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For the first time since the financial crisis has left the housing market in turmoil I have come across one of the scarce ideas and proposals from an elected government official that makes a world of sense.

I an article in the Commercial Record the State of Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal proposed a self funded state position to oversee condominium owner complaints with their condo association boards or property managers.

You can chalk one up for the “little” guy or in this case the homeowner if this goes through. In the original article below it goes into detail how this proposal will certainly help condominium owners.

 

Blumenthal Proposes State Condo Dispute

Resolution Board

Today

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Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has proposed the creation of a self-funded state Office of Condominium Ombudsman to review condo owner complaints concerning violations of state condominium laws by an association’s board of directors, officers or professional managers.

Blumenthal alleges that the current system of dispute resolution is unfair and hypocritical to unit owners, as it imposes significant costs on individuals forced to hire counsel from their own pockets while condo boards can turn to often hefty association funds.

“The current law is unfair to unit owners,” Blumenthal said in a statement. “The law imposes certain responsibilities on condominium association boards of directors and establishes certain rights for unit owners. The unit owners must hire - at their own expense - a lawyer to enforce those rights and responsibilities while the association boards of directors can defend themselves using association funds, raised through assessments on the unit owners. Thus, unit owner funds are used to defend lawsuits brought by unit owners themselves. A Condominium Ombudsman will provide much-needed assistance to unit owners and provide an important enforcement tool for our condominium laws.”

The office would be funded through a combination of new and increased fees on condo associations and condo managers that could be worth as much as $1.09 million annually.

Associations would face a $4 per unit annual assessment. There are approximately 240,000 condominium units in Connecticut, so the $4 charge will yield $960,000, Blumenthal’s office said.

Additionally, the proposal requires a filing fee of $35 paid by the complainant and another $35 filing fee paid by the association. The fee on the association also encourages the association to resolve the matter prior to intervention by the ombudsman, Blumenthal said. If there are 1,000 complaints filed, this fee will yield $70,000.

Finally, the proposal increases the condominium manager’s filing fee from $100 annually to $400 biennially. There are 300 registered condominium managers, so the fee will generate $120,000 in revenue every two years.

Blumenthal’s office said it has received hundreds of complaints from condominium unit owners regarding violations of state condominium laws or condominium bylaws by their association board of directors.

Under this proposal, the Attorney General, upon referral by the ombudsman, may bring a civil action to enforce the provisions of the condominium bylaws or state statutes regarding condominiums. A provision of the legislation would allow the ombudsman to impose a civil penalty of not more than $200 for any knowing violation.

Connecticut’s best mortgage rates are a click away www.EversleyCapital.com

Buying your first home is a wonderful experience.  The purpose of LoanClassroom is to help the homeowner stay informed and provide them with information to help them through their purchase or refinance transaction. I would hope that I am the one helping you obtain your mortgage through Eversley Capital Mortgage LLC but by chance that I am not this information is useful for everyone.

As joyous and at times overwhelming your first home purchase can be there are some pointers that I want to point out that you need to be aware of that often times go un-thought of or mentioned to the home buyer. I think back to my first purchase and can honestly say it was a certainly a learning experience.

UTILITIES

 

·         Electricity will need to be switched over

·         Water will need to be switched

·         Sewer if applicable will need to be switched

·         Gas if applicable will need to be switched

·         Phone, cable etc. needs to be activated

SERVICE CONTRACTS

·         Furnace- look into a service contract. Ask the previous owner who they used

·         HVAC- same as the furnace see who was used and get a contract

·         Septic Tank- if there is one when was it last pumped out

·          Fireplace- if you have one when was it last cleaned

OTHER THINGS TO THINK OF

·         Having your mail forwarded

·         Change of address at DMV

·         Replace the batteries in all the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors

·         Read the newspaper? You will need to get home delivery set up

·         Find out what the trash days are. And does the town or city collect it or do you need to get an outside company. Also recyclables, what will they take and what day is the pickup? Not all towns in Connecticut provide trash pickup. In some towns you pay local companies to pick up the garbage weekly.

·         Change of address for your bills i.e. credit cards and bank statements etc.

Hopefully this helps. If you have any questions or need to get qualified please feel free to fill out the “apply” part of the website. I look forward to helping you purchase your home.

The Senate voted cloture last night on the bill containing the extension of the first time homebuyer tax credit. What that means is by this Friday the tax credit shall be inked. And in laymen terms cloture is a procedure by which the Senate can place a time limit on a bill, the maximum is 30 additional hours of consideration.

 

 

The terms of the new tax credit remains at $8,000 for first time home buyers and a new feature of a $6,500 tax credit to move-up buyers as well. The income limits were adjusted upward as well to $150,000 a year for a single filer and $225,000 for joint filers. The tax credit requires purchase and sale contracts dated by April 30^th and allows for a sixty day window to close.

While this is not a final vote the cloture vote by the Senate all but wraps up the extension of the home buyer credit.

It is that time of the year in Connecticut and New England, the time of the year where the first couple of cold snaps should have you thinking about winterizing your home. I can assure you that tackling this job now while there are still 50-60 degree days is better than it being in the 20’s or 30’s and downright cold outside. Here is a useful checklist of things to consider and look at before winter hits.

                *Furnace- call the HVAC tech or oil-company that you use and have it checked

                * Fireplace- if you have a wood burning fireplace now is the time to clean and inspect the chimney and flue.

                * Doors and Windows- taking out the screens and putting in the storm windows if you have them is a good idea. Also checking for any drafts that can be fixed before it is really cold

                * Basement- if you have a basement and it has window wells installing plastic shields on them might be a good idea at this time

                * Vacation- if you are heading south for some sun when you leave the house make sure the heat is set to a minimum constant temperature of at least 54 degrees. You would hate to come home from a vacation to burst pipes.

                * Smoke/Carbon Monoxide Detectors- need to be checked and the batteries replaced. Your furnace produces carbon monoxide so having these detectors ready and working is important

                *Garden Tools- drain and store the hoses. Also any gardening tools should come in for the winter.

                *Yard Tools- draining the gas from your lawnmower or tractor is important. You may also want to get them serviced now for the spring season.

                *Snow removal- buying salt or ice melt now ahead of any storms will leave you prepared. How many of us forget and then look for it when the first storm comes and every store is sold out.

The question here is do we really know? In March of this year both real estate and the equity markets began to move up. Housing has inched a percent here and there every month. The equities market has ascended like it was the pre dot com era.

So finally sales of existing home sales retreated. It fell 2.4 percent as reported and released today by the National Association of Realtors. It is the first decline in housing sales since March. All of this a day after the Fed gave an upbeat forecast of the state of the economy and that it intended to slow down their intervention into buying treasury debt and mortgage backed securities. The Fed has aggressively been buying both in a 1.25 trillion pledge to help keep mortgage rates low.

Where does that leave us? Well we now know what the economy looks like when the Fed is the backstop for banks, the auto industry, low mortgage rates and induced home buying due to the 8,000 home buyer tax credits. What will the economy look like once the Fed is not there propping us all up? That is the scary part.

Home sales have increased mainly in part due to the home buyer tax credit and low mortgage rates. Take the credit away which it expires as of now in November and if the Fed is scaling back on keeping its finger pressed to push mortgage rates lower has the housing market really been slowly recovering?

Does the Fed see something that no one else can? The job report that was out today was less than expected. But by no stretch of the imagination was it a sign that the employment arena is showing signs of life. Could the Fed really not have that much of a clue? I have pointed out my facts what do you think? Submit your comments.

The National Association of Realtors is presently lobbying Congress with a full court press to extend the 1^st time home buyers tax credit. The extremely successful tax credit which Congress enacted to help prop up the devastated real estate market is due to expire on November 30^th. To clarify, if you qualify for the tax credit your purchase needs to close by the 30^th of November.

Presently there are limitations to qualify for the $8,000 tax credit. You need to be a first time home buyer which is defined as never owning a home previously or not owning a home within the last three years. There are also income limitations to qualify which are $75,000 for a single person and $150,000 for a joint couple.

In the previous months real estate sales have been up mostly in part due to the looming deadline of the tax credit. The National Association of Realtors is looking to get the tax credit extended into next year and remove the income limitation.

It would be in Congress’s best interest to extend the tax credit but only time will tell if that happens and seeing as the deadline is November, 30 LoanClassroom will be updating this info as soon as we get any new info.

Before you take the plunge to purchase a condo you should take a look at LoanClassrooms list of important questions that you need to ask and be aware of before making any offers to buy a condominium.

·         If you are getting FHA financing not all condo’s are FHA approved. Make sure you know what condominium complexes are FHA approved before you make any offers.

·         In today’s mortgage market smaller condo complexes are harder to finance. Typically complexes less than eight units are considered “small complexes”

·         Ask what the investor concentration is, most lenders will not lend if a complex has a lot of units that are investment properties. If you are an investor you need to check the opposite. Make sure that you can rent your unit out as an investment property.

·         Who runs the condo association? Is it a management company? Are there appointed board members?

·         Is the condo a conversion? What that means is the condo a conversion of an apartment complex? Lenders these days are strict with condominiums this is a sticky one

·         How many units in the complex are un-sold? If you are buying a new construction condo this is for sure an important question

·         If the condo is an established project what kind of shape is the condominiums reserve fund in?

·         Take a look at the master insurance policy to see what exactly is covered under their policy and how much

·         Are there any “special assessments up-coming”? The common fees per month may be manageable now but a lump sum assessment later may be a problem

There is a new bill that hit the Senate floor. Senate bill, S. 1230, The Home buyer Tax Credit Act of 2009 is underway. The bill proposed by Sen. Johnny Isakson, D-Ga. Is a replacement to the present $8,000 tax credit that first time home buyers can receive upon closing of a home before November 30^th of this year.

The bill expands on the tax credit, making it available to anyone who purchases a principal residence in the year following the bill’s enactment. The bill also would do away with income limitations of $75,000 for individuals and $150,000 for joint filings. The new bill would reach all walks of life and income levels.

The bill went to a Senate finance committee last week, where it awaits further action. The passing of the bill could help the potential for a slow-down in home buying as mortgage rates have rose sharply in the past month. Almost doubling the tax credit and making the credit available to not only first time home buyers but “all buyers” could help tremendously. It would certainly move some buyers on the fence since rates have gone up to re-evaluate buying a new home in taking the $15,000 tax credit into consideration. LoanClassroom will certainly keep you up to speed as the bill progresses through the Senate.

 

 

 

 

 

It is a ‘buyers’ market in Connecticut and across the entire US. Even though real estate values continue to decline, there are a few bright spots staggered across the country where prices are stable. Aside from that the pickings are plentiful for the home buyer.

It seems as though no matter what town in Connecticut you are in you can find ‘cluster’ homes for sale. What I am referring to is driving down a road in a town in CT and all of sudden you stumble on a group of homes that are all for sale. Two in a row and the two across the street or three for sale in one complex, it  is mere coincidence but it does show if you like that particular area you have several homes to choose from. It is not like the neighbors all got together and decided hey let’s all sell.

Just to refresh everyone a ‘buyers’ market is a real estate market where there are more homes or inventory of homes than there are buyers. Making it favorable for those who want to buy for the first time and not so favorable if you are trying to sell. Even though mortgage rates are low and there is a tax credit for first time home buyers it is still a buyers’ market.

I recently drove through Milford, Trumbull and Monroe and had no problem finding some “cluster sales”. I snapped some photos so you see what I mean. Monroe and Trumbull are in Fairfield County and Milford is in New Haven County. All three towns have felt the downturn in real estate.

Putting aside the fact that there are cluster sales out there prices are low, mortgage rates are low, it is a buyers’ market and if you happen to be a first time home buyer you have $8,000 reasons to find a home. The spring market is here. And if you look hard enough you should not find it too difficult to find the home that you want. Happy house hunting.