I am sure you all are aware of Hurricane Katrina, yes, that’s right, the awful mess we all saw unfold on national TV. I was astounded that a disaster so atrocious could be happening in our great country. Well, believe it or not, we are going to feel its effect all the way out here in the Pacific…and years later. What do I mean? Well, ever since those levees in New Orleans broke, the government is determined not to let that happen again. To ensure that cities, counties and towns take action, every levee in the country must be accredited or re-accredited by February 1, 2010. If a levee is not accredited, then flood maps will be redrawn and affected areas re-zoned. We have ten such levees here in Hawaii, but none will have a greater affect on its surrounding residents than the Kawainui Marsh Levee in Kailua. Here’s the bottom line, if this Levee is not certified in time, the whole Coconut Grove area of Kailua will be re-zoned to the highest risk flood zone and flood insurance will be required by lenders on any financed house in that area.
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Remember a few years back when Google Maps launched their ambitious new satellite tool that allowed you to see what your home looks like from space? If you thought that was impressive, wait until you see what Google just released for the Hawaii market; a tool called Street View. Street View allows you to see what a property looks like at street level, right from your computer screen. In addition, with the click of a few arrows, Street View allows you to move up and down that street as if you were taking a stroll in the neighborhood.
As you can imagine, this new feature, which which has been available in other mainland and foreign markets but only available in Hawaii as of last Monday, has major implications for home buyers scouting out their upcoming home purchase. There are already great web services that provide online MLS listings for Hawaii, but the pictures used in these applications are images provided by the listing agent as well as an aerial view supplied by online map provider such as Google or Microsoft. Now the aerial views are great, but it doesn’t give you the “curb appeal” of a particular property and you can bet the seller’s agent will only show images that display the property in the best possible angles which could be deceiving.
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Hooray! Last week, Congress passed and Obama signed the new Homebuyer Tax Credit into Law. Not only is it an extension of the $8000 first-time homebuyer tax credit, but it also adds a $6500 tax credit for repeat/move-up homebuyers.
This new version of the tax credit is part of The Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009, and extends the credits through purchase contracts dated April 30, 2010 or prior; however, the transactions must close by June 30, 2010.
Here’s a quick summary of the new version of the tax credit:
As Veterans Day approaches, the team at Hawaii VA Loans would like to say Thank You to all the service men and women who currently serve or have served in our armed forces. We all owe a debt of gratitude for your service to our country.
If you’re anything like me, you’ve been hearing about the declining dollar everywhere. I was even in McDonald’s last weekend and it was on TV there. What happened to good old American football on a Sunday morning? Talk about the declining dollar is on the radio when I drive into work…and when I drive home. Sometimes, I feel like I’m listening to chicken little (of course sometimes I think I should just turn on some music). That got me to thinking, “is the sky really falling?” So, I did some investigating.
Here’s what I found out:
There can be good and bad implications of the falling dollar, I guess it all depends on your perspective, or the rules of economics (whatever they may be…).
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Hawaii VA Loans had the opportunity to support a two great causes on September 26th, when it co-sponsored the fourth annual, “Fight Gone Bad” event held at Crossfit Oahu. The proceeds from this event benefited the The Wounded Warriors Project & Athletes for a Cure.
With our main mission of educating Veterans about their VA Loan benefits, it just seemed right to be apart of helping a great charity like the Wounded Warriors Project. The whole purpose behind the Wounded Warriors Project is help wounded and disabled soldiers coming home from Iraq & Afghanistan. With the funds raised by this charity, the Wounded Warriors Project has the ability to “raise public awareness about their needs, to help wounded warriors help each other, and to deliver unique programs to ensure that this is the most successful, well adjusted generation of wounded veterans in our history.”
Hawaii VA Loans was honored to support this event by giving a monetary donation as well as donating bottled water to all the participants who did the “Fight Gone Bad” workout.
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Earlier this year Congress & President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. This bill, enacted to help stimulate the battered economy, included a tax credit of up to $8,000 for First-Time Homebuyers, replacing the old $7,500 tax rebate program.
According to industry reports, first-time homebuyers now account for more than one-half of all home sales. It’s obvious that this tax-credit, as well as historically low interest rates, are providing huge incentives to potential home buyers who were previously sitting on the fence to now make a move. In addition, those who were not interested in buying a home in this market, are seriously reconsidering with these new incentives dangling in their face.
Now before you rush out and start applying for a mortgage loan, here are 5 important things to know about this $8,000 First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit:
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Let’s start off by clarifying that a condo is not an “apartment” building. Apartment buildings are multi-unit buildings owned by one entity with units that are rented out. A condominium or “condo” for short is a way of owning property. Condos often resemble apartments in the sense that they can be similar in physical appearance. Especially in cities, they are often multi-story buildings that contain many units. The difference is that each unit in a condo is individually owned. Of course, a building is composed of more than just the units. Sometimes there is a pool, lobby, lawn or some other common area. Each unit owner has a proportionate interest in the common areas. For example, if there is a condo with 100 identically sized units, a pool, barbecue area and lobby, each unit owner owns a 1% interest in all of those elements as well as the walls of the building, elevators, etc…
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While we enjoy the holiday that is Veterans Day, we here at HawaiiVAloans.com would like to take the time to reflect and say Thank You to all those Veterans who have served our country and help preserve our freedom.
Little known facts about Veterans Day
Veterans Day actually started off as Armistice Day which recognized the end of World War I when the Armistice Treaty was signed on November 11th, 1918 between the Allies and Germany. While “Armistice Day” did not officially become a legal holiday until 1938 – it wasn’t until 1954 – thanks to the campaigning of a shoe store owner from Kansas, was the holiday official renamed “Veterans Day”.
From Wikipedia:
In 1953, an Emporia, Kansas, shoe store owner named Al King had the idea to expand Armistice Day to celebrate all veterans, not just those who served in World War I. King had been actively involved with the American War Dads during World War II. He began a campaign to turn Armistice Day into “All” Veterans Day. The Emporia Chamber of Commerce took up the cause after determining that 90% of Emporia merchants as well as the Board of Education supported closing their doors on November 11, 1953, to honor veterans. With the help of then-U.S. Rep. Ed Rees, also from Emporia, a bill for the holiday was pushed through Congress. President Dwight Eisenhower signed it into law on May 26, 1954. Congress amended this act on November 8, 1954, replacing “Armistice” with Veterans, and it has been known as Veterans Day since.
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