30. May 2007 by Ana Connell.

A 1031 Exchange can be a very useful tool for the property owner who wants to defer capital gains on the sale of a real estate property.

Recently the Wall Street Journal and today Realtor Magazine had a great article about investors running into trouble with the IRS because of misappropriation of funds by the qualified intermediary or QI the investors used to manage the 1031 exchange funds!

If you know of any clients who utilize this tool, you may want to alert them to this situation! In the last year two QI’s have misappropriated client funds and the IRS is looking at the investors as well as the QI’s.

It is unclear, other than losing the tax deferral, if the investors will face any other penalties.

Your thoughts and comments are welcome!

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27. May 2007 by Ana Connell.

Monday 28 

All U.S. Banks and markets are closed for Memorial Day!

Tuesday 29 

The Conference Board, a private consumer group, releases its consumer confidence index for May.

Wednesday 30 

The Federal Open Market Committee(FOMC), the policy making arm of the Federal Reserve, releases May 9th meeting minutes.

Mortgage Bankers Association releases weekly refinance index.

Condoleeza Rice, US Secretary of State, attends G8 meeting of foreign ministers in Germany

Thursday 31 

Commerce Department provides an updated look at growth in gross domestic product. The April reading showed seasonally adjusted growth at a 1.3% annual rate-the weakest in 4 years!

The National Association of Purchasing Management-Chicago Business Barometer, known as the PMI will be released.  The PMI can be a very good indicator of national conditions.

Weekly Jobless Claims 

Kansas City Fed issues results of manufacturing survey.

Fitch Ratings hosts its 2007 annual housing conference, which includes information on home builders, real estate investment trusts(REITs), commercial and residential mortgage backed securities.

Friday 1 

They are calling it “quadruple witching”……..

May jobs report

Data on consumer spending

Institute of Supply Management’s latest readings(manufacturing is expected to rise)

Personal consumption core price index

NAR will release pending home sales in April

Hold on folks, busy week ahead!

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21. May 2007 by Ana Connell.

Wednesday, May 23^rdMortgage Applications for the week ended May 18^th are released.

Thursday, May 24^th

New home sales for April-economists consensus is that it increased slightly to 860,000 annual rate. This report talks about new private homes and usually lags changing mortgage rates. New home sales tend to be stronger early in the business cycle as there is more demand. This report tends to be more volatile and subject to large revisions and as far as I’m concerned making it somewhat unreliable.

Friday, May 25^th

Existing home sales for April-Economists are predicting a drop to 6.10 million from 6.12 million homes. This is a more reliable indicator of housing activity. These numbers tend to be more dependent on mortgage rates. Two worthy components of this report include the median home price and the inventory of homes for sale. The lower the figure the more we need more new housing on the market.

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16. May 2007 by Ana Connell.

There are some great pieces of legislation that have been introduced that would provide much needed relief and oversight for the real estate industry and consumer.

First we have S.1394, the Mortgage Cancellation Tax Relief Act. This piece of legislation was introduced this week by Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and George Voinovich (R-Ohio). The goal is to limit or alleviate the tax burden when someone has experienced a true economic loss. This is a huge issue for many families, especially with today’s market conditions and the sub-prime loan mess. To get more information, please read, NAR-Do Away with the Phantom Tax.

Another bill to be aware of is Community Choice in Real Estate Act (H.R. 111), to preserve a separation of banking and real estate, by keeping banks out of real estate. To read more, please see Banks in Real Estate Issue Takes on New Urgency.

If either of these pieces of legislation resonate with you, please email or write your local House representatives, and/or U.S. Senators and let them how you feel! Elected officials do keep a log of written letters and many are now keeping track of emails to in order to measure the pulse of their constituency.

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15. May 2007 by Ana Connell.

They have been telling us that sometime in the not too distant future Southern California will be experiencing an earthquake of some magnitude.  If this or any other disaster strikes will you and your family be ready?

Here are some great tips:

Before the disaster:

Make sure you have a communication plan in place……what will you do if family members are at work, school, home and who will you call first?  Out of state contacts are recommended as it’s often easier to call long distance.

Have a plan in place for where and how you will reunite the family.

Learn what things to stay away from during an earthquake, how to turn off your gas and that you have the proper wrench to do it with!

Assign specific duties to each family member so each person knows exactly what to do.

Keep one gallon of water per person per day for 7 days(three weeks is recommended).  You should also have at least a week’s worth of food for you and your family, again three weeks is recommended.  Purchase canned, instant and dried foods along with grain items, snack items etc. that will be easy to store.  You should also have plastic utensils and paper plates on hand.  For more information on what foods to buy, check out the Los Angeles Fire Departments guide at http://lafd.org/eqfood.htm

Don’t forget about your pets!  Make sure you have food and water for them.

There is so much more information on this subject and I encourage you to check out the great websites listed here as they provide much valuable information.

USGS- http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learning/preparedness.php

Earthquake Preparedness Guide- http://www.disastercenter.com/guide/earth.html

American Red Cross Disaster Guide- http://www.redcross.org/services/disaster/0,1082,0_583_,00.html

For your Burbank Real Estate needs please visit my website at anaconnell.com!

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