Steve Holderfield's Real Estate Blog

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Did you know that if you are upside down on your home and process a short sale, that the amount that the bank forgives is scheduled to become taxable in 2013?  That means that, for example, if the bank forgives say, $100,000 in order for you to sell you home, that $100,000 would be taxed at your tax rate.  For a person in the 25% tax bracket that means they would owe $25,000 to Uncle Sam.  If you are having trouble making your payments, I can think of no better reason to do a short sale in 2012.  Contact us today.  You do have options!

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There are 2 answers to this question. 1. Home values are likely to fall another 4 to 5%. 2. It depends on many factors. Most economists seem to agree that 2012 is likely to be a flat to slightly down market in terms of values. However, we do seem to be hitting the bottom in terms of the the dropping values. Also, the number of foreclosures in the California has dropped over 14% in the last year. The number of successful short sales rose 25% of all sales in California last year from 18% in 2010. It is expected that the number of short sales to continue to rise in 2012. The other wild card is next year’s Presidential election which could bring much needed certainty back to businesses and the financial markets which could positively affect job growth. So 2012 will be fun to see unfold. If you or somebody you know needs to buy or sell any Real Estate, please contact me with a name and phone number. I’d be happy to bring my over 30 years of real estate experience to the effort. Have a great New Year!  More info here: http://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2011/12/28/what-s-in-store-for-housing-in-2012

Related articles

• Popularity of short sales is growing (bottomline.msnbc.msn.com)
• Foreclosure still taking toll on home prices (avidlawblog.wordpress.com)
• O.C. Realtor leader eyes slow housing recovery (lansner.ocregister.com)
• You: Real estate unit projects 18% rise in condo sales in ‘12 (japantimes.co.jp)

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Realty World Pacific Coast Properties
values people and relationships above money
and is committed
to serving our associates
and their clients
to the deepest possible level
with cutting edge technology.

1. People and Relationships Above Money
   We realize that the people we serve and that come into relationship with us are the important parts of our lives.  We intend to not only consciously realize this fact, but are committed to behave in our business and personal lives in manners consistent with the realization we have made.  We will behave as though we actually treasure these people and relationships.  It is a fact that unless we actually are intentional about our behavior in this matter, we know that we are capable of SAYING we value people and relationships above money, but our BEHAVIOR can betray what we say.  So we have a few ground rules that we are committed to.  We will take personal responsibility for our actions.  When we make a mistake we will admit it  and offer to pay for our mistake.  We expect others to behave in the same manner.  Our personal responsibility will be a matter of our behavior not just our words.
2. Serving Our Agents
   We will embrace technology for our agents, providing them with the best available technology that has proven to be effective.  To the extent possible, we will use technology to be more efficient, to save our agents time, which is money.  We will insist that our agents value their clients, families and friends with their time and attention.  We will make ourselves available to our agents at the point of their need.  We Will provide ongoing training and tech support to our agents.  We will stay informed regarding current market conditions and provide the same to our agents.
3. Serving Our Agent’s Clients
   We know that our clients are and will increasingly be seeking their real estate needs to be served in the most efficient manner possible using today’s cutting edge and constantly changing technology.  We will embrace these new technologies and make them available to our clients as soon as they have proven effective and reliable.
4. To the Deepest Possible Level
   We know that there is a difference between doing the job and doing the job gracefully.  we will always seek to do our jobs as Realtors effectively, efficinetly and in the shortest possible time.  We will seek to really make the difference for our clients.  We always strive to be graceful in our service, seeking relationship above money and service above our own needs.
5. Cutting Edge Technology
   Technology is a moving target that is constantly evolving and improving.  So, for this reason we have to be aware of what’s happening in the enormousworld of technology as it relates to the real estate business.  Once we see what’s available we have to test and make sure that a new available technology really provides a needed service reliably.  Once we are convinced we will bring the new technology to our agents in the most affordable manner possible.  This process is one of the main reasons that we have chosen Realty World as our brand, as they are technology driven brand and provide the best possible technology available in the real estate business today.

If you are a licensed agent and you share our values, contact our broker, Steve Holderfield, for a confidential interview: 925-930-3991 or via email: steve@realtyworldpcp.com.

I’m starting a new blog subject.  Many of you know that I have a passion for photography. I have visited and photographed a ton of interesting and beautiful locations and people who live in and enjoy the San Francisco Bay Area. I’m going to start writing a daily blog (weekdays only as I’ll be out showing property to my clients or discovering new places to photograph on the weekends). I hope you enjoy the blog and find it motivating to you to get out and enjoy probably the most beautiful areas in the world!  While reading the blog you might learn a few things about my passions which include, not necessarily in this order: photography, real estate, the history of the Bay Area, my real estate company, Realty World Pacific Coast Properties and my home, the San Francisco Bay Area. You might also meet, along the way, some very interesting Bay Area residents, pick up some photography and Photoshop techniques, discover some really interesting places to visit and photograph all within a short driving distance within the Bay Area.

So before I get started, I want to give you an idea of who I am and how this blog came into existence.  I live, like most people, a fractured existence.  I photograph because it is really one of my main life passions, but I create photographs in order to maintain my mental and physical health.

About 8 years ago I had a heart attack.  If you had asked me before that event, what was more important in life, people or money, I would have answered, of course, people.  The problem was that my behavior many times was more consistent with someone who valued money than people.  This caused a lot of problems, which I’m sure you can imagine.

Then I had my heart attack and I read several books in an attempt to learn what I had to do to learn to live with heart disease.  I learned in a book by a doctor who did a great deal of research on heart disease 20 or 30 years ago that people with this disease tend to not be able to really live in the moment.  I learned that we tend to multi-task to a fault and always be concerned with productivity and efficiency, (see how people can fall behind in importance for us?)   I learned that most people with heart disease had given up on something in their life along the way that they used to love to do because of their over emphasis on their own productivity and efficiency.  He said that we need to learn to live in the moment and to go back and rediscover whatever is was that we used to love… This probably sounds crazy, but for me the thing I had become “too busy” for was photography.  I hadn’t taken a photograph for years and I used to live for the chance to be out with my camera.  In my last year of high school, for example, I had 3 periods of photography!

So, I started shooting again.  I started trying, each week or so, to discover a new and interesting place to photograph around the Bay.  I shoot mainly with a digital camera although I also shoot both medium and large format film as well.  I’ve discovered some very interesting, beautiful and sometimes historic locations and I’ve met some really interesting people.  The first location I’m going to present to you is “The Buena Vista”.  The Buena Vista is a classic Irish Bar near the waterfront in San Francisco. Their claim to fame is that the Irish Coffee was made famous, they would say was invented, in this pub.

It’s a classic bar and a long time tourist favorite, as the Cable Cars turn around right at their front door on their trip to Union Square and Market Street.  The building has been a bar since 1916. They pour the Irish Coffees at about 20 cups or so at a time without spilling a drop… really. It’s a great place. I love this shot, even though it is not technically as good as I would have liked… the people getting off the cable car and the green light contrasted with the red fire alarm pole, the car turning the corner all combine to make this a great shot. If I am ever there again, I might use my medium format camera to try to equal this shot with more technical quality.

This shot was quite difficult to capture with all the traffic, cable cars and pedestrians around this tourist attraction.  I had to frame the shot, meter the light, take the shot while a ton of people got off the cable car and crossed the street in the crosswalk that I chose to shoot from.  It took several attempts to get this one as I had pre-visualized it.  I have a bunch of shots with people crossing the street in the shot… very distracting!  It was taken with my first digital camera, an Olympus E-20, a 5 Megapixel camera. It was shot at an ISO of 80, 1/60th at f:2.0… It should have been a higher ISO so my shutter speed would have been fast enough to not show the blur of the people getting off the cable car. Anyway, with all that’s going on in the picture, I think it’s a great shot even if the quality is not as great as I know I could have produced. Here’s a link their website: The Buena Vista.

Here’s a link to a Google Map of the location of the Buena Vista. You haven’t been to San Francisco unless you have had an Irish Coffee in this San Francisco landmark.  The Buena Vista is located at the corners of Beach & Hyde at 2765 Hyde Street about 2 blocks from the Famous Fisherman’s Warf in the Marina.  I hope you are able to go there and enjoy it sometime!

The guy who makes the experience at the Buena Vista so much fun is the bartender.

This is Paul Noland, the famous bartender who makes all those Irish Coffees that has made The Buena Vista Irish Pub a favorite spot in San Francisco’s Marina District. Paul is there most days and he always has a friendly smile to welcome the customers who belly up for a drink. I posted a picture of the outside of the Buena Vista earlier… take a look. Here’s a brief history of the Buena Vista: History.

I’ve heard several people, agents and clients, mentioning that they’ve been hearing rumors that a new 3.8% tax on all real estate transactions is about to be instituted to pay for the health care overhaul recently passed by Congress. This whole healthcare bill has been a source of much confusion and uncertainty so I looked into it a bit and after a little research I found that, like much of what we’ve been hearing during this remarkably contentious period, there is some truth and fiction to this rumor regarding a tax on a home transfer. Like most things in this bill, the truth is a little complicated.

Real estate transactions are not going to be subject to a 3.8% tax to pay for health care – that’s the falsehood – the truth is a bit more complicated.

Truth: Investment income for folks making over $200,000 single or $250,000 joint annually will be subject to a 3.8% Medicare tax and that could, but doesn’t necessarily, include real estate investment income.

Truth: And this is closer to home for most of us – If you sell your primary residence the amount of your profit that exceeds the capital gains exemption ($250,000 single, $500,000 joint) would also be subject to the 3.8% Medicare tax.

So, if you’re married, you would have to sell your primary residence for at least $501,000 more than you paid for it to pay an additional $38 in taxes. And since most of our homes have dropped in value anywhere from 20% TO 60% depending upon the area, you are unlikely to have a gain over the $500,000 capital gains exemption for married folks.

This is really good news… a private company backing the purchase of residential mortgages packaged as an investment. This “secondary market” due to the collpase of the housing market has all but dried up. This missing element to our market is one of the reasons that we all have been fearing an increase in interest rates which would be devastating to an already weak market. If there is no vehicle for banks to sell the loans they make, there is no source to re-capture the capital needed to make additional loans. Unless there is an active secondary market, the only ultimate solution for banks to sell their loans would be to enhance the desirebility of these investments through increasing the yeild through higher interest rates… not a great solution for consumers. Read on here: http://www.dsnews.com/articles/redwood-trust-readies-first-private-label-rmbs-deal-in-two-years-2010-04-22

The Dinosaurs that survived adapted to the new realities.  I’ve been selling real estate and managing Realtors for many years and the one thing that I have learned is that to survive in this business Realtors need to be adaptive to the ever changing real estate market. We have experienced the most mind bending changes in the market in recent years, with the collapse in home values and all the regulatory changes that have happened and that continue to hit us. Imagine what it would be like for a Realtor, for example, to simply attempt to do business the same as we did in 2000, today in 2010. You’d go broke and you wouldn’t serve your clients well. An example of this is short sales. Prior to about 1995 I hadn’t ever done a traditional short sale. In those days we called them a “Cram-Down”, where we negotiated with lenders to get them to accept less than the amount owed. The process in those days was much different than today. Since 1995, as a manager of larger offices, I think I have probably participated in the negotiations on over 200 short sales on both on my own transactions as well as transactions instituted by agents under my supervision. Additionally, in an effort to serve my clients and my agents more deeply, I have become qualified as a Certified Distressed Property Expert, (CDPE) through my participation in intensive training. My point is that this kind of adaptation is what is necessary for a Realtor to succeed… to serve his or her clients deeply. Without adapting you just become irrelevant.

I think the need to adapt is really a part of everyday life today if you own or hope to own real estate in this new world we all find ourselves in.   An example of the need to adapt is property values…  If you have discovered that your home’s value is less than your debt on your home or you are having trouble making your mortgage payment or feel distress approaching… now is the time for you to adapt to the realities of this market. You do have options, but time is of the essence. The faster you take steps to adapt, the better the outcome will be for you. To learn more, go to www.morethanashortsale.info.

The banks are back in the business of foreclosure, Remember last year that many banks had voluntarily instituted moratoriums on foreclosing on homeowners. Well this moritoriums have now pretty much expired and we have a surge in foreclsoure activity. Read more: http://www.dsnews.com/articles/california-foreclosure-sales-soar-in-march-2010-04-19.

So what do you do if you feeling that distress is approaching and you are worried that you can’t continue making your mortgage payment? To make matter worse, you may have discovered that you owe more on your home tham its worth in today’s market. Well you do have options. Consider having us negotiate a short sale with your lender. To find out more go to www.morethanashortsale.info. We have successfully negoatiated short sales with most major lenders and can help you. Remember, you do have options and the quicker you act the better the outcome will be. Contact us today if you need help.