Chance Gates' Blog

Fallon National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1931 as a refuge and breeding ground for birds and wild animals. It is located in the Lahontan Valley of western Nevada, at the terminus of the Carson River. The refuge comprises over 15,000 acres of playa and wetland habitat in the Carson Sink.

In years of high water flows down the Carson River, the refuge is important for migratory shorebirds and waterfowl. However, due to diversions, in most years there is insufficient water flow down the Carson River for the water to enter the refuge.

The refuge is open 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, but there are no facilities on the refuge. Roads are primitive and passable only during those periods of dry weather.
Getting There . . .
Fallon Refuge is 15 miles north of Fallon on Indian Lakes Road. To visit the refuge, it is best to stop at the Stillwater Refuge headquarters at 1000 Auction Road in Fallon to obtain a map and directions. Roads in the Fallon Refuge area are not marked and can become confusing.

read more at http://www.fws.gov/refuges/profiles/inde…

One of the great things about doing real estate in the Reno/Sparks area is being associated with Realty World.  When it comes to the new technology being brought to the market, Realty World has some of the best technology people you will ever meet.  They make it appoint to keep us all informed on what is new and a must have for the industry.

The newest is the Apple iPad.  If I had to describe the Apple iPad in one word, that word would be “wow”.  The new iPad will be available in 60 days and starts below $500.00 and goes up from there.  It has 9.7″ screen and a battery life up to 10 hours.  16GB – 64GB flash storage memory.

One of the best accessories is the keyboard doc/charger.  By placing the iPad into the keyboard a person has a full size keyboard while charging the Ipad.

Read more: http://www.realtyworldnca.com/2010/01/27…

Hidden Valley is located in the Southeast Area of Reno.  It is strictly a residential community with a few condos around the Golf Course, otherwise all single family dwellings. A down side is there are no services, such as grocery stores, gas stations,  within the boundaries of Hidden Valley.  The upside is traffic into the area is mainly residents.

A major shopping center is located about just minutes away. The area does have two golf courses

:Rosewood Lakes - a public course

Hidden Valley-  private course.

Hidden Valley does have an elementary school as well as County Park which was recently outfitted with all new play equipment. There are equestrian trails and a gazebo with a BBQ which you can reserve to hold private picnics or gatherings.  The dog park is fully fenced, and comes with  plenty of water and doggie bags.

Many of the homes in Hidden Valley are constructed on large lots, close to .50 acre. Many have RV access and parking.  Some of the homes in Hidden Valley  have no HOA dues. Some of the newer homes built surrounding the original Hidden Valley development do have HOA fees but are what I call reasonable – $45 month or so for now.

Hidden Valley does host several annual events:  An Easter Egg Hunt, a community picnic, a pumpkin growing contest, a holiday Christmas Parade of lights and a winter dinner and dancing social which is held for residents at the Country Club.

RISMEDIA, January 28, 2010—The Home Buyer Tax Credit is a great program providing a tremendous stimulus for the real estate industry, but the impact of the tax credit is going to be undermined by the restrictive way that the IRS is interpreting the credit for married couples, according to Joseph Rand, one of the founders of Homebuyertaxcredit.com.

In the guidelines of the Home Buyer Tax Credit, the IRS has inadvertently created a “marriage penalty” by requiring that both spouses must have the same exact ownership history in order to claim the credit, which treats married couples differently from unmarried couples. Joseph Rand and the co-founders of Homebuyertaxcredit.com, Greg Rand and Matt Rand, have launched a campaign urging members of Congress to amend the legislation and eliminate this penalty.

“The Home Buyer Tax Credit is designed to incentivize home purchases this year, and it should have a significant impact,” said Joseph Rand. “But the impact is going to be undermined because thousands of married couples will not be eligible due to a very restrictive reading of the legislation by the IRS. The IRS will only allow married couples to claim the credit if both spouses qualify for the same type of credit in their own right, even if the couple would get a tax credit if they were unmarried. Married couples are tested together, and must both be eligible. This is not the case for unmarried couples, who are tested individually such that if one does not qualify, the other can still get a credit.”

Essentially, the only types of married couples who would be eligible to claim the credit would be married couples in which both spouses are qualifying first-time home buyers, or married couples in which both spouses have owned and lived in the same home for at least five consecutive years out of the last eight.

Greg Rand said that this issue was likely an oversight, and the IRS probably did not intend to exact a marriage penalty that undermines such an important economic recovery program. “Clearly, Congress did not intend to render millions of American married couples ineligible for any type of tax credit, even in cases where both spouses would qualify on their own and in cases where unmarried couples are eligible to claim tax credits,” said Greg Rand. “Marriage is the cornerstone of our society.”

Matt Rand suggested that Congress needs to take immediate action steps to correct this unintentional penalty. “To fix this, either Congress needs to revise the legislation or the IRS has to revise its treatment of married couples to allow for eligibility for a tax credit where both spouses would qualify for a tax credit in their own right if they were single or unmarried partners buying together,” said Matt Rand. “If the IRS is not able to revise its interpretation of the law, Congress should explicitly amend the law to fix the marriage penalty by allowing for equitable treatment of married and unmarried couples.”

The Rands are hoping to draw enough attention to the cause so that Congress will be prompted to act quickly. In addition to the campaign on Homebuyertaxcredit.com, a Facebook cause has also been created to bring awareness to the public and urge them to take action. The Rands encourage any married couples who are being affected by the Home Buyer Tax Credit’s restrictive marriage guidelines to go to www.homebuyertaxcredit.com and submit their story.

As many of you know my oldest son has been the cause of my gray hairs.  This is usually due to the fact he doesn’t care how he does in school.  Most of the time he gets an “A” if he does the work or a “F” if he doesn’t.  This quarter it final happen, I’m not sure if he got tired of all his stuff be taken away, not letting him go play outside with his friends, or just talking to him about the direction he is going.  He took some pride in himself and just did the work.  The worst grade on his report card was a “c”, he not only passed every class, but has some good teacher remarks.  He is now debating going into the navy or becoming a diesel  mechanic.  Something interesting I did find out is the navy has a Jr cadet training in Carson City.

As a full time Reno/Sparks Realtor, I learned that I need to spoil my wife on occasion.  So I took her to the Siena  Hotel for breakfast the other morning and was not impressed to say the least.  Service was a little slow, and the food  was a little undercooked.  However, being a positive person I try and look for the good in most things.  So on the bright side, the coffee was pretty good and one of the bus boys was pretty quick.  Which at least aloud me to have some quality time with the wife and some good coffee at the same time.

The Nevada Rural Housing Authority launched a new $25 million bond program.  To try and help thaw the frozen market for buyers of manufactured housing in Northern Nevada.

The bond program provides $4500 for first time purchasers.  This money doesn’t need to be repaid, and is available in communities with less than 100,000 people.

A 30 year loan with the down payment assistance would carry a fixed rate of 5.357%.  If a borrow opts out of the down payment assistance the 30 year loan would carry a fixed rate of 4.875%.

Either way, purchasers who have signed a contract by 4/30/2010 and close by the end of June may still qualify for the $8,000 federal tax credit  to first time buyers.

The Federal Housing Administration will raise the minimum down payment for its least credit-worthy borrowers, the agency announced Tuesday.

The change is among a number of major changes the FHA is making to ensure its long-term financial soundness.

Borrowers with credit-rating scores below 580 will be required to put down at least 10 percent. Those with a credit score above 580 will be able to continue to put down only 3.5 percent. The changes are intended to shore up the agency’s finances.

The FHA also will increase its upfront mortgage insurance premium from 1.75 percent to 2.25 percent. The agency is expected to seek congressional approval to raise annual mortgage insurance premiums, paid by borrowers over the life of the loan, above the current 0.55 percent maximum. The amount it will seek has yet to be announced.

For more information on the FHA changes, inlcuding a summary of all changes, visit REALTOR.org.

As most of you are aware who read my blogs consistently know, I like to take a break from Reno/Sparks Real Estate and talk some NFL.  The Minnesota Viking dismantled The Cowboys last week.  Farve didn’t look like the old man everyone is trying to say he is.  I like the Viking and the points this week.   I like the Colt to beat the NEW YORK JETS in the AFC Conference Championships.  Setting up a great Super Bowl and a lousy Pro Bowl.

For a period of 1 year, FHA will allow buyers to obtain loans
on properties that have been recently purchased by investors
who intend to flip them for a profit.