Members of the U.S. military, foreign service and intelligence communities have another year to purchase a home and claim the home buyer tax credit.
Any service member who is or has been on extended duty for 90 days or more between Jan. 1, 2009 to April 30, 2010, has until April 30, 2011, to sign a sales contract and until June 30, 2011, to close on the property. Both the $8,000 first-time and the $6,500 repeat home buyer tax credits are included in the extension.
The rule that requires buyers to repay the credit if they move out of their home within three years has also been waived for qualified service members if they receive government orders to move.
Source: The National Association of Home Builders (04/26/2010)
Can you believe it? The New Orleans Saints have finally shocked the world and won their first ever Super Bowl Title!! They aint the aint’s no more one has to say about what the Saint’s faithful were called back in the 1970’s, it was so bad that they wore brown paper bags over their heads to hide the shame. Now that has all change with Sunday’s besting of the Peyton Manning lead Indianapolis Colts. The Colts just three years removed from their last title were coming in as the favorites but New Orleans had destiny on their side and it made the difference. Bourbon Street must have been alive and kicking wildly after the event which has been over 40 years in the making.
The Saints played all out with even going for it on the 2 yard line which failed but then got the ball back and kicked a field goal. Then after half-time they kicked off and played an on side kick and got it! They eventually outscored the Colts 31 to 17. But what iced it for them was when four time NFL MVP Peyton Manning driving down the field for what looked like a score threw an interception and the Saint’s defensive back took it to the house for a touch down. The stadium went wild as I am sure the state of Louisiana did!! Congratulations to owner Tom Benson, the Saint’s organization and all those fans who have hung in there for so very long!
Can you believe this one? It is estimated that the Toyota recall has risen to nine million vehicles world-wide, WOW! The once known for quality automobile maker is now struggling to save any resemblance of that label. Akio Toyoda, grandson of the founder was interviewed by the Japanese network NHT as he was coming out of his hotel in Davos Switzerland and he apologized to their customers for this huge problem. After the interview he was seen leaving in a black Audi, which is always the case it seems isn’t it?
The issue now is that Toyota is getting back press from both customers and dealers for them not getting parts to those dealers so that they can fix the cars that customers are flooding the dealerships with. I imagine that is creating quite a problem for everyone! Toyota wants to get them to the factory that makes the gas pedal systems so that they can get new cars off the line with the safe pedal systems and then I guess get the parts to the dealers.
The company is awaiting federal government approval of a redesigned accelerator pedal that is being produced by its supplier, CTS, and has already been shipped to some of its factories, according to CTS.
I can also imagine that for Toyota it is an extremely complex issue to solve not to mention a costly one! For those of you who own the vehicles in question please be careful out there!!
Despite Predicted 4.5% Growth at End of 2009, Analysts Worry Forward Momentum May Fade with Gov’t Stimulus
In a CBS news article they are saying that the economy may have grown at the end of last year for maybe the second straight quarter and possibly at the fastest pace in nearly four years?
They ask the question has the recession ended. Some economists are saying yes but the ones that count officially are staying quiet.
We know that the economy has been “juiced” by the stimulus money so when that dries up where will we be? In fact will we even fell the effects of that when it happens or a few months later when we are behind the curve yet again?
They say that the housing market is creeping back and that was the cause of the recession in the first place. I have heard from some new home sales leaders in the Northwest that sales have picked up. Is that due to the spring market springing early this year or the fact that people are really out there ready to buy? I think a little of both which is easy to say but I have seen this type of behavior before. The buying cycles are real and affect the market and the economy.
In addition some markets like the Columbia River Gorge have too many home sites developed for the market to adequately absorb them in a timely manner. That creates stalling in the minds of buyers as they have no urgency to purchase, no fear of losing that “home site” to another.
It will take quite some time for this economy to crawl out of the hole it is in and that may be a few years? We need to be prepared for that and if you are in the market to buy most anything you may find many compelling “deals” out there that you just can’t pass up!
I heard that JD Salinger passed away the other day at the age of 91. I only recognize the name from hearing it over the years and of course being the creator of the novel “The Catcher in the Rye”. I came across a piece on a Fox News web site that interested me so I thought that I would share.
This article told of a secret safe and that got me to read on… I discovered that the famous writer was quite a recluse and had not published anything since 1965. He must have made quite a bundle on “Catcher” because it sounds like he lived on an Estate in New Hampshire which sounds ritzy to me?
Anyway the story was about the safe and whether he had stowed away writings or maybe a novel masterpiece that got the literary world buzzing. They interviewed cronies and the son and daughter about the safe’s contents but you get different answers from each. So nobody seems to know what is in there and won’t until they open it.
“There is a marvelous peace in not publishing,” J.D. Salinger told The New York Times in 1974. “Publishing is a terrible invasion of my privacy. I like to write. I love to write. But I write just for myself and my own pleasure.”
I guess that having enough money enables one to be able to live that statement?
