WHAT HOMEBUYERS WANT

Americans want smaller houses and they are willing to strip some of yesterday’s most popular rooms—such as home theaters—from them in order to accommodate changing lifestyles, consumer experts told audiences at the International Builders Show.
For many buyers, their next house will be smaller than their current one.Paul Cardis, CEO of AVID Ratings Co., which conducts an annual survey of home buyer preferences, said there are 10 “must” features in new homes:
1. Large kitchens, with an island . “If you’re going to spend design dollars, spend them where people want them—spend them in the kitchen,” McCune said. 2. Granite countertops are a must for move-up buyers and buyers of custom homes, but for others “they are on the bubble,” Cardis said.
3. Energy-efficient appliances , high-efficiency insulation and high window efficiency. Among the “green” features touted in homes, these are the ones buyers value most, said Cardis. While large windows had been a major draw, energy concerns are giving customers pause on those. The use of recycled or synthetic materials is only borderline desirable.
4. Home office/study . People would much rather have this space rather than, say, a formal dining room. “People are feeling like they can dine out again and so the dining room has become tradable,” Cardis said. And the home theater may also be headed for the scrap heap, a casualty of the “shift from boom to correction.”
5. Main-floor master suite. This is a must feature for empty-nesters and certain other buyers, and appears to be getting more popular in general. That could help explain why demand for upstairs laundries is declining after several years of popularity gains.
6. Outdoor living room. The popularity of outdoor spaces continues to grow, even in Canada. The idea of an outdoor room is even more popular than an outdoor cooking area, meaning people are willing to spend more time outside.
7. Master suite soaker tubs . Whirlpools are still desirable for many home buyers, but they clearly went down a notch in the latest survey. Oversize showers with seating areas are also moving up in popularity.
8. Stone and brick exteriors . Stucco and vinyl don’t make the cut. Not to sure about this one...here in NM we have lots of stucco..it just seems to fit the territory! mh
9. Community landscaping , with walking paths and playgrounds. Forget about golf courses, swimming pools and clubhouses. Buyers in large planned developments prefer hiking among lush greenery.

HEAD OF FAMILY EXEMPTIONS

In New Mexico, a homeowner can apply for the Head of Family exemption which allows a $2000 exemption from the taxable value of the residential property. This applies only if the home is the primary residence and not vacant property, now a second home nor a commercial holding. Owners of manufactured homes are eligible too. The exemption doesn’t mean that $2000 is subtracted from their property tax but that the value of the property is reduced by $2000 for taxation purposes so about $80 per year is saved. The application form is issued by the County Tax Assessor’s office or can be done by phone. The exemption is for the next taxable year, and cannot be applied retroactively.
Other exemptions are $4000 for Veterans’ when a certificate of eligibility is provided from the NM Veterans’ Service Commission. Homeowners over 65 or disabled can apply for a Value Freeze program if their modified gross household income is $32,000 or less.
Who qualifies as “Head of Family”? A married person, but only one spouse can be listed. A widow or widower. A person furnishing more than one-half the cost of support of a related person. A single person and a member of a condominium association who pays the property tax.
It is a good idea anyway to check annually on www.bernco.gov under Assessor to make sure the ownership information is accurate and to see that the exemption is noted.

NEW LISTING IN ABQ HIGH SCHOOL LOFTS

Check out this new listing we just posted on a large loft in downtown Albuquerque in the old historic and green restored ABQ High School lofts. It's very high tech for the buyer looking for an urban environment.

TAX LIGHTENING HEATS UP

So after two District Court judges ruled that the "tax lightening" regulation was unconstitutional, now they have apparently been intimidated by the Governor who wants a constitutional amendment proposition to make it legal. One of the judges is sending it to the Court of Appeals after saying she wouldn't to get a confirming opinion. In the meantime, I guess she is not going to rollback taxes in 2010 for those who have bought in the County of Bernalillo since 2002. And her attorney just quit in the light of 2000 plus filed appeals by these same taxpayers.

TAX LIGHTNING FIX STALLS

This just in from Stephanie Dzur on the Tax Lightning issue: I don't think those voluntary rollbacks are coming.
From yesterday's journal:
"Montoya said she is just trying to fix problems in her county that judges have ruled unconstitutional. She said she has experts studying every possible effect her plan could have on taxpayers and won't be pulling the trigger on the plan until she knows what the effects will be.
"I want everyone to know what could occur," she said.

And today David Chacon (her attorney who had advised her at the time she declared she was voluntarily rolling everyone back to 2001 plus 3%) e-mailed me that he's being replaced.

Interest Rates set to Rise - Buy Now

Interest rates throughout 2009 were artificially low. That's because in late 2008, the Federal Reserve put into place a program for purchasing Mortgage Backed Securities with the intention of lowering mortgage rates. They were successful with reported rates by Freddie Mac falling below 5.00% several times in 2009.
Without this program mortgage rates would have been at least 1.00% higher, and potentially even higher than that. Did you know that a change of 1% in a home loan rate impacts the amount someone can borrow by roughly 10%? For example, if rates are in the low 5.00% range today and they shoot up to the low 6.00% range, $250,000 home buyers may become $225,000 home buyers.
Look for rates to return to 2008 and previous levels as the Fed ends the program on March 31, 2010. While rates will not immediately increase to 6.00% or higher, know that without additional intervention, rising rates are inevitable. Expect that under worst case scenarios, rates could dance around the 7.00% range.

IMPROVING YOUR CREDIT SCORE

Interesting article in the ABQ Journal today about the new game of managing your credit score. did you know:
- Applying for several credit cards could cut 10 points off your score?
- Not paying utility, mortgage or credit card bills on time can lower points 60-110 points?
- Mising a payment on one account slices 40-75 points?
- Having credit card balances over half of the amount avaiable cuts scores by 40-100 points?
- Short sale on your house reduces points by 45-125? I thought it would be more!!!
- A mortgage loan mortgage payment drops scores by 100-150 points?
- A foreclosed home drops 45-100 to 150 off your score?
- Bankrupcy has the biggest impact of 200-255 points?

Hope you find this interesting.

WE BEAT THE REAL ESTATE ODDS

So in November, sales went down in double digit numbers in the USA but not in New Mexico. Finally, we look better than the rest of the STates. My business has been hopping with listings and sales. Keep it up, New Mexico.