It's here, the newly expanded and extended homebuyer tax credit!  I received in my email today a letter that was sent out by our 2009 NAR President, Charles McMillan.  In it, he explains that the House and Senate have passed the amendment that expands and extends the homebuyer tax credit.  Yes the bill is extending the credit to current homeowners!  In the letter, Charles explains that the bill should be sent to President Obama for him to sign in the next day or so.

Below is Charles' podcast which details the new tax credit.

http://www.realtor.org/about_nar/presidents_report/_podcast_archive/mcmillan_taxcreditextended_20091105

Here is a comparison chart between the old homebuyer tax credit, and the new bill which should be in affect soon.

http://www.realtor.org/fedistrk.nsf/files/government_affairs_tax_credit_ext_chart_110409.pdf/$FILE/government_affairs_tax_credit_ext_chart_110409.pdf

I hope you find this information valuable.

Is this a good thing for our economy?  What happens when this extended tax credit ends?  Will there be a negative affect, or drop off in real estate sales after the tax credit ends?

If you're a first time homebuyer or current home owner, will this new homebuyer tax credit affect whether you will buy a new home over the next 5 months?

My question to all of you realtors is, how will this expanded and extended homebuyer tax credit impact your area, and your real estate business?

Good news for Stratland Estates in south Gilbert.  Pulte Homes, Meritage Homes, and Toll Brothers have purchased 230 vacant lots, which have been sitting empty since the developer, Stratland Estates L.L.C., filed for bankruptcy in July of 2008.

Stratland Estates is located near Higley and Germann Roads.  The developers who have purchased the vacant lots plan to start building their new homes, and completing the neighborhood early next year.  Pulte acquired 107 lots, and will build homes ranging from 1,900 to 3,000 square feet in size.  Meritage will build 65 homes in the community, and Toll Brothers will build on the remaining 58 lots.

Taylor Morrison homes currently has 10 brand new homes for sale as well in Stratland Estates.  Their 4 bedroom model is starting at $214,990, and boasts almost 2,000 square feet.  Taylor Morrison's highest priced listing is a 6 bedroom home with over 3,500 square feet, and is listed at $299,990. A total of 15 homes have sold in Stratland Estates this year.

There has been an unexpected increase in new home construction permits in Gilbert, as nearly 1,000 permits have been issued so far in 2009.  Is this a sign that the times are changing, and the real estate market is starting to pick up again?  I think it's too early to tell yet, but this is a very good sign for Gilbert and the community of Stratland Estates.

Did you know that there is an abundance of stylish custom and luxury homes in Chandler, Gilbert, and Queen Creek?  There are currently 133 homes for sale ranging from $500k up to $7,400,000 in Chandler alone.  There are currently 147 active listings in Gilbert ranging from $500k to $3,900,000.  In Queen Creek, there are currently 50 luxury homes ranging from $500k up to $1,650,000.

If you are ready to step-up, are moving from another state, or just looking to purchase a new home, the East Valley has some beautiful luxury homes.  Many of them are on acreage, or larger lots, are horse properties, or include a lovely pool, or more!

For example, here are three exceptional East Valley luxury homes:

Chandler luxury waterfront beauty...

Check out this pool and view!

Gilbert luxury home...

...a golf course backyard

... and check out this custom Queen Creek Luxury home on 1.33 acres:

Ranch style...

custom kitchen...

more info on Chandler, Gilbert, and Queen Creek Luxury Homes...

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Contact Troy and Mia Erickson, Realtors®, Terra Solis Realty, LLC. Licensed Residential Realtors® in Arizona at 602-295-6807 for Chandler, Gilbert, and Queen Creek Arizona custom and luxury Real Estate.

You can view all Chandler, Gilbert, and Queen Creek Luxury Real Estate from our website.  We are here to help you buy or sell!

There was a chance that the U.S. Senate was going to vote on extending the $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers as soon as today, but now they won’t vote until next week at the earliest according to the latest information on bloomberg.com.

“I think the first-time home-buyer credit is a great example of funding that’s helped to stabilize the housing market and should be extended,” said Jared Bernstein, chief economist to the Vice President, on Bloomberg television.

The current $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit was enacted as part of the $787 billion economic stimulus package and it is set to expire November 30th.

The proposal is to extend the credit until April 30, and expand it to allow for more Americans to qualify.  It looks as though the new extended plan will allow for homebuyers who have lived in their prior residences for at least five years to receive a credit of $6,500 for a new purchase under the plan.  The plan would also allow couples earning as much as $225,000 and individuals as much as $125,000 to qualify for the tax break, which is higher than the current tax credit.

The intent of the extension is to prevent home sales from slipping any lower.  The economy continues to struggle to recover from the worst drop in home prices since the Great Depression.  More than 1.2 million borrowers have claimed $8.5 billion of the $13.6 billion set aside for the homebuyer tax credits this year, according to the Treasury Department. The Obama administration says that the credit has helped stabilize the nation’s housing market.

A new twist to the measure is that it would require those receiving the tax break to remain in their new homes for three years, or they would have to repay the credit.  Lawmakers also said they will not extend this beyond the new April 30, 2010 deadline.

I know that there are thousands of Real Estate Agents anxiously awaiting the extension of the $8,000 first time homebuyer tax credit program, and some homebuyers currently on the fence as well.

With daylight savings time occuring this weekend and many of you going to work early Monday morning, I am hoping that all of you remembered to turn back your clocks.  At 2:00am Sunday morning is the official time that the time changes from standard to daylight savings time.

There are, however, places like Arizona where I live, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, America Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Marianas, where we do not observe daylight savings time, and our clocks will not need to be changed.

However, what this does is affect how our time is related to everywhere else in the United States.  Now California is an hour earlier than Arizona, and the east coast is now only two hours different.

For those of you who observe daylight savings time, which is pretty much everyone in the United States, I hope you enjoyed your extra hour of sleep!

Daylight saving time will need to spring forward on March 13. 

Forbes Magazine has just announced America's safest cities for 2008, and the Phoenix Metropolitan area was ranked 14th overall, just behind San Diego.  Forbes looked at the country's 40 largest metropolitan areas in four different categories.  The Phoenix Metropolitan area is the 12th largest metropolitan city based on population.  The categories to determine America's safest cities included workplace death rates, traffic death rates, natural disaster risk, and violent crime rates.

                     

The Phoenix Metropolitan area ranked 17th in violent crimes and workplace fatality rates, 27th for traffic death rates, but 5th in natural disaster risk.  Congratulations to Minneapolis-St. Paul for being ranked number one.  To read the entire article and see the complete list, visit America's safest cities.

The Major League Baseball World Series starts tonight.  It's the defending world champion Philadelphia Phillies vs. the New York Yankees, the team you either love or hate.  Who will win?

Both teams are ripe with quality players and quality pitching.  New York has starting lefty C.C. Sebathia (19-8 with a 3.37 ERA), and Philadelphia has it's own lefty in Cliff Lee (7-4 with a 3.39 ERA with the Phillies).    Other starting pitchers for Philadelphia include Pedro Martinez (5-1, 3.63 ERA), Lefty Cole Hammels (10-11, 4.32 ERA), and Joe Blanton (12-8, 4.05 ERA), or another lefty J.A. Happ (12-4, 2.93 ERA).  Additional starters for the Yankees include A.J. Burnett (13-9, 4.04 ERA), Lefty Andy Pettit (14-8, 4.16 ERA), and Chad Gaudin (2-0, 3.43 ERA) or Joba Chamberlain (9-6, 4.75 ERA).

Both teams have quality relievers.  The Phillies have Brad Lidge who has 31 saves, as well as Ryan Madson, and lefty Scott Eyre.  The Yankees have Mariano Rivera with 44 saves and a 1.76 ERA, as well as Phil Hughes, and lefty Phil Coke.

The two teams combined have 20 former or current All-Stars.  As far as power from the plate, the Phillies have four players who hit 30 or more home runs this year, and the Yankees have seven players who hit more than 20 home runs.  The Phillies are averaging 6.1 runs in the post season, and the Yankees are averaging 5.3 runs each game in the post season.

The Phillies had a record of 93-69 during the regular season, and the Yankees were 103-59.  Head to head this year, the Phillies won two of three at Yankee Stadium.  Both teams have made it to the World Series in relative ease.  The Phillies disposed of Colorado 3-1, and then beat the Dodgers 4-1 in the National League Champion Series.  The Yankees swept Minnesota 3-0, and then beat the Angels 4-2 in the American League Champion Series.

Game one is tonight, and will set the tone for the series.  Recent history shows that 11 of the last 12 winners of game 1 have gone on to win the World Series, so the game tonight is critical.  Whether the Philadelphia Phillies can repeat, or the New York Yankees win their 27th World Series Championship, THIS WILL BE A GREAT SERIES TO WATCH.     

Party in the Park!  

This is a celebration of our success that we want to share with our friends, neighbors, family, partners, and all past and future clients.  The Party in the Park is at Dobson Park (Northwest corner of Alma School and Queen Creek Road) from 3pm to 6pm - Look for the big red balloon in the sky.  

See if you can spot me in this wonderful video from my broker. Hint - I'm near the end, and wearing a blue shirt:

I ran a report in our MLS recently to show Chandler AZ home sales by price from January through September 2009.  I wanted to make sure that what I though was going on, really was going on.  Yes, Chandler home sales have increased, and are close to where they were back in 2006.  At the same time, we all know that prices have dropped back down almost to where they were back in 2003.  Here is the information I compiled:

From this information, I have concluded that homes are selling, but the majority of homes that are selling are from $0 to $199,000, almost 70% of all homes sold.  If you include homes priced up to $299,999, they make up almost 87% of total home sales.  That means only 13% of all home sales in Chandler this year have been sold for $300,000 or more.

At the same time, you can see by the average days to close, they increase as the sales price goes up.  Of course, this obviously means that the lower priced homes are selling much faster than the higher priced homes.  This is typical for the real estate market, and this really comes as no surprise.  

However, if you are looking for a home priced under $200,000, you should be aggressively searching, and have all your finances ready to go to make a quick offer.  This chart of Chandler home sales by price shows that homes under $200,000 are not staying on the market long at all.  

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The first annual Taste Chandler Culinary Festival is coming to Historic Downtown Chandler.  Taste Chandler is an opportunity for local chefs to showcase their cuisine, and to put Chandler on the map as a culinary destination, Anthony Canecchia owner of San Tan Brewery explained.  It is also an opportunity for participants to  "taste" a variety of regional foods, wine and spirits from 35 different establishments all in one evening.  In addition to a range of food, the event will feature entertainment including jazz music and live performances by local musicians, as well as a silent auction. 

Modeled after the Boy's and Girls Clubs' annual Taste event in Scottsdale, organizers of the event are hoping to grow Taste Chandler into a signature culinary event that would rival Scottsdale's big weeklong blowout.  

Taste Chandler is open to those 21 and older.  The event will run from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday, October 3rd, and be held at A.J. Chandler Park (between Arizona Avenue and Buffalo Street).  Tickets are $45, which includes beverages.  Proceeds will benefit the Downtown Chandler Community Foundation, a nonprofit responsible for fundraising activities of Downtown Chandler Community Partnership and The Chandler Service Club.

Restaurants planning to participate include: Arizona Cheesecake Company; Better Than Sex Cake Café; Cathy’s Rum Cake; Cork; Crave Artisan Ice Cream; Divine; El Zocolo; Juan Jaimes Tacos & Tequila; Kokopelli Winery; La Stalla Cucina Rustica; Latitude Eight; Murphy’s Law; Pita Jungle; Red, White & Brew; SanTan Brewing Company; Sauce; Serrano’s; Sidelines; Simply Bread; Simply Unique Gelato; Spicy Pickle; Sushi Eye in Motion; Teakwoods; Tomaso’s; Urban Tea Loft; and Von Hansen’s Meat Market.

The event in Chandler is expected to be a big hit, and is anticipating close to 1,000 attendees this year.  "We're starting with small steps, but there's no reason why this can't really grow to be a huge event," said Eileen Brill Wagner, executive director of the Downtown Chandler Community Partnership.  The event is presented by the HDE Agency in partnership with Alliance Beverage and Whole Foods.

Come on down to Taste Chandler Culinary Festival, and experience good food, good music, with good friends, for a good cause.