Capital Gains Rate – What Now?

Many people I spoke to prior to the end of 2010 wondered what would happen to capital gain tax rates on January 1, 2011.  Some even jumped through hoops to complete the sale of property before the end of the year.  As it turned out, the boys in Congress extended the capital gain rates in mid December; for at least for two years.  Thanks guys.

What to do now?  Do you understand how Congresses actions will affect you?  If not, you’re not alone.  Now that we are well into 2011, here are some details about what it all means.  I’m not an accountant by any means.  However, here is a brief summary of portions of the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Jobs Creation Act of 2010 (not surprisingly referred to as “the extension of the Bush Era Tax Cuts”) which are likely to impact real estate investors.

Capital Gain and Dividend Rates – Current rates were extended for two-years for all taxpayers with a maximum rate of 15% for both.
Personal Tax Rates – Current rates were extended for two-years for all taxpayers with the top rate remaining at 35%.

Social Security Tax – The employee tax rate of 6.2% on the first $106,800 of wages drops to 4.2% in 2011.

Alternative Minimum Tax – Current exemptions were extended for all taxpayers for two-years.

Estate Tax – An exclusion amount of $5 million and a tax rate of 35% for amounts in excess of the exclusion was established for two-years; the exclusion will become indexed beginning in 2012.

Gift Tax – Like the Estate Tax, a Gift Tax exclusion amount of $5 million and a tax rate of 35% for amounts in excess of the exclusion was established for two-years, with the exclusion being indexed beginning in 2012.

Other Extensions – The $1,000 child credit; an additional standard deduction for real-estate taxes; extension of 15-year cost recovery for certain leasehold improvements, restaurant buildings and qualified retail improvements (through 2011); and the extension of various energy credits (through 2011).

Although the legislation provides some certainty for two years, we will find ourselves dealing with this question again in 2012.  Since that is also an election year, it may be interesting. Stay tuned!

Ray Allen’s Washington Home For Sale

Photo From Matrix Real Estate

Ray Allen must have strong ties to Seattle because even though he left Seattle in 2007 he still has a house here, well at least for now. The former Sonics guard has listed his Carnation home for sale for a cool 3.7 million.

The home sits on 4.5 acres and of course has a full size basketball court, putting green, pool, 6 car garage and a 8 seat private screening room, all squeezed into 10,000 square feet.

In my opinion Ray Allen’s home looks like a normal nice home, not an over the top celebrity home that just goes too far. The photo of the kitchen and rock fireplace is beautiful, just my style!

For photos click here!

Love ‘Em or Leave ‘Em 5k

Todays Meaningless Monday post is about the upcoming 5k around Seattle’s Green Lake called the Love ‘Em or Leave ‘Em Valentines Day Dash 5k (super long title for a fun run). I did this race last year as a fun run and surprisingly I had fun. All my other 5k’s I was serious, wanted to get a good time and all that. But this race  I ran with my mom and we talked, laughed, pointed at people in their costumes (I know so rude) and hammed it up for the photographer during the race.

It was awesome to see people dressed up in costumes, some really creative ones, some just decked out in fun clothes. We saw people running in cardboard hearts that fit over the top half of their body including their heads and then we were outraged when they passed us. I mean how can they run faster than us in that bulky costume?

After the race we scored on some good freebies, hung out for a bit and then headed home to shower. A fun run might be meaningless to some, you pay $30 to run around  Green Lake on a saturday. You can do that any day of the week (including race day) for free. But it was really fun.  I’m looking forward to it this year and dare I say I might wear something festive? Gasp!

It’s not to late to sign up. Click here for the details. Don’t worry about your time, this is a fun run/walk so relax and enjoy yourself! Word to the wise, arrive early to find parking!

Free Friday at KidsQuest Children’s Museum

The first Friday evening of every month is free at Kids Quest Children’s Museum in Factoria (Bellevue) from 5-8pm. This children’s Museum is located inside the Factoria Mall and is  great way to spend a cold friday night.

The museum features a Backyard Exhibit, a Garage area with a Fire truck, free play construction zone, a life-sized litebrite! And of course a waterways section complete with water chimes and drums. There are other exhibits of course and I’d say is mainly for younger kids. We went a few years ago and it was fun. Clean but crowded.

This museum is small (much smaller than Everett Children’s Museum) but it’s fun to get out and explore new exhibits. And the cost, well you can’t beat free! Plus there’s a Red Robin inside the mall so we head over there for dinner afterwards.

Get a Good Deal On Your Mortgage!

According to Zillow.com buyers spend more time researching a car purchase than they do a home loan. Yikes, a house costs a lot more money than a car, well at least in the Northwest it does, and people don’t research their options? I guess it makes sense, people feel more knowledgeable about cars and their values and buying a house is a pretty complex deal. All the more reason to be informed! Here are some tips to get a good deal on your mortgage, it’s not like you can get a coupon in the Sunday paper for your mortgage but knowledge could save you money!

1. Get ready! Review your finances and figure out what you can afford. Don’t forget to include taxes and insurance, allow for higher heating bills in the winter, etc. A good rule of thumb is your mortgage payment should not be more than 30% of your take home pay. Having a good credit score will get you a better interest rate!

2. Know the different types of mortgages. I’ve known people who got into an Adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) and then got slammed when the rate went up and they couldn’t make the payment. Some things look good right now but you have to look at the big picture and the possibility that your rates will go up on an ARM. A fixed rate mortgage has the same rate, no surprises!

3. Shop Around! Get a lot of loan quotes, ask people to match an offer, you never know unless you ask. Most important, go with a lender that you trust!

If you need help with anything give Dave a call at 425-330-0663. We are happy to help in any way!

The Last 5 Years of Real Estate in Seattle

The Seattle Times did a nice summary of what the Seattle Real Estate Market has done in the last 5 years last week. When looking at these facts remember to look at the big picture, the value of real estate is constantly changing. We saw a big spike in value in 2007 and people are still comparing their property value to that year.

I do believe things are starting to turn around and get back to normal, whatever that is!

Check out this summary of facts from the Seattle Times.

20 Most Recognized Aromas

Sometimes a smell can take you back to a vivid memory. In the Northwest the smell of rain is a constant smell that we sometimes forget about since it rains SO MUCH here. The smell of the salty ocean air, the recycled smell of air on the airplane, babies (Do I even need to go there?). The list goes on and on.

Ever wonder what the most recognized smells are? Wonder no more, here is your Meaningless Monday trivia!

A Yale University study was done in which 200 people were asked to identify 80 common aromas. While we do not have the entire list, the twenty most recognizable, in order, are:

1. Coffee
2. Peanut butter
3. Vicks VapoRub
4. Chocolate
5. Wintergreen oil
6. Baby powder
7. Cigarette butts
8. Mothballs
9. Dry cat food
10. Beer
11. Ivory bar soap
12. Juicy Fruit gum
13. Orange
14. Cinnamon
15. Lemon
16. Tuna
17. Banana
18. Crayons
19. Cheese
20. Bleach

Source: Crayola

Home Sales Effect Other Businesses Too

A good real estate market makes for a good financial market. At least that’s what I think when I step back and look at the big picture. You might think differently but let’s take a look at the current real estate market and the effect it has on the economy.

There aren’t as many homes on the market which means homeowners aren’t hiring contractors to fix up the home. People aren’t moving to new homes so rentals of moving trucks or hiring professional movers are down.

A lot of  people buy new furniture or accessories when they move into a new place. Because suddenly that couch that was perfect in your old home won’t fit in the new living room so now you need a new one. Without home sales this isn’t happening!

And don’t forget the little purchases that add up to a lot of money. Maybe you need new curtains, some paint, light fixtures, baby proofing if you are in that stage, people spend a lot of money making their new home well home! There’s nothing worse than being in your on house and having not feel like home.

All of this traces back to home sales. When home sales are up, these businesses are busy, when they are down, only the strong survive.

Everett Imagine Children’s Museum

This weekend I took my boys to the Everett Imagine Children’s Museum. One gripe I have to get out-of-the-way, why do adults have to pay? Do you think I enjoy playing “bank” when I can do that in real life? Ok, I feel better!

The museum provides a safe environment for kids to play on an airplane, cafe, pet center, waterworks station, train set, all sorts of things. The glow in the dark room was pretty cool!

Downstairs there is a construction room and this time they had large foam blocks to build towers and things. This is where I saw the most kids stay in one area for any length of time and the kids worked together to build tall towers and then crash them down. It was really cool.

The other cool part is on weather appropriate days the rooftop playground is open. There is a fun play set, some music creating toys and the best part, a digging for fossils exhibit. There is ground up rubber bits and kids dig to find dinosaur bones and such. Really fun!

My guys are 6 years old and it was just barely worth it for us to go. I feel it’s better suited for younger kids but that’s my opinion. It was something to do on a gray winter day. You are allowed to bring in lunch and they have lots of tables downstairs to eat.

If you’ve never been, try it. Usually the museum is closed on Mondays and Thursdays is half price admission after 3:00. Keep in mind they close at 5:00pm everyday, don’t learn this the hard way like I did!

Real Estate wise we are back to 2005

Image via Wikipedia

We keep thinking the real estate market is getting better, and it is, until you start comparing the facts to past years. According to the Seattle Times buyers spent 8.9 billion dollars on houses and condos in King County last year.  That’s good, that’s a lot of money, until you see that in 2005 we spent  17.1 billion. That’s right, almost 90% more money was spent 5 years ago.

The prices of homes were about the same in 2010 as they were in 2005 but the difference is fewer homes sold last year. In 2005 roughly 42,000 homes/condos were sold. 2010 saw only 21,000.

Honestly though, it is getting better. We had a HUGE real estate boom that we are comparing ourselves to instead of looking at the bigger picture. Value goes up and down, it’s all about selling high and buying low. The tricky part is the timing of it all.