Chance Gates' Blog

My wife and I were talking about where to go for breakfast, somehow  we decided it would be nice to try the Gold Dust West.  Like any casino it has changed drastically since my drinking days.  The coffee shop seemed to be in the same spot although it has gone through some major upgrades.  The staff was friendly, the service was good and the prices were reasonable.  The patty links were a little over cooked but the food was still really good.  My biggest complaint would have to be the food arrived before I even had time to finish my first cup of coffee,  something my wife really enjoyed.   I will go to the Gold Dust West again, it was an enjoyable experience.

As a Reno/Sparks real estate professional, I encourage all questions or comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted on this blog.  I can be reached by email at:   chance at ballard-company.com or http://www.myspace.com/chancegates

RISMEDIA, February 10, 2010—Home values across the country declined again in the fourth quarter of 2009, as the Zillow Home Value Index fell 5% year-over-year, and -0.5% quarter-over-quarter, to $186,200. That marked the 12th consecutive quarter of year-over-year declines, according to the fourth quarter Zillow Real Estate Market Reports. Despite home value declines seen across most of the country throughout 2009, some markets experienced what appeared to be a bottom in home value declines, or even increases in home values during the year. However, the fourth quarter of the year brought signs that the fledgling recovery of home values in many of these markets is slowing again. If the declines are sustained, the result will be a “double dip” in home values, defined as two periods of sustained declines in home values separated by a brief period of stabilization or recovery.

One in five, or 29 of the 143 markets tracked by Zillow, showed at least five consecutive month-over-month increases in home values during 2009 before beginning to flatten or fall again in the second part of the year. These markets include the Boston metropolitan statistical area (MSA), the Atlanta MSA and the San Diego MSA.

Home values in an additional 29 markets, including the Los Angeles and New York MSAs, increased on a month-over-month basis each month throughout the fourth quarter. However, the rate of increase slowed from November 2009 to December 2009 in 21 of those markets, and several appear likely to experience several months of sustained decline in early 2010.

The percent of single family homes with mortgages in negative equity was essentially flat from the third to the fourth quarter, changing from 21% in Q3 to 21.4% in Q4. This comes after a decrease in negative equity from the second quarter’s 23%.

The number of homeowners losing their homes to foreclosure across the country reached a peak in December, with more than one in every thousand homes being foreclosed–a number not reached since Zillow began recording national foreclosure data in 2000.

“While we have seen strong stabilization in home values during 2009, there are clear signs that they will turn more negative in the near-term,” said Zillow Chief Economist Stan Humphries. “What we saw in mid-2009 was a brief respite from a larger market correction that has not yet run its course. The good news is that, for those markets that will see a double dip in home values before reaching a definitive bottom, this second dip will not be a return to the magnitude of depreciation seen earlier, but rather will look more like a modest aftershock of the earlier downturn.

“The recent stabilization owed a lot to policy support in the form of tax credits, lower interest rates and increased Federal Housing Administration lending. The remaining correction in home values we’ll see in the first half of this year is a function of market fundamentals, such as the increasing flow of foreclosures, high levels of inventory in the market and a probable decrease in demand as the impact of the tax credit wanes and mortgage rates rise. While the next few months are likely to bring further home value declines in most markets, we do expect to see a national bottom in home prices by the middle of this year. Thereafter, home values are likely to bounce along the bottom with real appreciation remaining negligible for some time.”

Foreclosure re-sales across the country remained high, making up more than one-fifth (20.3%) of all U.S. home sales in December. Foreclosure re-sales also made up the majority of sales in several MSAs, including the Merced, Calif. MSA (68.3%), the Las Vegas MSA (64%) and the Modesto, Calif. MSA (62%). Additionally, 28.5% of home sales nationwide sold for less than what the seller originally paid.

Several markets across the country showed positive longer-term appreciation. Home values increased year-over-year in 27 of 143 markets and remained flat in 15.

The Boston MSA was the largest area with year-over-year appreciation, despite its more recent downturn in home values. The area’s Zillow Home Value Index rose 1.9% in 2009. Home values in the Boston area rose for eight months in 2009, which outweighed the recent declines.

As a Reno/Sparks real estate professional, I encourage all questions or comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted on this blog.  I can be reached by email at:   chance at ballard-company.com or http://www.myspace.com/chancegates

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…

As a Reno/Sparks real estate professional, I encourage all questions or comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted on this blog.  I can be reached by email at:   chance at ballard-company.com or http://www.myspace.com/chancegates

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…

As a Reno/Sparks real estate professional, I encourage all questions or comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted on this blog.  I can be reached by email at:   chance at ballard-company.com or http://www.myspace.com/chancegates

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.

As a Reno/Sparks real estate professional, I encourage all questions or comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted on this blog.  I can be reached by email at:   chance at ballard-company.com or http://www.myspace.com/chancegates

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 a Reno/Sparks real estate professional, I encourage all questions or comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted on this blog.  I can be reached by email at:   chance at ballard-company.com or http://www.myspace.com/chancegates