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Here's a news release from the IRS about this tax credit:
More than 160,000 California taxpayers so far have taken advantage of the first-time homebuyer federal tax credit that provides up to $8,000 to those purchasing a home.
But time is running out to qualify. Here are 10 things the IRS...
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Here's a Franchise Tax Board press release that will be of interest to many!
Sacramento – The Franchise Tax Board (FTB) announced today that it will stop accepting applications for the new home tax credit at midnight tonight, Thursday, July 2, 2009.
New tax law allocated $100...
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Excerpts from a Faith in Action recap of their Saturday event:
This past Saturday, more than 490 families facing foreclosure visited the Rabobank Convention Center to seek face-to-face help from servicers and HUD-approved counselors.
The event, sponsored by HOPE Now, the Federal Reserve Bank of...
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Banks will auction foreclosed residences at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the DoubleTree Hotel, 3100 Camino Del Rio Court in Bakersfield.
Prospective buyers must pre-register to participate.
The local sale is part of auctioneer Hudson & Marshall’s liquidation of more than 150 homes in cities...
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The California Housing Finance Agency has expanded a program to help first-time homebuyers purchase foreclosed homes in Kern County.
Under the Community Stabilization Home Loan Program, first-time homebuyers are eligible for a low fixed rate loan and 100 percent loan-to-value to purchase...
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A little over a month ago, my husband and I found our dream house in Pine Mountain Club. We worked out a deal with the owner through the listing real estate broker for a two-year lease option. At the end of the lease, a percentage of our rental payments were to be used as a down payment, enabling...
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Reader: In Tuesday’s paper I
read about the Kern County Sci-
ence Fair winners and it was so
nice to see the winner honored.
These students have spent months
on these projects and have won at
various school and district levels to
be able to attend the science fair.
My hat...
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The Californian would like to hear from readers dealing with foreclosure. How are you coping?
We’d also like to talk to regular folks selling non-distressed homes — how it is going for you out there? Is it hard or easy to sell an existing home in good shape when the market is swamped...
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An apparent decline in California's pre-foreclosure activity ... something seen even in Kern ... could be an illusion, one foreclosure firm reports.
Bank of America's takeover of Countrywide could have created July's drop in default notices, ForeclosureRadar says.
That's because...
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Most people would give their right arm for the chance to have Extreme Makeover remodel or make them a home. One couple, who was lucky enough to get that chance, (actually they demolished their house and built a brand new one because of the faulty septic system and I am sure other things) has...
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National real estate auction company Hudson & Marshall will be back in Bakersfield on June 9.
The company Web site shows 47 Bakersfield homes listed for sale, along with a handful of listings in Kern communities such as Pine Mountain Club and Delano. (I wrote about a similar auction of...
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Here's a "raw report" press release from the state's Department of Housing and Community Development:
CalHome Program Workshop to be Held in Visalia
Sacramento, CA – California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) will hold a workshop in Visalia on Wednesday,...
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Tucked at the bottom of today's California Association of Realtors' press release was a tidbit about none other than Ridgecrest.
Median home prices there rose 7.6 in March compared to the same month a year ago, putting the city in the top 10 statewide for communities that saw increases, rather...
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Sales of new homes in California dropped 62 percent in January compared to the year before, an industry group reported today.
It's a difference of 2,679 new homes this year vs. 7,109 in January 2007.
The numbers come from the California Building Industry Association/Hanley Wood Market...
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While it may not appear so as you're driving around Bakersfield, developers and investors are plotting an immense amount of growth.
They're poised the day when the housing market turns a major corner.
Read reporter Jenny Shearer's full report on what's happening in Bakersfield and in eastern...
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Here's what assistant editor John Cox dug up today:
Bakersfield’s median price for an existing home declined by 5 percent last month to $227,000, which represents an 18 percent drop from January 2007, the California Association of Realtors reported Monday.
Are we in trouble?
Read his...
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The values of more than 40,000 homes suspected of losing value since their purchase are under review by the Kern County Assessor, a process that will reduce property tax bills for many homeowners, but also shrink a critical source of county revenue.
That's according to a report by Vanessa...
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The number of bank-owned properties listed on the Bakersfield Multiple Listing Service, an index of properties for sale, topped the 1,000 mark Wednesday, according to Jon Vaughn, an agent with RE/MAX Magic and the host of a morning real estate radio show, Real Estate Today, on KGEO AM 1230. (Some...
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Vacant land at the southwest corner of Lebec Road and Houser Avenue could sprout into 32 residential lots, following a zone change OK'd by the Kern County Planning Commission.
Not everyone at the meeting was happy about the plan. Read Jenney Shearer's full report, including details about a new...
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Check out the homes sold in Bakersfield from Dec. 24 to Dec. 30 in our color-coded map.
You can see where the homes are, how much they sold for, square footage and more. This map shows homes sold from mid-December to almost the end of the month.
Reporter Vanessa Gregory compiles these...
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If you are unable to make your mortgage payment:
1. Don't ignore the problem.
The further behind you become, the harder it will be to reinstate your loan and the more likely that you will lose your house.
2. Contact your lender as soon as you realize that you have a problem.
Lenders do...
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Comments [4] - Views [246]
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If you’ve been searching for homes to buy (and it’s certainly a buyer’s market right now), you know how valuable a map can be in terms of finding homes in specific parts of town.
We’ve just added a mapping feature to our Homes section that gives you one more option to...
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It had been awhile. Time had passed, the seasons had changed, I had changed, my situation in life had changed, things at work had changed, but in the face of all these changes one thing, as I was to be quiclky reminded, had not changed. Not one bit, and that was that moving still sucks. I was...
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A recent study commissioned by the Kern Economic Development Corp. and compiled by local appraiser Gary Crabtree appears to give us the best picture to date of local homebuyers. The report included more than 1,000 new construction and existing home sales between January and June, comprising about...
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Comments [6] - Views [370]
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There is a lot of talk about being green these days and a lot of ways to do it. Since most of us aren't building homes from scratch, what are you doing to make your own home more green?
I suggest compact fluorescent lighting as the first step. Fluorescent bulbs generally outlast...
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Comments [55] - Views [942]
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