I sometimes train the new agents. My plan for training is to tell people what works for me, explore what might work for them, introduce them to resources that can help and then throw them to the winds. I’m not real big on structured instruction agendas.
I helped a woman that we will call Rosie. My haphazard training and Rosie’s fastidious brain did not mesh.
The first problem was that she needed to know exactly what to do, exactly when to do it, and precisely how to go about it. If I said, “Rosie. Every day write a letter to a FSBO or an expired listing,” she wanted to know what time she should write it, (“3:31 PM, Rosie.” “Okay!”) should it be handwritten or typed, if handwritten then what color of ink should she use, on letterhead or not, which sort of stamp would be best……………….
Then she would finally write it and I would red-line it and she would re-do it and then bring it to me and then to the Broker and then back to me and then back to the Broker and the silly letter never did make it to the mailbox.
We made each other crazy because I don’t think like Rosie. (I confess that in my secret brain, and in my most private thoughts, I called her Rainman.)
The second problem was that I had competition for that meticulous mind of hers. One time I got exasperated and snapped “Quit thinking about it and just go bring me a freakin’ letter!” Rosie stumped away and then circled back with a marvel of a farming letter. It was awesome! Amazingly, she also had 3 other letters, all of them dealing with different real estate situations. These were wonderful letters. I coveted these letters.
Rosie did not write them. I knew that she didn’t write them because they started out:
Dear [Recipient Name]: My name is [REALTOR® Name], and I am associated with [Company Name].
“Rosie! Where did you get this? It’s perfect!”
“Aaron gave it to me.”
“Wow! Well, get it in the mail! Wait – fill in the blanks first.” She did, and good things started happening for her.
So one day I asked Rosie to do something and I told her how I thought that she should do it and she pops off with “But Aaron says that I should do THAT in my 5th week of training. Aaron says that I should do THIS in my 3rd week.” Pretty soon it’s “Aaron says this……..” and “Aaron says that……...” and tiny puffs of smoke are coming out of my ears.
My gripe is that Aaron’s suggestions are excellent, and certainly better thought-out than mine. This Aaron guy is starting to irritate me. He seems to have unlimited resources, unlimited time, and unlimited patience for Rosie. Aaron is making me look bad.
One day “Aaron said” something brilliant and I noticed that my left eye was twitching. “Rosie. I would like to meet this Aaron guy. Could you go call him right now and see if he would come to an office meeting and share his wisdom with all of us?”
“Oh, I don’t know Aaron.”
“Then how did you get all of this information from him? Where did this letter and all of this good advice come from? Why is Aaron giving you things? What have you done, Rosie?”
“Aaron is in my computer. He has all of this stuff, and he likes to help me. Some of it is free and some of it costs. I only get the free things.” Rosie showed me where Aaron is in her computer.
Turns out that Aaron is aaronline.com.
Rosie had gone to the Arizona Association of REALTORS® website and from there accessed NAR’s “Right Tools, Right Now” and found free letter templates and downloaded them.
http://www.realtor.org/archives/website200505021?presentationtemplate=rmo-design/pt_articlepage_migratedcontent_print&presentationtemplateid=06ad608049e7ba93ab3dab87f8d337ee
She had been watching training webinars at http://www.realtor.org/prodser.nsf/RightTools/OnlineTraining?OpenDocument
she was starting a free REALTOR® blog at http://blogsignup.realtor.com/learnmore.aspx
she was learning about short sales at http://www.realtor.org/prodser.nsf/RightTools/ShortSales?OpenDocument
she was figuring out Facebook and Twitter at http://www.realtor.org/rmotechnology/Articles/2009/0909_socialnetworking_virtualrealities
and pretty soon Rosie was doing the right things without any input from me at all.
Rosie started doing really well, which relieved me immensely. She became a self-starter, or at least an Aaron-inspired starter. She established a farm area and got some very well priced listings, which sold.
Once Rosie developed some confidence, she was able to stop clenching quite so hard and she started specializing in short sales. Once she understood the process, we found that short sale listings suited her linear brain.
While I taught Rosie a few things, she showed me something, too. She didn’t introduce me to Aaron, but she did make me decide to get to know him a whole lot better.
Aaron is a good guy to know. Go to www.aaronline.com and see.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
I got installed as President of the Sedona Verde Valley Association of REALTORS® last Thursday. They made me write a speech, and then I didn't give it because everybody who went before me said everything that I had planned.
But it's a good speech! So here it is.
*****************************************************
We were talking about this installation around our dinner table a few weeks ago. My 4 year old grandson was tearing through the kitchen just as Mike said that I would get sworn in. JackJack screeched to a halt and said “Grandma! No swearing!”
I was conflicted about this installation. Kim and Jamie were asking me questions and wanting my participation and I was resisting. I had a problem, but I hadn’t figured out exactly why I had a problem.
This is a huge honor. I will do my best to do a good job. You all know that and we didn’t need to get you all together to hear me say it.
We were in an education meeting a couple of months ago and I blurted out, “I’m cancelling the installation!”
Kim got big eyes and then pointed out that this is important. We need to recognize the award winners, the Board of Directors and I need to be sworn in, we’ve got a new MLS Chair to introduce, and a lot of the members really like to have a party. She asked me why I was being stubborn. “Carol Anne, this is your moment! We’re trying to make this special for you!”
And there was my problem. This Association is not about me. SVVAR is about you. I am one of 713 REALTOR® and affiliate members. I had a hard time about asking our members to come watch “my installation” when we are here to serve you.
We decided to do a free breakfast, and Jamie and our affiliate members agreed to cook.
Then Kim tells me that I have to make a speech. “But it’s breakfast. No speeches at breakfast.” She pointed her finger at me like she was JackJack.
OK. Speech.
For about the first 10 years that I was licensed I went about my business, listing and selling real estate. I never thought about the Association, except to pay my dues so that I could have MLS. “They” ran SVVAR and “They” were doing a fine job and it never occurred to me that “They” could use some help.
I did figure out pretty quick that being a REALTOR® means a lot. Then I noticed that as a member of AAR and NAR and SVVAR we get some really awesome perks. I get convenient and outstanding education, I get access to Professional Standards instead of going to court, the webinars and podcasts and articles are wonderful, and we are a force to be reckoned with in politics. Everywhere you look is a reason to be a member of SVVAR, besides MLS. Then they put me on the Board and the world opened up. Y’all should try it.
When we go to the National conventions, I realize that Arizona is the elite as far as state associations go, and SVVAR is regarded as one of the best Arizona associations. People look at my name tag and say, “Ooh – Sedona.” I say, “Yeah, can’t get enough of those Red Rocks.” They say, “No. Youse guy’s Association. We use youse guys as our model.” They’re 5 or 10 years behind us. We belong to the elite, and we have Holly and Ron and Kim and Beth to thank for that.
So how do we stay there? We stay there by not being stagnant. We stay there by inviting and entertaining new ideas.
My wish list is that more members would get more involved. It used to be that if you raised your hand to volunteer around here you were committing yourself to years of servitude on a committee. Not anymore – Beth changed that with the Quick Response Teams – the QRTs. Now it‘s safe to raise your hand. That’s what I’m asking for from you. Raise your hand. Talk to me. Talk to your Board members. If you’ve got an idea, share it. If you’ve got a gripe, share it. We want to and we need to hear from you.
Every time I write my Bits n Pieces I get feedback. I love your comments! It’s human to think something positive (“Ooh! I like that!” and then go on.) but to say the negatives (Ooh! She made a mistake! And grab the phone.) Occasionally I’ll get disgruntled when I feel picked on, but that’s OK – I can take it.
I have an old friend who is one of our REALTORS®. Robert never hesitates to criticize at me, and I never hesitate to swear at him. I treasure Robert’s input because we need to know what you guys are thinking and he never hesitates to tell me.
That was my wish list. Now I want to take a moment to thank all of the volunteers here. A lot of people don’t know that what we do, we do for free. I especially want to thank Beth Adams and Jacque Weems, and we certainly need to point out Holly Mabery and Ron Volkman and all of the other past Presidents that have served you on your Board. By the time you get to be a past President you have donated literally thousands of hours to our Association. That’s a huge contribution, and it is appreciated. Thank Tahona Epperson and Tod Christenson, our President-Elect and Secretary-Treasurer.
Will anyone who has served on the board or on a committee, either for SVVAR or AAR or NAR please stand up? Next year I hope to be able to recognize a gigantic group of new volunteers.
I also need a moment to thank Kim and Mary and Linda and Diane, our staff. Everything that happens is due to their efforts. Without these 4 women the whole shebang would just fall apart. We take it for granted that when we pick up the phone or shoot out an email to SVVAR our question or problem gets taken care of. We have the best staff in the state, if not in the nation. I know this because whenever we go to a conference the other associations try to steal them from us. I shudder to think of trying to operate without them. Let’s also thank Lisa and Jack Frost, who have forgiven me for some rash words that I spoke once and came to play for us.
There you are – the speech. Done. Please get involved, please talk to us, and please remember to say “Thanks!” when one of your staff helps you. Especially, be proud that you are a member of the Sedona Verde Valley Association of REALTORS® because we truly are the best of the best.
But it's a good speech! So here it is.
*****************************************************
We were talking about this installation around our dinner table a few weeks ago. My 4 year old grandson was tearing through the kitchen just as Mike said that I would get sworn in. JackJack screeched to a halt and said “Grandma! No swearing!”
I was conflicted about this installation. Kim and Jamie were asking me questions and wanting my participation and I was resisting. I had a problem, but I hadn’t figured out exactly why I had a problem.
This is a huge honor. I will do my best to do a good job. You all know that and we didn’t need to get you all together to hear me say it.
We were in an education meeting a couple of months ago and I blurted out, “I’m cancelling the installation!”
Kim got big eyes and then pointed out that this is important. We need to recognize the award winners, the Board of Directors and I need to be sworn in, we’ve got a new MLS Chair to introduce, and a lot of the members really like to have a party. She asked me why I was being stubborn. “Carol Anne, this is your moment! We’re trying to make this special for you!”
And there was my problem. This Association is not about me. SVVAR is about you. I am one of 713 REALTOR® and affiliate members. I had a hard time about asking our members to come watch “my installation” when we are here to serve you.
We decided to do a free breakfast, and Jamie and our affiliate members agreed to cook.
Then Kim tells me that I have to make a speech. “But it’s breakfast. No speeches at breakfast.” She pointed her finger at me like she was JackJack.
OK. Speech.
For about the first 10 years that I was licensed I went about my business, listing and selling real estate. I never thought about the Association, except to pay my dues so that I could have MLS. “They” ran SVVAR and “They” were doing a fine job and it never occurred to me that “They” could use some help.
I did figure out pretty quick that being a REALTOR® means a lot. Then I noticed that as a member of AAR and NAR and SVVAR we get some really awesome perks. I get convenient and outstanding education, I get access to Professional Standards instead of going to court, the webinars and podcasts and articles are wonderful, and we are a force to be reckoned with in politics. Everywhere you look is a reason to be a member of SVVAR, besides MLS. Then they put me on the Board and the world opened up. Y’all should try it.
When we go to the National conventions, I realize that Arizona is the elite as far as state associations go, and SVVAR is regarded as one of the best Arizona associations. People look at my name tag and say, “Ooh – Sedona.” I say, “Yeah, can’t get enough of those Red Rocks.” They say, “No. Youse guy’s Association. We use youse guys as our model.” They’re 5 or 10 years behind us. We belong to the elite, and we have Holly and Ron and Kim and Beth to thank for that.
So how do we stay there? We stay there by not being stagnant. We stay there by inviting and entertaining new ideas.
My wish list is that more members would get more involved. It used to be that if you raised your hand to volunteer around here you were committing yourself to years of servitude on a committee. Not anymore – Beth changed that with the Quick Response Teams – the QRTs. Now it‘s safe to raise your hand. That’s what I’m asking for from you. Raise your hand. Talk to me. Talk to your Board members. If you’ve got an idea, share it. If you’ve got a gripe, share it. We want to and we need to hear from you.
Every time I write my Bits n Pieces I get feedback. I love your comments! It’s human to think something positive (“Ooh! I like that!” and then go on.) but to say the negatives (Ooh! She made a mistake! And grab the phone.) Occasionally I’ll get disgruntled when I feel picked on, but that’s OK – I can take it.
I have an old friend who is one of our REALTORS®. Robert never hesitates to criticize at me, and I never hesitate to swear at him. I treasure Robert’s input because we need to know what you guys are thinking and he never hesitates to tell me.
That was my wish list. Now I want to take a moment to thank all of the volunteers here. A lot of people don’t know that what we do, we do for free. I especially want to thank Beth Adams and Jacque Weems, and we certainly need to point out Holly Mabery and Ron Volkman and all of the other past Presidents that have served you on your Board. By the time you get to be a past President you have donated literally thousands of hours to our Association. That’s a huge contribution, and it is appreciated. Thank Tahona Epperson and Tod Christenson, our President-Elect and Secretary-Treasurer.
Will anyone who has served on the board or on a committee, either for SVVAR or AAR or NAR please stand up? Next year I hope to be able to recognize a gigantic group of new volunteers.
I also need a moment to thank Kim and Mary and Linda and Diane, our staff. Everything that happens is due to their efforts. Without these 4 women the whole shebang would just fall apart. We take it for granted that when we pick up the phone or shoot out an email to SVVAR our question or problem gets taken care of. We have the best staff in the state, if not in the nation. I know this because whenever we go to a conference the other associations try to steal them from us. I shudder to think of trying to operate without them. Let’s also thank Lisa and Jack Frost, who have forgiven me for some rash words that I spoke once and came to play for us.
There you are – the speech. Done. Please get involved, please talk to us, and please remember to say “Thanks!” when one of your staff helps you. Especially, be proud that you are a member of the Sedona Verde Valley Association of REALTORS® because we truly are the best of the best.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Thanksgiving musings
The Tuesday before Thanksgiving is the anniversary of the day that my youngest son came home. Jess went to live in a Buddhist monastery in China when he was 15. I was not enamored with this idea, but he determinedly sabotaged every alternative that I came up with and I finally capitulated and sent him. It was the best thing that ever happened to him. When he left he was a self-centered child. When he came back he was barefoot because he was ashamed to be wearing shoes whose price would have fed a family for a year over there.
China was awful. There are lots of stories, but the one that I think the most about is this: When Jess would go to town, people would sometimes run up and throw their girl babies at him. When he caught the babies and his hands were full with them, other children would swarm over him, taking everything that was in his pockets. This happened repeatedly because he is not capable of not catching the babies. He finally let one of those kids take his shoes.
I was thinking about this when I bumped into an acquaintance and wished him a wonderful Thanksgiving. He replied, “Bah on your Thanksgiving! I have nothing to be thankful for.”
I wanted to smack him.
I replied, “Well, you’re standing upright. The sun is shining. You have clean clothes on your back and shoes on your feet, you’re obviously well fed, and you don’t have to throw your children at people as your means of making a living.”
We talked for a while and it turned out that he had tons of things to be thankful for – he decided on the spot to go his daughter’s house for the Holiday and visit his grandchildren. He loves his daughter and her kids, and he was looking forward to spending some time with them.
This man was so focused on all of the circumstances in his life that had not gone as planned that he had forgotten to see his blessings.
This is what Thanksgiving is all about. It’s an entire day devoted to noticing and appreciating the good things in life. Wow! What a great concept!
When my boys were small, every night I asked them to tell me 10 things that had happened that day that were good. Even after the most horrible day we could still always come up with 10 good things.
One of MY good things every night is that they still count THEIR good things at the end of each day, and they’re teaching my grandchildren to do the same thing. I think that this habit is one of the 3 the greatest gifts that I’ve given them, along with music and reading.
So they were all here Saturday night for dinner, and I asked the grandchildren what they had that day for good things. Allow me to share.
Binko, 8 years old: Waking up to the smell of bacon and waffles cooking – Led Zeppelin – smelling their puppy Guinness’ breath – TV - the bubble bath that they all 3 just took – my homemade tamales – football – hiding with his brother and cousin to eat the candy bars that I sneaked them - seeing his family.
Turtle, 5 years old, almost: playing Girl Games on the computer – chocolate – her new sparkly hair ties – pondering (Yes, she actually said “pondering.”) what kind of birthday cake I should make her – the pink bead that she found in the driveway – butterflies – shiny hair – getting her weekly toe nail painting - flowers.
JackJack – 4 years old: Cheese - SpongeBob SquarePants - Being a ninja – Cheese, again (the boy does like his cheese) - Farts - Wed Zeppwin – Fishes - Candy bar, (whispered, with big eyes and a giggle.) New shoes – this party – that big bird that we watched.
Now you’ve met 3 of my blessings. At the end of the day when I list my blessings and then when I list 10 good things that happened I forget about the economy and the market and all of the other plagues of our lives. I’m reminded that money and stuff are just that – stuff. Stuff is replaceable, but our blessings are not.
Try it now – it’s fun. Tell yourself right now your best blessings, and then think of 10 things that happened in the last 24 hours that were good things. If you don’t come out of this exercise in a better mood than when you started it then you’re not really trying.
Happy Thanksgiving from me and my family to you and your family. May we remember to make every day be a Thanksgiving! Blessings upon all of us, everyone.
China was awful. There are lots of stories, but the one that I think the most about is this: When Jess would go to town, people would sometimes run up and throw their girl babies at him. When he caught the babies and his hands were full with them, other children would swarm over him, taking everything that was in his pockets. This happened repeatedly because he is not capable of not catching the babies. He finally let one of those kids take his shoes.
I was thinking about this when I bumped into an acquaintance and wished him a wonderful Thanksgiving. He replied, “Bah on your Thanksgiving! I have nothing to be thankful for.”
I wanted to smack him.
I replied, “Well, you’re standing upright. The sun is shining. You have clean clothes on your back and shoes on your feet, you’re obviously well fed, and you don’t have to throw your children at people as your means of making a living.”
We talked for a while and it turned out that he had tons of things to be thankful for – he decided on the spot to go his daughter’s house for the Holiday and visit his grandchildren. He loves his daughter and her kids, and he was looking forward to spending some time with them.
This man was so focused on all of the circumstances in his life that had not gone as planned that he had forgotten to see his blessings.
This is what Thanksgiving is all about. It’s an entire day devoted to noticing and appreciating the good things in life. Wow! What a great concept!
When my boys were small, every night I asked them to tell me 10 things that had happened that day that were good. Even after the most horrible day we could still always come up with 10 good things.
One of MY good things every night is that they still count THEIR good things at the end of each day, and they’re teaching my grandchildren to do the same thing. I think that this habit is one of the 3 the greatest gifts that I’ve given them, along with music and reading.
So they were all here Saturday night for dinner, and I asked the grandchildren what they had that day for good things. Allow me to share.
Binko, 8 years old: Waking up to the smell of bacon and waffles cooking – Led Zeppelin – smelling their puppy Guinness’ breath – TV - the bubble bath that they all 3 just took – my homemade tamales – football – hiding with his brother and cousin to eat the candy bars that I sneaked them - seeing his family.
Turtle, 5 years old, almost: playing Girl Games on the computer – chocolate – her new sparkly hair ties – pondering (Yes, she actually said “pondering.”) what kind of birthday cake I should make her – the pink bead that she found in the driveway – butterflies – shiny hair – getting her weekly toe nail painting - flowers.
JackJack – 4 years old: Cheese - SpongeBob SquarePants - Being a ninja – Cheese, again (the boy does like his cheese) - Farts - Wed Zeppwin – Fishes - Candy bar, (whispered, with big eyes and a giggle.) New shoes – this party – that big bird that we watched.
Now you’ve met 3 of my blessings. At the end of the day when I list my blessings and then when I list 10 good things that happened I forget about the economy and the market and all of the other plagues of our lives. I’m reminded that money and stuff are just that – stuff. Stuff is replaceable, but our blessings are not.
Try it now – it’s fun. Tell yourself right now your best blessings, and then think of 10 things that happened in the last 24 hours that were good things. If you don’t come out of this exercise in a better mood than when you started it then you’re not really trying.
Happy Thanksgiving from me and my family to you and your family. May we remember to make every day be a Thanksgiving! Blessings upon all of us, everyone.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Letter to Chairwoman Krisin Mayes, Arizona Corporation Commission
3 October, 2009
Chairwoman Kristin Mayes
Arizona Corporation Commission
1200 West Washington, 2nd Floor
Phoenix, Arizona
85007
Dear Chairwoman (Chairperson? I don’t know,) Mayes;
I’m writing to urge you to please vote to re-instate the electricity providers’ “free 1000 feet” policy.
As you know, APS and other electricity providers always and forever have not charged to run lines to a new residence, up to 1000 feet. In 2007 they did away with this “free 1000 feet.”
This became an issue just as we were seeing vacant land’s flat line starting to blip. A Buyer’s reaction is to lower their offering price by the amount that the provider (pessimistically) might charge them. The Seller either rejects their offer and again, nothing sells and no money moves into the community, or he takes it and we now have an abysmal comp and property values fall some more.
The developers are shaking their heads and turning towards higher density parcels, the contractors and their subs get another month in the soup lines, the small towns that depend on them and their flow of money continue to fold.
The first problem is that the amounts that the electricity providers charge are completely arbitrary, following no discernible rhyme nor reason.
Neither the developers nor contractors nor property owners can predict and budget for this expense – it has to be a surprise, apparently. Nobody can know what the charge will be until they pull a building permit.
As an example, I have 5 large parcels of land listed in Cornville. Each one of these parcels could be legally and prettily subdivided into smaller parcels, developed, and nice custom homes built on them. It’s not going to happen. It’s not going to happen because my Sellers can’t reduce the price any further and the 1000 feet charge just tipped the balance from a doable project into an idea that failed to pencil out. It can’t possibly pencil because nobody can know what the APS charge will be, and developers are not gamblers anymore.
Let me try, please, to show you the consequences of this sale going belly up.
The Seller couldn’t sell the property and so he has no money to spend in the community – the money didn’t move. Neither I, the lenders who would have funded the deal, the other agent, the title company, not the excavators nor the surveyor made any money – the money didn’t move. The architect, the contractor, the roofer, drywallers, landscapers, plumbers, electricians, painters – all of the trades involved in the building of 43 homes, none of them got a break from this horrible economy because the money didn’t move. They have no money so they won’t be going out to eat or buying new shoes or making their house payment this month.
I re-read this last paragraph and think how dramatic it sounds, but it’s true – every word. APS’ policy of charging some arbitrary but God-awful amount of money for their 1000 feet of lines killed this deal. It affected all of these people and our little community horribly.
My prospective developer buyer bought a property in the Phoenix area instead – 1000 feet of electric lines is not an issue on the property that he bought there. Again, Maricopa grins while the rural areas cry.
Rural areas are being economically pummeled by this policy change. We realize that the providers are counting on the fact that this doesn’t much affect the Great State of Maricopa, so maybe they can just continue and maybe nobody who can do something about it will understand or notice. “1000 free feet no more” does impact your outlying areas greatly, but we’re neither as visible nor as vocal.
Kristin, please. See us. Hear us. Let us also be visible. Help us, please.
Thanking you in advance for your time and attention,
Carol Anne Warren, REALTOR ®
Associate Broker, Arizona Adobe Group Realty
GRI, ABR, e-Pro, AHWD, CNE
direct to me: 928-300-9031
carolanne@adobegr.com
If you shovel the manure diligently, sooner or later you are sure to find a pony. ~Anacoana~
Chairwoman Kristin Mayes
Arizona Corporation Commission
1200 West Washington, 2nd Floor
Phoenix, Arizona
85007
Dear Chairwoman (Chairperson? I don’t know,) Mayes;
I’m writing to urge you to please vote to re-instate the electricity providers’ “free 1000 feet” policy.
As you know, APS and other electricity providers always and forever have not charged to run lines to a new residence, up to 1000 feet. In 2007 they did away with this “free 1000 feet.”
This became an issue just as we were seeing vacant land’s flat line starting to blip. A Buyer’s reaction is to lower their offering price by the amount that the provider (pessimistically) might charge them. The Seller either rejects their offer and again, nothing sells and no money moves into the community, or he takes it and we now have an abysmal comp and property values fall some more.
The developers are shaking their heads and turning towards higher density parcels, the contractors and their subs get another month in the soup lines, the small towns that depend on them and their flow of money continue to fold.
The first problem is that the amounts that the electricity providers charge are completely arbitrary, following no discernible rhyme nor reason.
Neither the developers nor contractors nor property owners can predict and budget for this expense – it has to be a surprise, apparently. Nobody can know what the charge will be until they pull a building permit.
As an example, I have 5 large parcels of land listed in Cornville. Each one of these parcels could be legally and prettily subdivided into smaller parcels, developed, and nice custom homes built on them. It’s not going to happen. It’s not going to happen because my Sellers can’t reduce the price any further and the 1000 feet charge just tipped the balance from a doable project into an idea that failed to pencil out. It can’t possibly pencil because nobody can know what the APS charge will be, and developers are not gamblers anymore.
Let me try, please, to show you the consequences of this sale going belly up.
The Seller couldn’t sell the property and so he has no money to spend in the community – the money didn’t move. Neither I, the lenders who would have funded the deal, the other agent, the title company, not the excavators nor the surveyor made any money – the money didn’t move. The architect, the contractor, the roofer, drywallers, landscapers, plumbers, electricians, painters – all of the trades involved in the building of 43 homes, none of them got a break from this horrible economy because the money didn’t move. They have no money so they won’t be going out to eat or buying new shoes or making their house payment this month.
I re-read this last paragraph and think how dramatic it sounds, but it’s true – every word. APS’ policy of charging some arbitrary but God-awful amount of money for their 1000 feet of lines killed this deal. It affected all of these people and our little community horribly.
My prospective developer buyer bought a property in the Phoenix area instead – 1000 feet of electric lines is not an issue on the property that he bought there. Again, Maricopa grins while the rural areas cry.
Rural areas are being economically pummeled by this policy change. We realize that the providers are counting on the fact that this doesn’t much affect the Great State of Maricopa, so maybe they can just continue and maybe nobody who can do something about it will understand or notice. “1000 free feet no more” does impact your outlying areas greatly, but we’re neither as visible nor as vocal.
Kristin, please. See us. Hear us. Let us also be visible. Help us, please.
Thanking you in advance for your time and attention,
Carol Anne Warren, REALTOR ®
Associate Broker, Arizona Adobe Group Realty
GRI, ABR, e-Pro, AHWD, CNE
direct to me: 928-300-9031
carolanne@adobegr.com
If you shovel the manure diligently, sooner or later you are sure to find a pony. ~Anacoana~
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
September 7, 2009
President Barack Obama
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Obama:
Great speech to the kids yesterday!
I'm sure that letters from citizens can't go directly to you - you're only one man, and certainly you get more letters and email than 100 Presidents could read in one day. I hope that this one gets through the screening process.
My husband and I are both real estate brokers in Cottonwood, Arizona.
I don't for one second think that I know more about economics than all of the high-powered advisers in their shiny ivory towers that work for the United States government. I do, however, know what's going on in Cottonwood. I know why our economy is so horrible, and it’s one very simple finger that I have to point.President Obama, I'm proud of you for trying to get a coherent health care plan in place. I agree that it's desperately needed. However, I think that you're putting the cart before the horse. It's great to have a good health care plan, but I'm not going to worry much about my cholesterol when I'm homeless. Long-term health problems like cancer or thyroid imbalance or a heart murmur don't much concern me if I live in the culvert under the highway.
We need to deal with the homeless, and we need to deal with the certainty of millions of newly homeless before we get to health insurance. Excuse me, but that's where your attention needs to be – first things first and all. Besides, if the money isn’t moving there will be no income to pay taxes on and health insurance will be impossible to fund. (Don’t worry - I’ll tell you about the newly homeless in a minute, when we talk about nonexistent loan modifications and foreclosures.) Or, maybe we could split the focus? Let’s do half health insurance and half Carol Anne’s problem. As long as they’re all up in arms anyway, what do we have to lose?
Where does the economic buck stop? Why is our economy still gasping? Why are people losing their houses in droves? That answer is ridiculously easy for me to answer.
The Banks.
There are 3 ways that the Banks are totally FUBAR'd, and these 3 things are why so many more Americans are going to be sharing that culvert with me.
Let me tell you what I see every single day. Mr. President, I’m going to speak to you the same way that I would talk to my sons, or to a friend – you don’t seem like the type of person that requires beating around the bush. (My husband found a pun in that “beating around the bush” statement, but it was unintended.)
Here’s what’s going on:
THE BANKS ARE REFUSING TO LEND MONEY. I've lost count of the times that a wonderfully qualified buyer has written an offer and tried to get a loan and was turned down by a bank underwriter. Consistently, the underwriter's job is obviously to stall as long as possible and then at the last minute come up some stupid piddly-assed reason why they won't make a good loan.
Our most recent turn-down was because the underwriter decided that the buyer would get "payment shock." This was a great buyer: good credit score, good job, good income, and he desperately wanted to move his wife and son and mentally disabled daughter into that cute home with the nice picket fence. It's not going to happen.
The underwriter denied the loan because this buyer had never made a house payment before and so would go into shock and he would bail when he wrote that first mortgage check. I shit you not - he can’t buy a house now because he's never bought a house before.
I will be happy to show you this file and tons more just like it.
Please, Mr. President, consider for a moment what would have happened if this sale had closed (as it should have) and this buyer had gotten that house. Our buyer would have immediately gone down to Home Depot and spent a couple of thousand dollars on paint and tile and whatever. He would have made his payments on time, plus interest. The Bank would have had that interest money to lend to someone else. The loan originator would have gotten paid and would have been able to pay her bills. I would have gotten paid and then would have been able to pay my bills. I would also have bought a pair of shoes, which I always do when a deal closes, and we probably would have gone out to dinner. Money should have moved, but instead it didn't.
Please ask “Why?”
You're doing a great job with incentives like the up to $8,000 tax credit. However, incentives don't mean a thing if, when we get a buyer off of the fence and they try to buy a house the Banks won't lend, not even to good solid buyers. The government programs to help people to buy all look good on paper, but we're sure not seeing any difference down here in the trenches. The money isn’t moving. Please ask “Why?”
SHORT SALES. A short sale is when a buyer has to sell a home that they can no longer make the payments on. The problem is that they owe more on the property than it will sell for in this market. So, to sell it, we need the Bank to agree to allow the sale - otherwise we can't do it. Mr. President, understand that if the Bank doesn't agree to the short sale then they will eventually foreclose on the property. These are their choices: short sale or foreclose.
The latest numbers are that once it's all said and done it costs a Bank an average of $50,000 to foreclose on a property.
So when I come to a Bank and say, "Hey, Bank. Here's Mr. Seller, who owes you $135,000. I can sell his house for $100,000. If you work with us there’s a shortfall of $35,000. However, if you don't work with us and you foreclose you'll eat $50,000 right off of the top of a house that you also can only sell for $100,000 because you’ve inherited that $35,000 shortfall – it didn’t go away.
In the meantime the house will sit vacant and will deteriorate and then will only sell for $90,000. You, Bank, get to pay commission and closing costs and upkeep and taxes and HOA fees, probably totaling around $10,000.
Do the math. Work with us, lose $35,000. Refuse to work with us, lose the same $35,000 plus the $50,000 plus the estimated $10,000 for vacancy and deterioration plus the $10,000 for commissions and closing costs. The total estimated loss there is $105,000. This is a no-brainer, Bank.”
At this point the Bank should be kissing my toes for offering them the absolute best of 2 bad choices and they should do anything in their power to facilitate this short sale. That’s just good business.
But NO – the Bank drags their feet and jerks everybody around and finally does foreclose, sometimes on the same day that our completed short sale was supposed to close.
Short sales are a nightmare because of the Banks, even though it is absolutely in the Banks' best interest to make a short sale happen. Right now, 4 out of 5 short sales do not close successfully. That figure should be reversed - 4 out of 5 short sales should close. They don't because the Banks refuse to co-operate, which is bad business. What’s up with that? Surely across the board all Banks cannot possibly be that incompetent, can they? Can they really?
President Obama, please ask “WTF?”
LOAN MODIFICATIONS. In my world, anybody and everybody that depends on the housing market is in serious financial trouble. REALTORS®, contractors, plumbers, mortgage brokers, electricians, roofers, excavators, title companies and officers, well drillers, fence guys, lumber companies and their employees, the list goes on and on into infinity. You know the list. Add to this list the elderly that expected social security and their IRAs and 401K’s to keep them secure in their old age – they’re losing their homes, too.
It's not even remarkable anymore that someone has lost a home or has filed bankruptcy - we even talk about who’s the cheapest bankruptcy attorney and which is better for selling your stuff, eBay or Craig's List? I'm telling you about good, responsible, hard-working people whose source of income has dried up, just like when a spigot gets turned off.
All of these people used to spend money and keep the economy moving. We now have no money to spend, and so the businesses that depended on us are folding, too. Nobody is traveling and so the tourists aren’t coming, either.
Restaurants, clothing stores, jewelry stores, car dealerships and their employees, life and health insurance companies, art galleries………… I can stop here – you know the myriad types of businesses. They’re all either in a world of hurt or belly up because the money isn’t moving.
This results in severe loss of sales tax for the cities and counties, and now they don’t have the resources to deal with the onslaught of the newly homeless.
People call their REALTOR® for advice and we tell them to talk to their mortgage companies and say, "Hey, Bank. I can see what’s coming. Sometime in the near future I won’t be able to make my payment. It’s going to happen - talk to me, please. What can we do?" The Bank says, "We won't have a thing to do with you until you're in foreclosure."
Well, OK, if you insist. Like there was a choice, right?
They miss the required 3 payments so that they can go into foreclosure as instructed, and then the Bank says, "Look – you’ve missed 3 payments and so now we won't talk to you some more – you’re a bad risk. We're just going to take your house. Get out."
In the meantime, since these people are more than 30 and then 60 and then 90 days late on their mortgage, some sort of alarm gets tripped and the Banks who hold their credit cards raise their interest rate from 6% to 29%. The Banks also lower their limit to the point that now they’re "over limit" even though they weren't when they used the money and that trips more alarms and that's a big help now, isn't it? (I swear on my mother's grave that I'm not making this up – even George Orwell couldn’t make this up. The Banks can and they do do this, thousands of times every day.)
Remember about short sales, above, that it costs around $50,000 for a Bank to repossess a property? OK, what's the best option here? Work with the homeowners and give the economy a chance, or kick them out? Apparently it's "Kick 'em out!" because that's what's happening.
Mr. President, I know that your administration has instituted a ton of programs to induce the Banks to modify their client’s loans. What are the numbers? Out of the tens of thousands of foreclosures that have been filed and/or completed, how many were modified? I guarantee you that the number of homeowners who have been “worked with” by the Banks is horrifyingly miniscule.
Mr. President, please ask “How many?”
The Banks will tell you that “They’re trying!” No, Mr. President, they’re not trying. They’re stalling, they’re jacking people around, they’re asking for increasingly ludicrous documentation, they’re pretending that they don’t want to put Americans out on the street and then they’re doing it, over and over and over again. It just doesn’t make sense – it’s lunacy.
Mr. President, Please ask “Why?”
OK, so I’m full of what’s wrong, but what’s the solution? I don’t know. That’s your job, Mr. President, and I’m praying for you.
I write this letter with the hope that maybe it just hasn’t been made clear to you what’s happening to your citizens down here on the streets of America, or why and how it’s happening. I write this letter with the hope that whoever reads it will get it to you and to the people who can help you to figure out how to change this nightmare. I write with the hope that you won’t pussy-foot. I write with the hope that you’ll ask “Why?” and then go smack somebody around.
Best wishes,
Carol Anne Warren, REALTOR®
Associate Broker, Arizona Adobe Group Realty
918 North Main Street, #A
Cottonwood, Arizona, 86326
928.300.9031
carolanne@adobegr.net
www.cottonwoodrealestate.net
President Barack Obama
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Obama:
Great speech to the kids yesterday!
I'm sure that letters from citizens can't go directly to you - you're only one man, and certainly you get more letters and email than 100 Presidents could read in one day. I hope that this one gets through the screening process.
My husband and I are both real estate brokers in Cottonwood, Arizona.
I don't for one second think that I know more about economics than all of the high-powered advisers in their shiny ivory towers that work for the United States government. I do, however, know what's going on in Cottonwood. I know why our economy is so horrible, and it’s one very simple finger that I have to point.President Obama, I'm proud of you for trying to get a coherent health care plan in place. I agree that it's desperately needed. However, I think that you're putting the cart before the horse. It's great to have a good health care plan, but I'm not going to worry much about my cholesterol when I'm homeless. Long-term health problems like cancer or thyroid imbalance or a heart murmur don't much concern me if I live in the culvert under the highway.
We need to deal with the homeless, and we need to deal with the certainty of millions of newly homeless before we get to health insurance. Excuse me, but that's where your attention needs to be – first things first and all. Besides, if the money isn’t moving there will be no income to pay taxes on and health insurance will be impossible to fund. (Don’t worry - I’ll tell you about the newly homeless in a minute, when we talk about nonexistent loan modifications and foreclosures.) Or, maybe we could split the focus? Let’s do half health insurance and half Carol Anne’s problem. As long as they’re all up in arms anyway, what do we have to lose?
Where does the economic buck stop? Why is our economy still gasping? Why are people losing their houses in droves? That answer is ridiculously easy for me to answer.
The Banks.
There are 3 ways that the Banks are totally FUBAR'd, and these 3 things are why so many more Americans are going to be sharing that culvert with me.
Let me tell you what I see every single day. Mr. President, I’m going to speak to you the same way that I would talk to my sons, or to a friend – you don’t seem like the type of person that requires beating around the bush. (My husband found a pun in that “beating around the bush” statement, but it was unintended.)
Here’s what’s going on:
THE BANKS ARE REFUSING TO LEND MONEY. I've lost count of the times that a wonderfully qualified buyer has written an offer and tried to get a loan and was turned down by a bank underwriter. Consistently, the underwriter's job is obviously to stall as long as possible and then at the last minute come up some stupid piddly-assed reason why they won't make a good loan.
Our most recent turn-down was because the underwriter decided that the buyer would get "payment shock." This was a great buyer: good credit score, good job, good income, and he desperately wanted to move his wife and son and mentally disabled daughter into that cute home with the nice picket fence. It's not going to happen.
The underwriter denied the loan because this buyer had never made a house payment before and so would go into shock and he would bail when he wrote that first mortgage check. I shit you not - he can’t buy a house now because he's never bought a house before.
I will be happy to show you this file and tons more just like it.
Please, Mr. President, consider for a moment what would have happened if this sale had closed (as it should have) and this buyer had gotten that house. Our buyer would have immediately gone down to Home Depot and spent a couple of thousand dollars on paint and tile and whatever. He would have made his payments on time, plus interest. The Bank would have had that interest money to lend to someone else. The loan originator would have gotten paid and would have been able to pay her bills. I would have gotten paid and then would have been able to pay my bills. I would also have bought a pair of shoes, which I always do when a deal closes, and we probably would have gone out to dinner. Money should have moved, but instead it didn't.
Please ask “Why?”
You're doing a great job with incentives like the up to $8,000 tax credit. However, incentives don't mean a thing if, when we get a buyer off of the fence and they try to buy a house the Banks won't lend, not even to good solid buyers. The government programs to help people to buy all look good on paper, but we're sure not seeing any difference down here in the trenches. The money isn’t moving. Please ask “Why?”
SHORT SALES. A short sale is when a buyer has to sell a home that they can no longer make the payments on. The problem is that they owe more on the property than it will sell for in this market. So, to sell it, we need the Bank to agree to allow the sale - otherwise we can't do it. Mr. President, understand that if the Bank doesn't agree to the short sale then they will eventually foreclose on the property. These are their choices: short sale or foreclose.
The latest numbers are that once it's all said and done it costs a Bank an average of $50,000 to foreclose on a property.
So when I come to a Bank and say, "Hey, Bank. Here's Mr. Seller, who owes you $135,000. I can sell his house for $100,000. If you work with us there’s a shortfall of $35,000. However, if you don't work with us and you foreclose you'll eat $50,000 right off of the top of a house that you also can only sell for $100,000 because you’ve inherited that $35,000 shortfall – it didn’t go away.
In the meantime the house will sit vacant and will deteriorate and then will only sell for $90,000. You, Bank, get to pay commission and closing costs and upkeep and taxes and HOA fees, probably totaling around $10,000.
Do the math. Work with us, lose $35,000. Refuse to work with us, lose the same $35,000 plus the $50,000 plus the estimated $10,000 for vacancy and deterioration plus the $10,000 for commissions and closing costs. The total estimated loss there is $105,000. This is a no-brainer, Bank.”
At this point the Bank should be kissing my toes for offering them the absolute best of 2 bad choices and they should do anything in their power to facilitate this short sale. That’s just good business.
But NO – the Bank drags their feet and jerks everybody around and finally does foreclose, sometimes on the same day that our completed short sale was supposed to close.
Short sales are a nightmare because of the Banks, even though it is absolutely in the Banks' best interest to make a short sale happen. Right now, 4 out of 5 short sales do not close successfully. That figure should be reversed - 4 out of 5 short sales should close. They don't because the Banks refuse to co-operate, which is bad business. What’s up with that? Surely across the board all Banks cannot possibly be that incompetent, can they? Can they really?
President Obama, please ask “WTF?”
LOAN MODIFICATIONS. In my world, anybody and everybody that depends on the housing market is in serious financial trouble. REALTORS®, contractors, plumbers, mortgage brokers, electricians, roofers, excavators, title companies and officers, well drillers, fence guys, lumber companies and their employees, the list goes on and on into infinity. You know the list. Add to this list the elderly that expected social security and their IRAs and 401K’s to keep them secure in their old age – they’re losing their homes, too.
It's not even remarkable anymore that someone has lost a home or has filed bankruptcy - we even talk about who’s the cheapest bankruptcy attorney and which is better for selling your stuff, eBay or Craig's List? I'm telling you about good, responsible, hard-working people whose source of income has dried up, just like when a spigot gets turned off.
All of these people used to spend money and keep the economy moving. We now have no money to spend, and so the businesses that depended on us are folding, too. Nobody is traveling and so the tourists aren’t coming, either.
Restaurants, clothing stores, jewelry stores, car dealerships and their employees, life and health insurance companies, art galleries………… I can stop here – you know the myriad types of businesses. They’re all either in a world of hurt or belly up because the money isn’t moving.
This results in severe loss of sales tax for the cities and counties, and now they don’t have the resources to deal with the onslaught of the newly homeless.
People call their REALTOR® for advice and we tell them to talk to their mortgage companies and say, "Hey, Bank. I can see what’s coming. Sometime in the near future I won’t be able to make my payment. It’s going to happen - talk to me, please. What can we do?" The Bank says, "We won't have a thing to do with you until you're in foreclosure."
Well, OK, if you insist. Like there was a choice, right?
They miss the required 3 payments so that they can go into foreclosure as instructed, and then the Bank says, "Look – you’ve missed 3 payments and so now we won't talk to you some more – you’re a bad risk. We're just going to take your house. Get out."
In the meantime, since these people are more than 30 and then 60 and then 90 days late on their mortgage, some sort of alarm gets tripped and the Banks who hold their credit cards raise their interest rate from 6% to 29%. The Banks also lower their limit to the point that now they’re "over limit" even though they weren't when they used the money and that trips more alarms and that's a big help now, isn't it? (I swear on my mother's grave that I'm not making this up – even George Orwell couldn’t make this up. The Banks can and they do do this, thousands of times every day.)
Remember about short sales, above, that it costs around $50,000 for a Bank to repossess a property? OK, what's the best option here? Work with the homeowners and give the economy a chance, or kick them out? Apparently it's "Kick 'em out!" because that's what's happening.
Mr. President, I know that your administration has instituted a ton of programs to induce the Banks to modify their client’s loans. What are the numbers? Out of the tens of thousands of foreclosures that have been filed and/or completed, how many were modified? I guarantee you that the number of homeowners who have been “worked with” by the Banks is horrifyingly miniscule.
Mr. President, please ask “How many?”
The Banks will tell you that “They’re trying!” No, Mr. President, they’re not trying. They’re stalling, they’re jacking people around, they’re asking for increasingly ludicrous documentation, they’re pretending that they don’t want to put Americans out on the street and then they’re doing it, over and over and over again. It just doesn’t make sense – it’s lunacy.
Mr. President, Please ask “Why?”
OK, so I’m full of what’s wrong, but what’s the solution? I don’t know. That’s your job, Mr. President, and I’m praying for you.
I write this letter with the hope that maybe it just hasn’t been made clear to you what’s happening to your citizens down here on the streets of America, or why and how it’s happening. I write this letter with the hope that whoever reads it will get it to you and to the people who can help you to figure out how to change this nightmare. I write with the hope that you won’t pussy-foot. I write with the hope that you’ll ask “Why?” and then go smack somebody around.
Best wishes,
Carol Anne Warren, REALTOR®
Associate Broker, Arizona Adobe Group Realty
918 North Main Street, #A
Cottonwood, Arizona, 86326
928.300.9031
carolanne@adobegr.net
www.cottonwoodrealestate.net
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Q: “I KEEP HEARING ABOUT THIS UP TO $8,000 TAX CREDIT IF I BUY A HOUSE. WHAT’S UP WITH THAT?”
CAROL ANNE: If you have not been on the title on a home for more than 3 years, if you make less than $75,000 for a single person or $150,000 as a couple, if you buy in the United States and close escrow before December 1, 2009, you’re probably eligible for the $8,000 credit.
Q: “DOES IT WORK FOR CONDOS OR MANUFACTURED HOMES OR CO-OPS OR TOWNHOUSES?”
CAROL ANNE: Yes, and sometimes even houseboats. Talk to your accountant or check it out at ww.irs.gov.
Q: “BUT I WON’T OWE $8,000 WHEN I FILE MY TAXES – I’M PROBABLY GETTING A REFUND. IS THIS $8,000 ANY GOOD TO ME?”
CAROL ANNE: Yes, it is. This is the cool part! If you don’t owe so much, then the IRS will cut you a check for the balance. For instance, if you owe no taxes, the IRS will send you the full $8,000 when you file plus whatever refund you’ve got coming. Them, say, if you owe $2,000 on your 2009 taxes, then you won’t pay the $2,000 and you’ll get a check for $6,000. Pretty sweet, isn’t it? Make sure that your tax guy knows to claim it for you.
Q: “SO IF I QUALIFY, I CAN BUY A $20,000 LOT WITH A "P.O.S." SHACK ON IT AND GET A TAX CREDIT OF $8,000?”
CAROL ANNE: That’s a good plan, but no. First of all, you have to claim this property as your principal residence, so you have to live there at least 51% of the time. Second, the tax credit is $8,000 OR 10% of the purchase price, whichever is less. If you bought this shack for 20 grand then your tax credit would be $2,000.
Q: “CAN I USE THIS $8,000 AS PART OF MY DOWN PAYMENT?”
CAROL ANNE: Probably not. We’ve heard of a few lenders that tried and one or two said that they succeeded, but we’re not hearing anybody saying that they can use the credit it towards the down payment anymore. If you find somebody, let us know, please.
Q: “DO I HAVE TO FILL OUT PAPERWORK AND GET APPROVED FOR THIS, TOO?“
CAROL ANNE: Nope. Assuming that you fit all of the parameters, just close escrow before December 1, 2009 and remember to tell your accountant to claim it on the new IRS form 5405.
Q: “DO I EVER HAVE TO PAY IT BACK?”
CAROL ANNE: Only in one situation: they call it the anti-flipping rule. If you sell the house before you’ve owned it for three years then the $8,000 must be paid back.
Q: MY WIFE AND I WILL BE CLAIMING INCOME OF $150,000 AND 1 DOLLAR. DOES THIS MEAN THAT WE’RE NOT ELIGIBLE FOR THE TAX CREDIT?
CAROL ANNE: No, you’re OK. If people go over the allowed limits there’s a nifty formula so that you can get at least a portion of the $8,000. It’s only when a single person makes over $95,000 or a couple makes over $170,000 that they’re totally out of luck. Talk to your accountant or the IRS.
Q: SO WHAT DO I DO NOW?
CAROL ANNE: CALL ME! 928.300.9031. December 1st is just around the corner!
CAROL ANNE: If you have not been on the title on a home for more than 3 years, if you make less than $75,000 for a single person or $150,000 as a couple, if you buy in the United States and close escrow before December 1, 2009, you’re probably eligible for the $8,000 credit.
Q: “DOES IT WORK FOR CONDOS OR MANUFACTURED HOMES OR CO-OPS OR TOWNHOUSES?”
CAROL ANNE: Yes, and sometimes even houseboats. Talk to your accountant or check it out at ww.irs.gov.
Q: “BUT I WON’T OWE $8,000 WHEN I FILE MY TAXES – I’M PROBABLY GETTING A REFUND. IS THIS $8,000 ANY GOOD TO ME?”
CAROL ANNE: Yes, it is. This is the cool part! If you don’t owe so much, then the IRS will cut you a check for the balance. For instance, if you owe no taxes, the IRS will send you the full $8,000 when you file plus whatever refund you’ve got coming. Them, say, if you owe $2,000 on your 2009 taxes, then you won’t pay the $2,000 and you’ll get a check for $6,000. Pretty sweet, isn’t it? Make sure that your tax guy knows to claim it for you.
Q: “SO IF I QUALIFY, I CAN BUY A $20,000 LOT WITH A "P.O.S." SHACK ON IT AND GET A TAX CREDIT OF $8,000?”
CAROL ANNE: That’s a good plan, but no. First of all, you have to claim this property as your principal residence, so you have to live there at least 51% of the time. Second, the tax credit is $8,000 OR 10% of the purchase price, whichever is less. If you bought this shack for 20 grand then your tax credit would be $2,000.
Q: “CAN I USE THIS $8,000 AS PART OF MY DOWN PAYMENT?”
CAROL ANNE: Probably not. We’ve heard of a few lenders that tried and one or two said that they succeeded, but we’re not hearing anybody saying that they can use the credit it towards the down payment anymore. If you find somebody, let us know, please.
Q: “DO I HAVE TO FILL OUT PAPERWORK AND GET APPROVED FOR THIS, TOO?“
CAROL ANNE: Nope. Assuming that you fit all of the parameters, just close escrow before December 1, 2009 and remember to tell your accountant to claim it on the new IRS form 5405.
Q: “DO I EVER HAVE TO PAY IT BACK?”
CAROL ANNE: Only in one situation: they call it the anti-flipping rule. If you sell the house before you’ve owned it for three years then the $8,000 must be paid back.
Q: MY WIFE AND I WILL BE CLAIMING INCOME OF $150,000 AND 1 DOLLAR. DOES THIS MEAN THAT WE’RE NOT ELIGIBLE FOR THE TAX CREDIT?
CAROL ANNE: No, you’re OK. If people go over the allowed limits there’s a nifty formula so that you can get at least a portion of the $8,000. It’s only when a single person makes over $95,000 or a couple makes over $170,000 that they’re totally out of luck. Talk to your accountant or the IRS.
Q: SO WHAT DO I DO NOW?
CAROL ANNE: CALL ME! 928.300.9031. December 1st is just around the corner!
Monday, August 31, 2009
Yesterday was Mike's and my 6th anniversary. He wanted breakfast at the Jerome Grille, and then said that we would do whatever I wanted.
I remembered him saying a long time ago that he knew where there were some Indian ruins - they're protected but you're allowed to walk to them. This is what I want to do!
Mike (being the perpetual voice of reason) pointed out that Arizona is having record heat for this time in August, the humidity is up, we've just eaten a heavy breakfast and this plan of mine is not a good one.
But I am stubborn and I've got an idea in my head and I insist.
So about noon we get to the hill that we need to hike up. When I say "up" I mean UP with capital letters. It's about 2 miles of rocky bad trail, the grade is at least 30% and it's 105 degrees and there is no shade.
Did I mention that I am stubborn and I've got an idea in my head and I stamp my little feet and insist? Mike shakes his head and shoulders his bag and we head up.
Neither one of us is having much fun, but I'm seeing random pieces of pottery and every time I look up it seems as though the summit where the ruins are is Right There. We forge ahead, sweating a lot and cussing occasionally, Mike asking once again if I don't think it's time to turn back because this is stupid - we can come back some other day. Since this story continues you know what my answer was - if I'd been smart and agreed to turn back it would end right here.
Now, I was born and raised in Arizona and I know full well the dangers of this place. However, I seem to have been made with a deficient sense of self-preservation. I have no fear of snakes or scorpions or spiders (centipedes totally creep me out and I got treed by a herd of javelina once) and for God's sake I could see our house from where we were. What's the worst that can happen?
We trudge some more and finally get to the top - there's the ruins. It's hot. It's damn hot. There are no trees up here, just one sad little juniper and a few crucifixion thorns.
I'm not sweating anymore, which is a very bad sign. I have a headache, my hands are shaking and I'm confused. I go to the edge of the cliff to see how close the creek is and wobble. Mike sees this and realizes that I'm in trouble and steers me over to a miniscule patch of shade under a crucifixion thorn and makes me sit.
I'd been giving Mike a hard time about this bag that he's carrying. He's been grunting and cussing at it since the first step, and I'd suggested leaving it at the side of the trail repeatedly. Now, bless the man, he pulls from this bag a bottle of ice water and makes me drink it - all of it. Then he pulls out another bottle of ice water and dumps it over my head. Then he pulls out another bottle of ice water and makes me drink that one, too. Then he pulls out a beer and he drinks that.
I'm scared. Mike is really scared - we still have to get down and he's not sure how to accomplish that, what with me needing shade and being stumbly. Mike mentions calling the rescue chopper, but I'm coherent enough to be horrified at that idea, at the embarrassment and expense. (Mostly the embarrassment. When I see people who have to be rescued, I always call them Boneheads and ask "Well, what did they think was going to happen, going for a little stroll at high noon on the hottest day yet in August? Nimrods.")
Mike thought about calling our friend Brain and having him come get us in his WallCrawlerJeep. To do that Brain would have to knock down the locked gate and drive up the protected trail and risk a $10,000 fine. Brain would do it in a minute if Mike called, but this did not seem like a viable option to me.
In the end we didn't have to do anything. The shade and water worked and after about an hour I got up and walked down to the trail head and we went home. I took a long nap and was just fine.
My point in writing all this is to remind us all that even though it's almost Fall, even though you're close to home, even though you're competent and comfortable in this country, it can be lethal. Human beings are not constructed to stroll around in this sort of heat. Thank goodness Mike was smarter than me and came prepared. Thank God I didn't take it into my head to go up there alone, which was a possibility.
Happy Anniversary, and be safe up there.
I remembered him saying a long time ago that he knew where there were some Indian ruins - they're protected but you're allowed to walk to them. This is what I want to do!
Mike (being the perpetual voice of reason) pointed out that Arizona is having record heat for this time in August, the humidity is up, we've just eaten a heavy breakfast and this plan of mine is not a good one.
But I am stubborn and I've got an idea in my head and I insist.
So about noon we get to the hill that we need to hike up. When I say "up" I mean UP with capital letters. It's about 2 miles of rocky bad trail, the grade is at least 30% and it's 105 degrees and there is no shade.
Did I mention that I am stubborn and I've got an idea in my head and I stamp my little feet and insist? Mike shakes his head and shoulders his bag and we head up.
Neither one of us is having much fun, but I'm seeing random pieces of pottery and every time I look up it seems as though the summit where the ruins are is Right There. We forge ahead, sweating a lot and cussing occasionally, Mike asking once again if I don't think it's time to turn back because this is stupid - we can come back some other day. Since this story continues you know what my answer was - if I'd been smart and agreed to turn back it would end right here.
Now, I was born and raised in Arizona and I know full well the dangers of this place. However, I seem to have been made with a deficient sense of self-preservation. I have no fear of snakes or scorpions or spiders (centipedes totally creep me out and I got treed by a herd of javelina once) and for God's sake I could see our house from where we were. What's the worst that can happen?
We trudge some more and finally get to the top - there's the ruins. It's hot. It's damn hot. There are no trees up here, just one sad little juniper and a few crucifixion thorns.
I'm not sweating anymore, which is a very bad sign. I have a headache, my hands are shaking and I'm confused. I go to the edge of the cliff to see how close the creek is and wobble. Mike sees this and realizes that I'm in trouble and steers me over to a miniscule patch of shade under a crucifixion thorn and makes me sit.
I'd been giving Mike a hard time about this bag that he's carrying. He's been grunting and cussing at it since the first step, and I'd suggested leaving it at the side of the trail repeatedly. Now, bless the man, he pulls from this bag a bottle of ice water and makes me drink it - all of it. Then he pulls out another bottle of ice water and dumps it over my head. Then he pulls out another bottle of ice water and makes me drink that one, too. Then he pulls out a beer and he drinks that.
I'm scared. Mike is really scared - we still have to get down and he's not sure how to accomplish that, what with me needing shade and being stumbly. Mike mentions calling the rescue chopper, but I'm coherent enough to be horrified at that idea, at the embarrassment and expense. (Mostly the embarrassment. When I see people who have to be rescued, I always call them Boneheads and ask "Well, what did they think was going to happen, going for a little stroll at high noon on the hottest day yet in August? Nimrods.")
Mike thought about calling our friend Brain and having him come get us in his WallCrawlerJeep. To do that Brain would have to knock down the locked gate and drive up the protected trail and risk a $10,000 fine. Brain would do it in a minute if Mike called, but this did not seem like a viable option to me.
In the end we didn't have to do anything. The shade and water worked and after about an hour I got up and walked down to the trail head and we went home. I took a long nap and was just fine.
My point in writing all this is to remind us all that even though it's almost Fall, even though you're close to home, even though you're competent and comfortable in this country, it can be lethal. Human beings are not constructed to stroll around in this sort of heat. Thank goodness Mike was smarter than me and came prepared. Thank God I didn't take it into my head to go up there alone, which was a possibility.
Happy Anniversary, and be safe up there.
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