PRESERVE THE MORTGAGE INTEREST DEDUCTION...

Please contact your Senator and Congressmen to preserve the mortgage interest deduction.

While Congress and the president negotiate a way to avert the fiscal cliff, news reports speculate that a change to the long-standing policy that allows homeowners to deduct mortgage interest payments from their income taxes could be part of a fiscal cliff deal.

As a Realtor® and advocate of the American Dream of Home Ownership, that very privilege we now enjoy is standing on the brink of future extinction. I am asking for all homeowners to contact their local senators and congressmen to request that they preserve the mortgage interest deduction.

The National Association of Realtors® position is that the mortgage interest deduction is vital to the stability of the American housing market and economy. Please respond today and help us remain vigilant in opposing any future plan that modifies or excludes the deductibility of mortgage interest.


Stein: Eliminating mortgage deduction is "foolish" See complete CBS News Report

2012 Housing Picture: Break Out the Bubbly?

Housing Momentum on Course to Continue

It may be a little early to start putting the champagne on ice, but looking over last week’s releases of housing reports gives us a fairly good idea of how our housing picture for the year 2012 is likely to end up.

“The housing recovery that started earlier in 2012 continues to gain momentum,” according to CoreLogic’s Chief Economist. The monthly data report covered final national numbers for October (a year-over-year rise of 6.3%) as well as a probable 7.1% increase for the month just ended.

CoreLogic was also “seeing an ongoing strengthening of the residential housing market” as well as “improving buyer demand.” Housing watchers might have assumed that the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy would have put a big dent in the national outlook, but apparently that effect may be less than anticipated.

If CoreLogic’s take was not quite definitive enough to trigger an early break for the bubbly, there was additional news from the financial soothsayers. Seekingalpha.com stayed with its months-long view that “there are immediate long-term opportunities for homebuyers,” while Barron’s quoted RDQ Economics’ John Ryding’s pronouncement on the housing market: “the recovery is running ahead of our expectations…”

Meantime, the Wall Street Journal was blogging about the ‘Five Reasons Home Prices Have Been Rising’ – including favorable affordability, lowered levels of distressed sales, and rising rent levels. They also pointed to plunging inventories that “see more buyers chasing after fewer properties.”

Of course, the complete national housing picture for the full year won’t be known until December is in the books. But considering how the year has treated us so far, it might not be too soon to stash a bottle or two of the good stuff in the fridge after all!

The Mansion Cliff

Wealthy Homeowners Brace for 'Mansion Cliff'

Jorge Uribe | One Sotheby’s International Real Estate Realtors to the rich have started getting a strange new kind of phone call.

Wealthy homeowners with properties for sale are suddenly demanding that the brokers get them a deal in the next five months. The reason, they say, is the fiscal cliff.

If the Bush tax cuts expire and capital-gains tax rates go up on January 1, sellers in the high-end real-estate market could owe millions more in taxes on their sales. As a result, many wealthy sellers are racing to close before 2013. Others who were thinkingof putting their homes on the market next year or later are listing them this summer. 

Call it “The Mansion Cliff.” Real-estate experts say that as more of the wealthy sell out of fear of a tax increase, they could drive up inventory and lower prices in the top of the real estate market, which has been one of the few bright spots in the economy. Any softening at the high end, or a spike in inventory, could ripple through the housing market and add new pressure to prices, although it could also increase sales volume.

“This has become a key issue for sellers,” said Stephen Games of Pacific Sotheby’s Realty in San Diego. “Sellers want to get a deal done before the election. They want to avoid the uncertainty.”
Games said that one of his clients recently sold a $13 million ocean-view property in La Jolla, Calif. for less than the original asking price – in large part to avoid the possible increase in taxes next year. The tax savings from the deal was more than $600,000 compared to the potentially higher bill next year.
Jorge Uribe, one of the top luxury brokers in Miami, recently sold a mansion in the posh enclave of Indian Creek for $38 million. He said the owner accepted a price below his original goal for fear of the tax cliff.

“It was certainly a factor in his decision,” Uribe said. “When you’re talking about $38 million, that’s a big difference in tax savings. The tax issue was definitely a motivator in his decision to take a little less than he wanted.”

One New York broker said she got two new listings in the past week that were driven in part by tax fears.

 

Falling Off the 'Mansion Cliff'

CNBC Wealth Editor Robert Frank reports on what's at stake for the luxury home market.

Click here to read full article 

A Walk Down Memory Lane

"I Think You'll Like It!"

I don't know about you but when I first saw the two former Grease Stars, John Travolta (now 58) & Olivia Newton-John (now 64) who took the screen back in 1978 in what today is a classic in musicals and will always be viewed and loved by old and young alike it, it settled in the hearts of us all and we could sing most of the famous songs for memory, not to mention getting in the groove with the moves. 

Travolta and Newton-John's album cover.
When I learned they got together after 35 years to put together this low-budget Christmas Video special featuring their new Christmas duet, I Think You Might Like It,"  produced on the fly and paid for by the two stars, I just had to have this in my collection. Please check out the article below in a walk down memory lane...

"By now you've probably seen what's become one of the buzziest holiday stories of the year: the video for Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta's new Christmas duet "I Think You Might Like It," which features the former "Grease" co-stars singing along as Travolta, 58, lands a plane, Newton-John, 64, slowly drives a convertible, the couple line dances, and various people have reunions in a small airport, including Travolta's wife, Kelly Preston.

And you've probably seen the coverage. A sweep of the web finds outlets describing the video as everything from bizarre to odd to cheesy to must-see. But whatever you call it, the world can't stop watching … and wondering. To answer some of your burning question about the festive video, omg! talked exclusively with its director, Rav Holly." 

Newton-John and Travolta in 1978's Grease (Everett)

 I Think You'll Like It Video

Click Here to Read the Whole Article By Lizbeth Scordo | 'Tis the Season –


Rav Holly.

Weekly Events in Salt Lake City and Beyond...

Weekly Event Update

December 4, 2012

EVENT SPOTLIGHT:

World's Ultimate Elvis Christmas Show! December 14-16, 2012 Egyptian Theatre - Park City Kick your holidays off to a hip-swiveling, body-shaking start with Justin Shandor's Elvis Tribute Show,which won the 2010 international invitational competition presented by Elvis Presley Enterprises. Graceland endorsed him as the  World's Ultimate Elvis . This show will include 50's, 60's, and 70's Elvis tunes featuring Elvis favorites and seasonal Christmas songs recorded by the King or Rock-n-Roll. < More Info

FEATURED EVENTS:

Vivaldi by Candlelight: A Benefit Concert December 15, 2012 First Presbyterian Church - Salt Lake City The Utah Council for Citizen Diplomacy presents the 30th Vivaldi by Candlelight Benefit Concert. The concert features the Vivaldi Virtuosi conducted by Utah Symphony's associate Concertmaster and Music Director Gerald Elias. The program highlights the genius of Vivaldi and other Venetian masters of the Renaissance and Baroque. < More Info

A Family Christmas Variety Show December 3-10, 2012 SCERA Center for the Arts - Orem The perfect way to usher in the spirit of the season, this evening features traditional holiday music, stories and dance numbers to celebrate the magic of Christmas. From lighthearted favorites to inspiring songs of love and family, this stunning cast will transport you on a musical journey where happy memories of Christmas' past and present take center stage in your soul. < More Info

How the Grouch Stole Christmas Tour December 4, 2012 In The Venue - Salt Lake City Enjoy a night of rappin' and rhymin' when the 6th Annual How The Grouch Stole Christmas Tour featuring The Grouch and Eligh, Mistah F.A.B., Prof, DJ Fresh and special guests raise the roof off In The Venue. < More Info

Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act...

Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act Will Likely Be Extended

From our friends over on Foreclosureradar.com

Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 Will Likely Be Extended
We expect Congress to extend the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007, which played a major role in this year’s rise in short sales and principal reduction loan modifications.

The Act, which expires on December 31, has been a huge help to people whose mortgage debts have been forgiven or reduced over the past five years. Here’s why:
According to the IRS, if you owe a debt to someone else and they cancel or forgive that debt, the canceled amount may be taxable income.  The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act generally allows taxpayers to exempt mortgage debt forgiven by a lender in a loan modification, short sale or foreclosure. The provision applies to debt forgiven from 2007 through 2012.  Up to $2 million in forgiven debt is eligible for the exclusion ($1 million if married and filing separately).
 
If the Act is not extended, next year borrowers will have to claim debt reduction or mortgage relief as income on their 2014 federal tax returns. For some people, the tax liability could amount to tens of thousands of dollars. For example, a $200,000 reduction in principal could produce a tax bill of $50,000 or more.  According to an article in the New York Times, the Act saved borrowers more than $1 billion in taxes in 2011.

The Obama administration, the Federal Reserve and members of Congress on both sides of the aisle recognize that a recovery in the housing market is one of the quickest ways to boost economic growth.  They also know the Mortgage Relief Act has helped thousands of homeowners avoid foreclosure.

Given the popularity of the Mortgage Debt Relief Act and the potential for serious political fallout if the act is not extended, we doubt politicians will let the law expire. We could be wrong, of course, but politicians typically want to get re-elected, and allowing the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act to expire seems like political suicide to us. Our concern, however, is the Act will get lost amidst the political wrangling over the “fiscal cliff” and overlooked.  We certainly hope not.

So what do you think?

"SAND IN THE LINE TALKS" on "FISCAL CLIFF"

THEY SAY A PICTURE IS WORTH
A THOUSAND WORDS....

President Obama and his White House team appear to have drawn a line in the sand in talks with House Republicans on the "fiscal cliff." 

Tax rates on the wealthy are going up, the only question is how much? 

"Those rates are going to have to go up," Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner flatly stated on ABC's "This Week." "There's no responsible way we can govern this country at a time of enormous threat, and risk, and challenge ... with those low rates in place for future generations." 

But the president's plan, which Geithner delivered last week, has left the two sides far apart. In recounting his response today on "Fox News Sunday," House Speaker John Boehner said: "I was flabbergasted. I looked at him and said, 'You can't be serious.' 

"The president's idea of negotiation is: Roll over and do what I ask," Boehner added. 

The president has never asked for so much additional tax revenue. He wants another $1.6 trillion over the next 10 years, including returning the tax rate on income above $250,000 a year to 39.6 percent. 

Boehner is offering half that, $800 billion. 

Read Full Article
ABC OTUS News - Boehner Faces Line in the Sand in Fiscal Cliff Talks (ABC News)