A blog about Business & Finance, Kern County, and Neighborhoods.
Real Name: Chris Craddock Address: 3400 Calloway Dr #800 Bakersfield, CA 93312 Cell: (661)900-2222 Gender: male Member Since: June 30, 2007 Last Signed In: November 06, 2009 Profile Views: 745 Blog Views: 9396 THE FEDERAL HOMEBUYERS TAX CREDIT HAS BEEN EXTENDED AND EXPANDED Have a Safe and Happy Halloween! Caravan in Northwest Bakersfield Something Borrowed, Something Blue, Vol. I Was the Kern County Fair the Best in the West? Blogging about blogging The Southwest Stats Black Friday and Cyber Monday Que Pasa, Bakersfield? Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? June 07 July 07 August 07 September 07 October 07 November 07 December 07 January 08 February 08 March 08 April 08 May 08 June 08 July 08 August 08 September 08 October 08 November 08 December 08 January 09 February 09 March 09 April 09 May 09 June 09 July 09 August 09 September 09 October 09 November 09 
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THE FEDERAL HOMEBUYERS TAX CREDIT HAS BEEN EXTENDED AND EXPANDED
The extended Federal tax credit for first-time homebuyers remains 10% of sales price up to $8,000 The new Federal tax credit for move-up homebuyers, who have used their previous home as a principal residence for five of the previous eight years is $6,500 The income level to qualify is $125,000 for single filers or $250,000 for joint filers The maximum eligible home price has been increased to $800,000 The Federal tax credit runs from December 1, 2009 to April 30, 2010 Sales contracts signed as of April 30, 2010 must close by June 30, 2010 *Contact your tax advisor for full details.
Further Details about this and other bills signed into law today in the Washington Post article
Location:
3400 Calloway Drive,
Bakersfield, CA 93312
Here are some Trick or Treaters who came by our office at 3400 Calloway Drive, Building 800, Bakersfield, CA 93312. We still have lots of candy for the kids and will be open until 6 PM.
I love to see the kids, but sometimes they look like they are more afraid of us than we are of them in their costumes.
We are at the corner of Calloway and Meacham in the Northeast corner business park. It is just West of Endeavour Elementary School. McKinzie Nielsen Real Estate wishes everyone a safe and Happy Halloween!
I am calling this BLOG Something Borrowed, Something Blue, and will try to update about lender issues every other Wednesday. It is a subset of my regular blog. I was having lunch with Helen Thomas--not the White House reporter, a local lender. She had a lot of interesting predictions about what is coming down the pike. First, there were rumors that FHA solvency is shakey, but they are unfounded. HUD will adopt some sort of HVCC (Home Valuation Code of Conduct) plan by January 1st. Will the $8,000 tax credit be extended? 93% likelihood. This might not happen by December 1st, but if it does it will probably be retroactive. Will it increase to $15,000? Only a 30% likelihood of this happening. Will the tax credit be offered to all purchasers, not just First Time Home Buyers? There is a 60% likelihood. Fannie and Freddie are very tight lipped about how much inventory they have and when and how it will be released. Government is currently buying ALL mortgage backed securities. 100% of new securities and also some old, non-performing securities owned by banks taken over by FDIC, and other various institutions. This is keeping the interest rates low, which is encouraging people to buy houses. This will stop after the 1st quarter of next year--expect rates to go up least .75% to 1% by March of next year. This will happen in February or March. Helen was very sure about this, but of course, no one really knows the future. Still, it is a pretty good bet. Did anybody have a good time at the Fair? I helped build a house for Habitat for Humanity. I saw the Cowgirl competition, and my niece's friend won 5th place. I saw the livestock and a hog auction. I had some funnel cake and some BBQ. I didn't see Grand Funk Railroad.
I am trying to write a blog but it keeps disappearing. I am going to the Bakersfield Jazz Workshop. I am writing this from a laptop and mobile Internet connection in Starbucks. Just when I am getting somewhere and have almost finished then my post keeps disappearing. I am going to write them in a text program and then cut and paste them into the blog. The new Beatles remastered is out now and they are playing it here. OK, I am going to post this and then I will write more later, about Real Estate, even.
What is Happening in Southwest Bakersfield Real Estate? I just did a little analysis of what is up in Southwest Bakersfield Real Estate. By Southwest Bakersfield, I mean the area West of Gosford Road, East of Allen Road, South of the Kern River, and North of Houghton Road. In that part of Bakersfield, there are 216 houses for sale in the Bakersfield MLS. Of those, 68 are foreclosure properties (REO), 73 are Short Sales, and 75 are traditional sales. In December of 2008 67 houses sold, and 40 of the sales were forclosure properties, 22 were traditional sales, and only 5 Short Sales actually closed. The odds for Short Sales actually closing don't look so good, but there is quite a bit of activity for the foreclosure properties. Some people think this isn't such a great time to buy, betting that the prices will go down even more, but others are taking advantage of the low interest rates available, and prices that are pretty low, even if they haven't hit the ultimate bottom. Some other interesting factoids about Southwest Bakersfield Real Estate: The Median Price of the homes sold in December of 2008 is $240,000. Two years ago, in December of 2006, the Median Price was $352,500. The peak Median Price was January of 2007, when it was $390,075. Over the past 2 years, September of 2008 had the most sales with 89. Over the past 2 years, the highest number of For Sales Properties was in October of 2007, with 597. If the present rate of sales continues, there is a 4-Month Supply of Inventory. Chris Craddock The Key to Bakersfield Real Estate McKinzie Nielsen Real Estate Direct: (661) 410-4467
In fact, the Friday after Thanksgiving has been called Black Friday because of the heavy traffic it generates. The term originated in Philadelphia in the 60's, but then during the 80's it morphed into explaining the name, "Black Friday," as being due to the fact that so many retailers depend on Holiday shopping to take them out of the "Red" and into the "Black." In traditional accounting red ink shows losses and black ink is for profits. Though this is a less negative way of looking at it, for Retail Store employees, bus drivers, cab drivers, and police, the original meaning is likely to resonate. In many cities it is not uncommon to see shoppers lined up hours before stores with big sales open. Once inside, shoppers often behave like pirahnas in a feeding frenzy, as many stores have only a few of the "door busters," the big draw items. On occasion, injuries and even fatalities are reported; last Friday, a worker at a Wal-Mart in Valley Stream, New York was trampled to death by shoppers who broke through the store's glass doors minutes before the store's scheduled opening at 5:00 am; a pregnant mother was hospitalized from injuries in the same human "stampede", though early reports of a resultant miscarriage were determined to be in error. And in Palm Desert, California two people shot and killed each other after arguing over an item in a Toys R Us store. For economists looking to see how the Holiday Shopping Season would do, Black Friday had a higher turn out than expected. But they still expect sales to be way down this year. Today, or the Monday after Thanksgiving, is now being referred to as "Cyber Monday." That is because workers returning to the office on Monday often use the broad band available on their work computers to do online shopping. Cyber Monday is getting to be less dramatic as more consumers have broadband at home, and don't have to depend on their office computers for online shopping. People are getting a jump on Cyber Monday by starting to shop online on Thanksgiving. Online Shopping is getting bigger every year, and there are lots of sales and incentives to get people on there. It is fairly easy to find free shipping, and other discounts. So, there are lots of bargains out there, but be careful, both online and off!!!!! Happy Holidays, Chris Craddock, Realtor The Key to Bakersfield Real Estate
Location:
5303 Olive Dr,
Bakersfield, CA 93308
Que Pasa Bakersfield? Come down to Que Pasa at 5303 Olive Drive, Bakersfield, CA 93308, this Sunday at 4:30 PM, November 23rd, 2008. Our Real Estate Office is having a wrap party for our Open House Extravaganza. We are doing 9 open houses this Sunday, and afterwards we are all going to meet up at Que Pasa!!!!!
Adios, amigos and amigas! The Key to Bakersfield Real Estate (661) 900-2222
On September 5th, 1929, my father was born. On Oct. 29, 1929, the U.S. stock market crashed. America's economy collapsed, pulling many international markets down with it. It was the beginning of the Great Depression: an era of long bread lines, bankruptcies and hungry Dust Bowl sharecroppers that would last through most of the 1930s. In 1932, a young New York City lyricist named E.Y. "Yip" Harburg, together with composer Jay Gorney, wrote what is considered the anthem of the Great Depression, "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" National Public Radio did an excellent piece on the song. Read all about it at the links below. You can also hear several versions of the song, by Tom Waits, Abby Lincoln with Stan Getz, Bing Crosby, Rudy Valee, and even an a capella version by political commentator Daniel Schoor.
Composer Jay Gorney based the plaintive minor melody on a Polish lullaby from his grandmother. Lyricist E.Y. "Yip" Harburg is perhaps best known for "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" that he wrote with composer Harold Arlen. "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" would seem to be quite a topical tune as relevant as ever, were it not for inflation and the fact that a dime wouldn't get very far in today's economy. |
When a bride gets married, there is an old saying that she should wear something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. In England they also say "and a six pence in her shoe." Sometimes for luck, they actually do put a six pence in her shoe.
For my money, the best version is by Paul Desmond and Dave Brubeck. Desmond played alto sax with a tone that was akin to a dry martini. His best known tune is "Take Five," written in an odd 5/4 time signature. He attended San Francisco State, my alma matter. He played a Selmer 'Super Balanced Action' saxophone - serial number 43xxx manufactured in 1950. His saxophone was fitted with either a Gregory Hollywood Model A, 4A18M or Claude Lakey 5*3[1] mouthpiece fitted with Rico 3.5 hardness reeds. My dad played the piano, and later when he retired, the soprano saxophone. I remember the album, Brubeck Time, that features "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" and associate it with my father.
