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The online REALTOR.org interactive magazine reported the following information in follow-up to the recently passed law that was part of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (H.R. 3221),

The First-time Home Buyer Tax Credit is new, temporary tax credit to provide an incentive for first-time homebuyers. Passed this summer as part of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (H.R. 3221) it targets any individual or household that hasn’t owned a home for at least three years. As taxpayers, you can take the credit on your 2008 tax return if you bought a home this year after April 9, or on your 2009 tax return if you purchase a home before July 1, 2009. Generally, the credit is up to $7,500 and can be taken by individuals whose income does not exceed $75,000, or by households making up to $150,000. Buyers can get 10 percent of the home price credited against their tax liability, up to a maximum $7,500. This tax credit is being likened to a 15-year interest-free loan, as the federal government requires that the tax credit be paid back in small, 6.67-percent increments over 15 years.

Any house is eligible as long as it is a primary residence and located in the United States.

Here are two great resources for First-Time Homebuyers:

1. First-time Homebuyer Tax Credit http://www.realtor.org/GAPublic.nsf/files/chart_homebuyer_tax_credit_.pdf/$FILE/chart_homebuyer_tax_credit_.pdf

2. First-time Homebuyer Frequently-Asked Questions
http://www.realtor.org/gapublic.nsf/files/hbtaxcreditqa2008.pdf/$FILE/hbtaxcreditqa2008.pdf

Hawaii Voters! Be Informed and Vote Accordingly!

Elections will be held for Honolulu Mayor and City Council Districts 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 in the General Election on Tuesday, November 4, 2008.

This year, the Honolulu Board of REALTORS® has asked the mayoral candidates –
Mufi Hannemann, Donavon Kambel, Jr., Ann Kobayashi, George Nitta, Jr., and Panos Prevedouros—as well as the candidates for City Council, questions relating to the following:

• EMINENT DOMAIN
• FIXED RAIL
• HOUSING AFFORDABILITY
• TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT
• BALANCED BUDGET

Download the 2008 Voters’ Guide for the City and County of Honolulu Races for their responses at:

http://www.hicentral.com/pdfs/2008HBRVotersGuide.pdf

There is also a call for volunteers to join the City Affairs Committee’s “Grassroots Hui”. If you are a REALTOR® and interested in becoming a member, complete the form that is enclosed on the last page of the Voters’ Guide!

A new marina community, Hoakalei, is under development in West Oahu and is planned as an oceanfront resort destination. The first phase of Ka Makana (“the gift”) is currently being built and will be available towards the end of 2008, with a swim club and condominium phase to follow. Beautifully appointed single family model homes are available for previewing. The new Ernie Els championship golf course and Country Club are targeted for completion in November. The resort will ultimately feature numerous shops and restaurants, a ten-story hotel and spa, a beach and canoe club, and marina promenade.

Contact me for more information or use the “Property Search” tool from my website homepage and choose “H” under Subdivision to select Hoakalei-ka Mak – Ewa Beach”.

Selling your luxury home in Honolulu? Include in your marketing portfolio an aerial photograph of your property to add another dimension of the appeal of your home! Contact me for more information.

First installments of the Honolulu Real Property tax bills are due August 20th! In June, the Honolulu City Council finalized the budget for fiscal year 2009 and voted against increasing real property taxes. However, the property tax credit for homeowners was reduced from $200 to $100. Assessment notices sent out last Fall included information on deductions for which an owner qualifies. For example, a standard homeowner’s exemption is $80,000 and increases to $120,000 for homeowners 65 and older who have applied for and obtained the exemption for age. These exemption amounts are deducted from the total assessed value, and this net assessed value is subject to the tax rate. The rate for “Residential” properties remains at $3.29 per $1000 of assessed value of your home. The tax rate for non-residential properties is $12.40 per $1,000 valuation for non-residential properties.

Source: http://www.co.honolulu.hi.us/council/d1/080604pressreleasefinalbudgetjune408.pdf

Want to know who has been in your house? The Honolulu Board of Realtors ® will be implementing the SentriLock Electronic LockBox system this September. The state-of-the-art SentriLock enables accountability to clients and offers numerous advantages over the manual lockboxes that are set manually and rarely changed, creating a security issue. While the Board cannot mandate that all licensed realtors purchase and use the boxes, I am happy to be providing this service to my clients.

The SentriLock Company is majority-owned by the National Association of REALTORS® and REALTORS® sit on the Board of Directors and set its direction. Some of the features of the system include the following:

· The LockBox records every time the key compartment is opened and holds a total history of 70 accesses at any given time. The owner can download all history from a box by using a SentriLock Card that utilizes an embedded chip and requires a personal pin number. If box is left open while showing is conducted, box will record length of time the box was left open.

· The Agent can log onto an online SentriLock System website and view access reports showing who accessed their listing and the time. If a SentriLockCard was used, it will show the name, the name of company, contact phone number and email address.

· Agents can set “Call Before Showing” access on their boxes, this will require all showing agents (with or without a SentriLock card) to request this CBS code.

· Contractor Code – agents can provide contractors with a code that has no limit in time access to your lockbox or you can program a time duration that this code can be used.

· If the agent is unavailable when an interested buyer wants to see the home, the buyer's agent would be granted access to the residence via the lockbox. Outside vendors also could have access to the lockbox.

Want to read more about it? See http://www.hicentral.com/pdfs/Article-REProfessional-MarApr08.pdf. 

What a beautiful day for a race! Light tradwinds, plenty of cloud cover, and numerous volunteers and police officers keeping us safe, enabled successful race conditions early Sunday morning. Thanks to everyone for the encouraging words and support! I finished in 3 hours and 1 minute!