All Blog Entries by Hamid Grinage 
There are currently 131 blog entries published by Hamid Grinage.
Short Sale Debt Cancellation Set to Go Away
Wednesday, April 11th, 2012 at 1:25pm. 85 Views, 0 Comments.
Originally, when you did a short sale you were taxed on the amount that you were forgiven by the lender. This was a serious downside to doing a short sale because it could leave you with a large tax bill. For example, if you bought a house for $500k, still owe $450k and it's now worth $250k in the current market then doing a short sale means that you would be forgiven $200k by the lender (assuming it sold for 250k) The IRS looks at the forgiven $200k as "Imputable" income which is subject to normal tax rates. But in 2007 when short sales really took off, Congress passed a provision that allowed homeowners to exclude forgiven debt on their income taxes. This was much needed, as short sales have been and continue to be a huge part of the market and will be…
Changes To FHA Mortgage Insurance Premium
Wednesday, March 7th, 2012 at 11:33am. 365 Views, 0 Comments.
The Federal Housing Administration recently announced an increase in the upfront Mortgage Insurance Premium. Mortgage insurance is required with FHA financing, and it used to be that 1% was required up front to purchase it. The amount required up front is now 1.75%, so that's an increase of 75%. This means you need that much more cash to bring to the table when purchasing real estate in Oakland or anywhere else for that matter.
New Sewer Lateral Ordinance for Oakland Real Estate
Tuesday, February 21st, 2012 at 4:46pm. 1010 Views, 0 Comments.
As of January 16th of this year, Oakland now has a city wide sewer lateral ordinance that affects the sale of all Single Family homes in Oakland. Similiar to Berkeley and Alameda (which already had sewer ordinances) real estate transactions in Oakland will require a certifcate of clearance prior to the close of escrow. The ordinance applies to:
1. Any transfer of title
2. A remodel which exceeds 100k in value
3. The installation of an updgraded main water supply line
It is not the buyers or sellers responsibility to pay, that must now be negotiated unless the seller already has it done. This applies to short sales and foreclosures as well, so it's something to keep in mind when making an offer these days. If the work isn't done prior to escrow, then…
Oakland's Brookdale Park Gets a Facelift
Thursday, January 26th, 2012 at 2:55pm. 1058 Views, 0 Comments.
Brookdale Park is at the corner of High st and Brookdale avenue in Oakland. This park brings back memories..I grew up not far from it and spend a lot of time there as a kid. As we kick off the new year, I'm glad to see it getting rehabilitated. Years ago the basketball courts were redone and adorned in Golden State Warriors Logos, which was great. Since then the park has been on the decline.. but this morning I drove by and noticed the lush new grass and baseball diamond. Workers were busy erecting the new back stop and it really is starting to come together. Kudos to the Parks and Rec department in Oakland for doing these projects in the midst of all the cutbacks.
Mortgage Credit Certificate Program for Alameda County
Wednesday, December 14th, 2011 at 11:57am. 2009 Views, 0 Comments.
If you are a first time home buyer with an annual income of less than $82,200, then you may be eligible for an MCC or Mortgage Credit Certificate. The MCC allows you to take 15% of the annual interest on your mortgage as a dollar for dollar tax credit against your Federal income taxes.
For example, if you are a home owner with a 30 year mortgage of $300,000 at a 7% fixed rate then you would pay $20,900 in interest payments the first year of the mortgage. With the MCC, 15% of that ($3,135) could be taken as a tax credit. In turn this will help you pay your mortgage because you will get a credit at the end of the year toward the payments you have already made. So this is a great program to take advantage of if you qualify, and I'm sure that there are many…
AB29-Annual Firefighting Fee
Friday, December 2nd, 2011 at 1:37pm. 1216 Views, 0 Comments.
If your home is in a designated wildland fire area, there is a new $150.00 annual fee that will be assessed to you to help pay for fire prevention services. There is a lot of real estate in Oakland and the the rest of the East Bay that are in high fire areas, and homeowners in these areas already pay a supplemental tax to pay for fire services. This new annual fee will be in addition to any special assesments that already exist for a particular area.
New Tax on Investment Real Estate Coming in 2013
Thursday, October 20th, 2011 at 3:09pm. 1973 Views, 0 Comments.
Starting in 2013, if your adjusted gross income is over $200k then you will be subject to a new 3.8% tax on certain kinds of income including real estate rental income and profit from the sale of real estate. The three areas that the tax will have an impact on are:
-income from interest
-dividends, rental income (less expenses); and,
-capital gains (less capital losses) including capital gains from real estate sales, stocks, bonds and other securities.
The tax will apply to the lesser of:
1. Investment income amount or
2. Excess of AGI over the $200,000 or $250,000(for couples) amount.
FHA Loan Limits to Change
Wednesday, September 21st, 2011 at 6:25pm. 3348 Views, 0 Comments.
If you happen to be a buyer who plans to buy a higher end home with Fha financing, you should be aware that at the end of the month, the maximum allowable purchase price for Fha will drop from $735,000 to $625,000. So basically this will affect anyone who is approved for Fha financing and looking for a home above $625k, taking about 100k of purchasing power away. There are efforts underway in Washington to leave the limit in place, however no one knows if it will be enough. The government wants to shrink Fha's share of the marketplace, and over the next several years look for more and more changes to Fha financing as the country looks to find more private money to fund home purchases.
Local Oakland Can Be Useful
Thursday, August 18th, 2011 at 2:47pm. 26511 Views, 1 Comments.
I found a directory that has a lot of useful links to all things/services in Oakland and I though I would pass it on. Check out there link here:
Local Oakland Directory - Covering the California topics of arts, business, community, computers, culture, economy, entertainment, family, fitness, health, home, information, internet, real estate, recreation, reference, shopping, sports, technology, transportation, travel and more.
New Carbon Monoxide Detector Law for California
Wednesday, August 10th, 2011 at 12:30pm. 53712 Views, 1 Comments.
There is a new Health and Safety code section (17926 (a)) which relates to the installation of Carbon Monoxide detector devices inside the home. This applies to all single family homes from July 1, 2011. Condominiums and Townhomes have until Jan 1, 2013 to comply.
So if you are a considering selling your home anytime soon, you should be aware that by law you need to have the detectors installed. The law says that the devices should be installed "outside of each separate sleeping area in the immediate vicinity of the bedroom(s) in dwelling units and on every level including basements within which fuel-fired appliances are installed and in dwelling units that have attached garages".
Short Sale Debt Cancellation Set to Go Away
Originally, when you did a short sale you were taxed on the amount that you were forgiven by the lender. This was a seri... Add Comment Read MoreChanges To FHA Mortgage Insurance Premium
The Federal Housing Administration recently announced an increase in the upfront Mortgage Insurance Premium. Mortgage insuran... 4Comments Read MoreNew Sewer Lateral Ordinance for Oakland Real Estate
As of January 16th of this year, Oakland now has a city wide sewer lateral ordinance that affects the sale of all Single Fami... 1Comments Read More
