vaccine clinic The H1N1 flu vaccine is in limited supply and only people in these groups will be vaccinated at this time:
Children ages six months to five years
Pregnant women
Parents, household contacts and caregivers of children under six months old
To schedule an appointment or for more information, please call the Yamhill County Public Health information line at 503-434-7443 or 503-55407842. Yamhill County Public Health is located at 412 NE Ford, McMinnville.
So, by now you have received your tax statement in the mail and were surprised to see that instead of your taxes going down like you thought they would, they went up. How could this be you ask yourself, how can the value of my home go down and my taxes increase?
The reason is because property taxes in Oregon are based on assessed value, not real market value. Under Measure 50 which was voted in, in 1997, the assessed value of your home will rise 3% each year, plus any bonds or levies that were voted in.
Even though the market has continued to decline, in part due to the high number of short sales, taxes won't reflect that until next year.
In Yamhill County, here's the breakdown of where your tax dollars go:
The majority goes to fund schools. One Yamhill County property tax dollar gives 55 Cents to education (K-12, community colleges, educational service districts), 28 cents to neighborhood services provided by cities and special districts (police and fire protection, libraries, parks, urban road maintenance, and more), and 17 cents to county government services (public safety, road improvements, electronic, public health and more.)
Taxpayers who feel their assessed or real market values may be too high should call the assessor's office to discuss the basis for their property's appraisal and if they choose, they may appeal. Appeals may be filed through Dec. 31. You can find the information regarding appeal on the back of your tax statement.
MCMINNVILLE, Ore. - Only two weeks remain to submit photos to the first annual "Clicks Away: EASM Photo Contest." All submissions are due by November 1.
Categories include:
People: Individuals experiencing the Museum.
Aircraft: Aircraft, spacecraft or exhibit in the Museum or on the Museum campus.
Event: People or activities at a Museum event (Easter Eggstravaganza, Hall of Honor, Loose Goose Fly-Out, etc.).
Employee: Best photo submitted by an Evergreen employee, Museum employee, intern or volunteer in the previously listed categories.
Winning entries will be displayed in the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum, featured in an issue of the Museum's member newsletter, Wingspan, and posted on the www.EvergreenMuseum.org. Additional prizes will be announced on Nov. 1. All submissions are due by Nov.1.
For entry forms, model release forms and official contest rules, please visit www.EvergreenMuseum.org, or call 503-434-4006.
The Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum is best known as the home of the world's largest wooden flying boat, the" Spruce Goose", SR-71 "Blackbird", the Titan II SLV Missile and the Grumman F6F-3 "Hellcat". In addition, there are more than 150 historic aircraft, spacecraft and exhibits on display, along with artwork, traveling displays, the Spruce Goose Café, the Cosmo Café, the Rotors, Wings & Things store, the Right Stuff Store and Oregon's largest IMAX® 3D theater. The hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., daily except when it is closed for Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and Easter. The Museum facility is located at 500 NE Captain Michael King Smith Way, across the highway from the McMinnville Airport and about three miles southeast of McMinnville, Ore., on Highway 18. Regular visitor admission is required. Call 503-434-4180 for more information, and visit www.evergreenmuseum.org.
Influenza has been reported in Newberg schools. It is not known whether or not this is H1N1 influenza because doctors and emergency rooms are not testing for H1N1 flu.
Anyone with influenza needs to remain at home. Influenza is a viral illness characterized by a fever above 100o, a cough, sore throat, body aches chills nausea and fatigue. H1N1 flu symptoms are similar to the symptoms of seasonal flu.
If students become sick with respiratory symptoms and a fever at school, the school office will notify parents or guardians to pick up their student and take them home or to a health-care provider. Emergency telephone contacts will be made in the event parent or guardians cannot be reached. Please make sure your student's school has current contact information for you at home and at school.
Students should not return to school until they no longer have a fever, or signs of a fever, for 24 hours without using fever-reducing drugs.
Influenza is highly contagious and is spread mainly from person to person when people with influenza cough or sneeze. We are doing everything we can to keep schools functioning as usual. Here are recommended ways to reduce the spread of illness:
Wash hands frequently with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer
Cover coughs and sneezes
Keep sick children home
CDC recommends vaccination
Please contact the school office if your child is sick. More information about H1N1 influenza is available on the school district website including links to local and federal health resources.
Hot Air Balloons & Gliders subject of Home School Day on Oct. 15
McMinnville, Ore. - The Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum is hosting a Home School Day on Thursday, Oct. 15, from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The Education Department invites home school students and their families to participate in activities centered on balloons and gliders.
Through hands-on activities and content instruction, the Education Department aims to teach students the properties of air, how balloons rise into the sky and how air affects the design of gliders.
Both a hot air balloon and glider will be on site to provide live demonstrations of the information students will be discussing.
General registration for both children and adults is $15. Member registration is $8 for both children and adults. Pre-registration and pre-payment is recommended due to limited space. A lunch location will be provided, so feel free to bring your own lunch or purchase one from the Cosmo Café in the Space Museum.
For more information or to RSVP for the event, please contact the Education Department at 503-434-4185, or email education@sprucegoose.org.
The Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum is best known as the home of the world's largest wooden flying boat, the" Spruce Goose", SR-71 "Blackbird", the Titan II SLV Missile and the Grumman F6F-3 "Hellcat". In addition, there are more than 150 historic aircraft, spacecraft and exhibits on display, along with artwork, traveling displays, the Spruce Goose Café, the Cosmo Café, the Rotors, Wings & Things store, the Right Stuff Store and Oregon's largest IMAX® 3D theater. The hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., daily except when it is closed for Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and Easter. The Museum facility is located at 500 NE Captain Michael King Smith Way, across the highway from the McMinnville Airport and about three miles southeast of McMinnville, Ore., on Highway 18. Regular visitor admission is required. Call 503-434-4180 for more information, and visit www.evergreenmuseum.org.
Yamhill County Public will conduct H1N1 influenza vaccination clinics at district schools in early November. Children from 6 months to 24 years of age are considered at risk for the H1N1 virus and are part of the target group to receive the vaccine soon after it becomes available.
Children will not be not be vaccinated without signed parental consent. Parents can expect to receive information from the Public Health Department including a consent forms within the next week. The information will be available online as soon as it is available.
Vaccination clinics will be held at all public and at private schools. Some clinics may extend hours to vaccinate other members of the target group, which includes pregnant women, household contacts and caregivers for children younger than six months old, people from six months - 24 years of age and persons 25 - 64 years who have health conditions associated with higher risk of medical complications. For a more detailed description of the targeted group, see http://www.flu.oregon.gov/DHS/ph/acd/flu/h1n1flu-subcommittee.shtml#target
10.) You sent in multiple offers to the bank. Put yourself in the bank's shoes, what would you do if you got 3,4,5 or 6 offers on your property? That's right you would wait to see if you get more at higher prices. We all know short sale departments at banks are extremely organized and they can surely keep track of multiple offers (Yes I'm being sarcastic). Oh did I mention accepting and having your seller sign multiple offers is probably a little against the law and at the very least unethically? Third party approval is just a contingency just like an inspection or financing. You wouldn't keep accepting offers if there was an only and inspection contingency right?
9.) You don't call the bank periodically for updates, you rely on them calling you. With literally thousands of short sale offers coming in, you need to keep your file fresh on their minds. Files are always being lost or misplaced, yes even in this digital age they get lost in cyberspace. A file goes to a negotiator via email and the pdf gets deleted accidentally. Do actually think the negotiator is going to remember let alone try and recover that info when he/she has another 100 or so to work on? They just say NEXT.
8.) You don't bother to lower the price periodically. Do I really need to explain this one, this is real estate selling 101.
7.) Your marketing, well sucks! No pictures, no virtual tours, poor description, etc. Again real estate selling 101.
6.) You don't know what the hell you're doing and are too pigeoned minded to actually take formal training to get better because of course you've been in business 28 years or that's what your broker told you to do. Formal training is not some 2 hour course given by your local board nor is it a 2 hour webinar. I'm talking at least 8 hours of classroom instruction or distance learning curriculum. Nothing substitutes for a live instructor if you have a choice chose the classroom.
5.) You don't submit an offer you feel is too low. WHAT? Let the lender tell you it's too low. Get the process going and hopefully you can get a hard number from the bank on what they'll take.
4.) You don't check this property's status and the bank forecloses. The short sale department does not communicate with the foreclosure/legal department. You don't know how many times I've called and informed the S/S department about an impending sale date and they reply, "Oh let me send them a message to delay the sale." This doesn't stop the process but in my neck of the woods if you delay a sale, you just bought yourself 60 days. It takes 30 days to get in front of the judge to schedule another sale date and that date is usually another 30 days out.
3.) Poor communication with the buyers/buyers agent and they walk. Mindset is crucial here. You need to prepare the agent and/or buyer for a long wait at least 90 days before you can go into the sales phase. You also need to let them know that not a whole lot will happen in the first 30 days and to expect updates every two weeks or sooner if developments occur.
2.) You're disorganized. If your the type that gets overwhelm at times (Like me) you need to systematize your business. You should have already done this but this is even more crucial in short sales. I designed an excel spread sheet that holds all my listings. I note whether they are active, pending , short sale, etc. It contains all the info I need in the notes boxes of the spreadsheet and I note every time I call with date and name of person. If you want a copy of it click the hyperlink.
...........drum-roll please........and the number one reason your short will not close is:
1.) Your short sale package is incomplete. A bank will not call you and say hey your package was incomplete. It will go in the round file cabinet. The more info you send them the better. I always call the lender first and ask for their specifics. I then send them what they ask and then some. A complete package should be at least 50 pages. I've seen some that are 100 pages. These servicers do not have a clue about your market. The more you send them pertaining to the market value the better chance you have at getting your package looked at sooner. You come across as a professional that really knows what you are doing, perception is the key here. (Who cares if you just took the Short Sale class 24 hours ago, you're a pro act like it!)
A note from Martin & Janet Bleck, owners of Underground Cafe' and Coffeehouse.
This Friday night we are pleased to host a special solo performance by Lisa Mann, a Muddy Waters Award Winning Artist from Portland. Lisa is a "crackerjack musician who brings all her skills to her singing: great sound, great feeling, and commitment to the music". The word on the street is: "Go hear her now!" Visit www.lisamannmusic.com to read more about this fantastic artist!
This week's Friday Night Small Plate Menu includes a mini-raw-bar-fest featuring our "Shrimp with Three Sauces" and "Fanny Bay Oysters-on-the-Half-Shell". Fanny Bay oysters are from Canada, specifically Baynes Sound in the southern part of Vancouver Island. To learn more about Fanny Bay oysters, go to www.oysterguide.com/maps/british-columbia/fanny-bay
MUSIC STARTS AT 7:00P.M. UNDERGROUND IS LOCATED NEXT TO SHERI'S IN THE NEWBERG SPRINGBROOK SHOPPING CENTER
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So, by now you have received your tax statement in the mail and were surprised to see that instead of your taxes going down like you thought they would, they went up. How could this be you ask yourself, how can the value of my home go down and my taxes increase?
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