Senate Bill 183 Lowenthal (SB183) created the Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
Prevention Act of 2010 (Act). The Act requires carbon monoxide (CO) detectors
to be installed in every dwelling unit intended for human occupancy. A CO
detector is a device that detects the presence of CO and emits a loud noise to
alert occupants that CO is present in order to prevent CO poisoning. Detection
of CO in a home environment is impossible without a warning device because CO
is colorless, odorless, tasteless, and invisible (unlike smoke from a fire). It
is often referred to as the “silent killer”
because it is virtually undetectable without using detection technology.
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Although the placement and location of carbon monoxide detectors in the home is
not clearly spelled out in the Act, the packaging of your CO detector (which
can be purchased at any home or hardware store) will provide for the proper
placement in your home of your specific device. Installation locations will
vary by manufacturer due to the degree of research conducted on that specific
type and style of detector. Read and clearly understand the instructions
specific to your unit – they are not all the same so PLEASE READ THE
INSTRUCTIONS.

Here are some general guidelines common to most manufacturers of CO devices:

• CO devices should be placed on every level of your home, including the
basement, and near or over any attached garage

• CO devices should be located within 10-15 feet outside of each separate
sleeping area

• CO devices can be placed on the wall or the ceiling as specified in the
installation instructions

• They should not be installed within 15-20 feet of any furnace or fuel
burning heat source

• They should not be placed in or near humid areas, such as bathrooms

• They should not be placed in areas where they may be damaged by children or
pets

• They should not be installed in areas of direct sunlight or areas subject
to temperature extremes. (crawlspaces, unfinished attics, porches)

• They should not be installed behind curtains or other obstructions

• They may not function if installed near ceiling fans, heat vents, air
conditioners, fresh air returns, or open windows

• Life expectancy for detectors will be specific to each manufacturer’s
recommendations. Carbon monoxide detectors actually have an expiration date, so
check with the manufacturer instructions to determine how long the carbon
monoxide detector is supposed to last and maintain your specific unit
accordingly.

IRS Website: www.irs.gov
Tax forms including popular forms such as; 1040, 1040EZ, Schedules A-E, publications and other helpful information.

California State Franchise Tax Board: www.ftb.ca.gov
Tax forms, publications and other useful tools.

Employee Development Department: www.edd.ca.gov
Assistance with payroll including useful forms contact information.

Social Security Administration: www.ssa.gov
This site can provide useful information that assists you with your benefits relating to retirement, Medicare and disability.

When are the tax deadline dates?

Individual Tax: Internal Revenue Service/Franchise Tax Board – April 15th: 1040/540 Income Tax Extension for 1040/540 to October 15th.
Corporate Tax – Internal Revenue Service/Franchise Tax Board – March 15th: 1120/1120S Corporate Tax Returns – Extension for 1120/1120S to September 15th. Partnership Tax Internal Revenue Service/Franchise Tax Board – April 15th: 1065 Partnership Returns
Extension for 1065 Partnership returns October 15th.

Payroll Taxes – Internal Revenue Service and Employee Development Department – Payroll Quarterly reporting is due by the end of the month following the calendar quarter.

Sales Tax, Board of Equalization, Monthly Sales Tax Returns due the last day of the following month.

Quarterly Sales Tax Returns due the last day of the month following the calendar quarter.

Yearly Sales Tax Returns due the last day in January following the year end.

Personal Property Tax – County Assessor’s Office
April 1st: Personal Property Tax Returns

Ronny Geenen
Realtor/e-Pro and Photographer
Info@RonnyGeenen.com
Ronny@LetPicturesTalk.com
626-278-2205

What is a short sale? A short sale is a sales transaction for which a seller’s mortgage lender ( or lenders if there is a 2nd lender) voluntarily agrees to accept a loan payoff of less money than what is owed on the mortgage loan.  In a short sale, the property may or may not be in foreclosure.  In fact, many homeowners decide to do a short sale 2 weeks to 1 week before it goes to sale in order to possible stop the sale and take advantage of getting the debt forgiven vs. foreclosure! There is a lot to consider and a experienced real estate agent is key. Is there two loans, any liens, are the property taxes paid & with condo/town homes are there delinquent HOA’s ? None of these would stop a short sale by any means but it is useful information before the process begins. Most are sold “as is” so there is no stress to the seller.  Home owners may consider short sales as a viable option for avoiding foreclosure. Contact Southland Properties for more information.

by GARY BOYER

When it comes to making money in the business of flipping houses and other real estate investments you will find all kinds of do’s and don’ts along the way. The truth of the matter is that these are extremely useful whether this is your first house flip or you have been flipping houses for years. In fact you might just find that you can learn something new on occasion by reading lists such as this even if you’ve been flipping houses for years and have many successful flips under your belt.

1) Don’t forget to check out the neighborhood before you buy. You will want to make sure that the property you are considering is a good fit for the neighborhood. You should also take the time to make sure that the plan you have in mind for the property will match well with the other neighborhood residents in order to guarantee a quicker sale.

2) Don’t blow your budget without just cause. Your budget is what you used to determine whether or not the house would be a profitable venture. If you blow your budget and cannot recover the extra money you’ve spent in the selling price on the house you will have seriously cut into your profits if not eliminated them all together. The goal in property flipping is to get in and out quickly and spend as little money as possible in order to make as much money as possible.

3) Don’t forget to set daily goals and hold yourself accountable to those goals. If you don’t reach your goals for the day it can set the entire project back by as much as a month depending on the goals and what has to be rearranged as a result. Stick to your timeline and your daily schedule in order to avoid potentially costly delays in time and money.

4) Don’t neglect the exterior. Curb appeal is what brings buyers into the property. If you spend all your money, time, and effort making improvements to the exterior of the home you will have little left to make the outside appealing to potential buyers. A homebuyer is in the market for the entire package. A home that looks run down on the outside leaves the impression of being neglected on the inside and many potential buyers will never walk inside if the outside looks forlorn.

5) Don’t spend money you don’t need to spend. While it would be great to put in granite countertops and gourmet kitchens into every home it isn’t always practical and this is often money that will not be recovered, particularly in homes that are in marginal neighborhoods. If you want to get the most for your money avoid costly expenses that aren’t exactly necessary for the successful completion of the flip. Resurface bathroom fixtures rather than replacing them if possible and use new cabinet doors or hardware rather than adding new cabinets all together to cut down on expenses. In other words, salvage what you can, fix what needs to be fixed, and add a few cosmetic touches before moving on.

The biggest mistake most flippers make is holding out for an unreasonable sales price. Never forget that one of you major costs is time. The longer you hold onto a home, the lower the probability of making the return you wanted. It is almost always best to take a profitable offer quickly than to hold out for more money. If you can make a reasonable profit in a short period of time you can move on to your next project.

According to a report just out, it is too easy to be fooled by home staging. Home staging is a term that we are gradually becoming familiar with. It is the idea that we try to create the best impression of our home when selling the house. It used to be just run the vacuum over it and do the dishes but nowadays there is a whole set of rules to follow!

 The idea is, that a staged home stands out from all the others and therefore gets sold more quickly. It certainly can be carried to extremes with reports of sellers hiring storage units to cart their junk off to. Larger items of furniture are encouraged to be put into storage by professional ‘home stagers’ so that the house looks bigger and more spacious. 

Another instruction is to remove anything personal like photographs, so that the prospective buyer can visualize the house as their own. Closets are de-cluttered so that they look more spacious and all bathroom paraphernalia is supposed to be gone from the counter top! Garbage bins are even removed and hidden from sight. 

However it has been suggested that home staging can also be deliberately used to hide a multitude of sins! 

The National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents has suggested that as much as 82% of buyers are sidetracked from the important issues by a well-staged house. This organization also concedes that home staging nets more cash and faster sales – so it works! 

Some of the underhand tricks used in staging can include using smaller furniture to make a room look larger, placing rugs over damaged parts of the floor, or using curtains to hide rotting sills. Also specified is the practice of putting a cheap paint job on to cover defects. Your realtor is legally obligated to let you know of any defects, but only if he actually knows about them! 

Buyers are urged by the NAEBA to be cautious and to remember that when the house is sold, the stage is taken away. The tricks of home staging do not improve the floor plan, or the square footage of the home or the quality of the neighborhood, and these are the qualities that you will be re-selling at a later date.

Did you ever question you children as to why they took a particular action? Just to receive the response, “everyone is doing it. ”

Why did people continue to buy homes is our highest market in history and decide to not buy homes in the most affordable (due to falling Home prices and mortgage rates) market in the past 15 years and less expensive than renting in a number of cities– EVERYBODY WAS DOING IT. “The people who are not sheep are going to be so proud of themselves ” says Jackie Doornik, Southland Properties. ” If Buffett said to buy a particular stock you would probably jump right in with the chance of making some money but with residential real estate you are giving you and your family shelter, a place to call home for years to come plus a chance of making some money.  I am not saying you should not buy stock but personally, I like the security of my home, said Doornik.  My husband and I bought our first home in 1974 and paid more than the neighbors when we paid $28,000 for a 3 bedroom 2 bath in Covina California. Our monthly payments were 4% higher than we were paying in rent.  Friends and family shared their concerns because we were too young and interest rates were 8.25%.  Today interest rates are the lowest they have been in 60 years.

The Wall Street Journal’s third-quarter survey of housing-market conditions in 28 of the nation’s largest metropolitan areas found that home values declined in all but five markets compared with the second quarter, according to data from Zillow Inc. Meanwhile, rent levels have risen briskly across the country.

Monthly mortgage payments on the median priced home—including taxes and insurance—are lower than the average rent levels in 12 metro areas, according to data compiled for The Wall Street Journal. It remains less expensive to rent than to buy in 15 cities.

“The initial building blocks for a recovery are in place, but the legacy of the recession is really preventing households from taking advantage,” said Paul Dales, an economist at Capital Economics.

In Atlanta, which had the most favorable values for owning versus renting, the monthly payment on the average home was $539 assuming a 20% down payment during the third quarter. By contrast, the average asking rent stood at $840, according to the Marcus & Millichap data.

Affordability alone hasn’t been enough to overcome the obstacles in the way of a housing recovery. Even those who may qualify remain skittish about buying property in a market where prices could fall amid foreclosures and weak job growth.  “It is like staring at a Merry-go-round the longer you stare the faster it seems to be moving, at some point you should either  jump on or walk away. There will always be something going on in Washington DC (it is their job security),  there has never been a time without war but I repeat, we are at the lowest interest rates in 60 years

A buyer, named Ryan Young,  is under contract to buy a three-bedroom home in Washington Grove, Md., that will have monthly mortgage, tax, and insurance costs for around $150 less than the $1,900 he is paying to rent a slightly smaller house in Bethesda, Md. He qualified for a 30-year mortgage with a 3.95% fixed rate. Still, Mr. Young a 35 year old scientist, says he is cautious about owning his first home with the prospect of future price declines. We needed a bigger place, and we don’t want to move every couple of years into a new rental.”

Other cities where owning is now cheaper than renting include Detroit, Minneapolis, Orlando, Las Vegas, Miami, St. Louis, Chicago and Phoenix.

Home ownership is also looking more affordable because after several years of declines, apartment rents will rise by around 4% this year, says Mr. Nadji. He says rents are poised “to pick up even more momentum across the country next year.”

Even cities where it is still cheaper to rent than own have seen big boosts in affordability. In San Diego, the monthly cost of owning a home has averaged around 83% more than renting over the past two decades. During the third quarter, owning was 22% more expensive than renting, according to John Burns Real Estate Consulting.

Mortgage rates are a big reason why affordability continues to improve. In 1991, a $1,700 mortgage payment allowed a borrower to take out a $200,000 mortgage. Today, it gets that homeowner a $350,000 loan, a 77% increase in borrowing power, says Dan Green, a loan officer with Waterstone Mortgage, in Cincinnati. At the same time, low mortgage rates aren’t spurring sales because few analysts expect rates to rise anytime soon. The Federal Reserve in August said it would keep rates at ultralow levels for two years. In a normal interest rate cycle, “when they go low, they don’t stay for very long, and people jump in,” said Mr. Dales. “This time, there is no urgency.”

One hopeful sign is that inventories have fallen from their bloated levels of one year ago. All 28 cities in The Wall Street Journal’s latest survey saw homes listed for sale fall from one year ago, when markets were overflowing with a overhang of properties amid a big drop in demand. Visible inventory was down sharply in several markets, including by almost half in Miami and 40% in Phoenix.

Low inventories have spurred more bidding wars at the low end of the market as investors compete for homes that they can convert into rentals. In Sacramento, it would take just 2.5 months to sell the listed inventory at the current sales pace. Las Vegas has a 4.3 month supply of inventory, according to John Burns Real Estate Consulting.

But still some are waiting until their friends make money before buying a home???????????

HOME MORTGAGE RELIEF THROUGH LITIGATION (and “Too Good to Be True” Claims Regarding Its Use to Avoid and/or Stop Foreclosure, Obtain Loan Principal Reduction, and to Let You Have Your Home “Free and Clear” of Any Mortgage).

Mortgage rescue frauds are extremely good at selling false hope to consumers in trouble with regard to home loans. The scammers continue to adapt and to modify their
schemes as soon as their last ones became ineffective. Promises of successes through mass joinder or class litigation are now being marketed. Please be careful, do your own diligence to protect yourself, and be highly suspect if anyone asks you for money up front before doing any service on your behalf. Most importantly, DON’T LET FRAUDS TAKE YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY.
(from an article by By Wayne S. Bell, Chief Counsel, California Department of Real Estate : http://www.dre.ca.gov/pdf_docs/ca/ConsumeAlert_WarningreMassLitigation.pdf)

It’s almost time for the Holiday Stroll in Glendora’s very darling “Village”.  This Friday (11/18), merchants will don their festive holiday best, opening their doors for an evening for you to shop for the holidays.  And while you’re here,  stroll up to the north end of the village to 211 N. Glendora (aka Southland Properties) to sample our office’s chili and cornbread. Let us know your opinion of which Southland Properties agent or employee wins our in-office cook off.

Home buyers sometimes don’t think of the fact that Closing Costs can sometimes add as much as 5% on to the price of a home. That is the importance of shopping for additional services after you’ve purchased a home. 

Many of today’s first time buyers are very short of cash and these additional costs can make or break their opportunity to purchase their first home. You will find many Real Estate Agents or Lenders who offer “No Cost” programs. In essence, those types of programs cost even more than if you pay all of your own fees. The difference is that the fees are added into the cost of the loan and the buyer is paying for them over the next 30 years. This could mean that those costs have now been multiplied by 3 or 4 times. 

The major costs are Loan Fees, Title Insurance and Escrow Fees, however, there are a lot of smaller fees that can be negotiated if you know what to look for. A good Real Estate Agent normally has already done the shopping for you and can help you review these fees. Unfortunately, there are many Real Estate offices that have what is called “In House Services” or “Affiliate Relationships” in which they may trade leads with different companies or in many case, own a piece of the company or receive referral fees by having you use their preferred companies. 

Keep in mind that you as the buyer or seller have the right to choose any services you’d like. No Real Estate Agent can require you to use a company of their choice. 

The bottom line is, don’t be afraid to ask questions about fees and never accept the answer “that’s just a normal fee”.