Pasadena CA Real Estate

There are two things that make Bradley Court stand out in Monterey Hills.

First, it’s the only PUD (Planned Unit Development) in Monterey Hills. It consists of 16 spacious homes with their own garages and their own individual style.

Second, built in 2001, Bradley Court is the last property complex built on the hill, making it the newest.

These beautiful PUD style homes offer majestic views and a lot of interior space. Most are 3 bedrooms and 3 baths with over 1,600 sq. ft. A little private yard, a gourmet kitchen, bathroom with a spa are just some of the amenities of Bradley Court.

Bradley Court homes were selling originally in the $800,000 range. There was a recent sale, a short sale, that closed a few months ago for $655,000. Because there are only 16 units in this very small Monterey Hills complex, it’s very rare to see a Bradley Court come up for sale on the Montere Hills real estate market.

Feel free to check the current available Monterey Hills listings here.

READ MORE: Monterey Hills Complex Overview

Monterey Hills Real Estate Market Report May through July 2008

by Brian Brady

Weird things are happening in the mortgage-backed securities market.  Strong
buying, in the 30 year-fixed rate loans, has dropped rates .25% since my last
report,  The ARM rates, however, have RISEN.  A weird phenomenon, indeed.  I’m
only quoting two loan programs (the others make no sense):

Pasadena Mortgage rates  for August 29, 2008.  Loan amounts up to
$417,000:

5/1 ARM              5.750%

30 Year Fixed      6.125%

All rates offered to the borrower with 1 point cost.  Rate quotes assume
a purchase transaction with a 20% down payment, 720 credit score, and full
income qualification.  Rates are subject to fluctuation.  Custom rate quotes and
rate lock advice are available by calling (858)-777-9751.

Short-term, this is about as good as it gets.  I think we’ll see some higher
rates, in the next 7-10 days, with rates coming back down to this level by the
end of September.  I’m befuddled for the 3 month trend so I’ll stay neutral.

PASADENA MORTGAGE RATE TREND:

Next 7 days:      Higher 

Next 30 days:     Neutral

Next 3 months:    Lower? (I’m
stumped)

Originally
posted on MillionaireRealEstateLender.com

I was just reading Petrea Burchard’s post about a Pasadena bungalow that she photographed and was reflecting on the fascination that many of us have over these beautiful bungalows that make Pasadena so special.

What draws us to these homes?  Is it because they were so affordable and yet so beautiful?  Most of the homes in the Bungalow Heaven historic landmark district literally came out of the box.  In the early 1900s, you could buy a bungalow kit from Sears Roebuck if you lived on the East coast or on the West coast from The Ready Cut Bungalow Company.  These bungalow kit homes were priced from as little as $650.  Of course, the owners needed to throw in an extra $150 towards plumbing fixtures and a lot of sweat labor.

Or, is it because a lot of these Pasadena bungalows, also known as, California Bungalows, were built in the early 1900 when the Pasadena population was growing at an enormously fast rate?  Pasadena’s Bungalow Heaven saw its population quadruple to 45,000 in 1920 from 10,000 in 1900.

I think that our love for the Pasadena bungalow is simply due to the simplicity and beauty of the bungalows design – kit or no kit.

So what is a Bungalow kit home?

Rosemary Thornton, co-author of the book about kit houses answers:

“Kit homes were sold via mail order catalogs and shipped to the wanna-be homeowner in about 10,000 pieces. These complex do-it-yourself kits came with a 75-page instruction book that told you how all those pieces went together. Kit home companies promised that a man “of average abilities” could build his own kit home in about 30-90 days.”

Can you imagine ordering your home on-line and then having to go through a 75-page manual and 10,000 separate pieces to put it together?  To me, that is a monumental achievement! 

So maybe, it’s not only the charm of these Pasadena bungalows that have us enthralled, but the love and strength that it took to build them, to achieve that ultimate dream – a dream of homeownership, that keeps us in awe.

PS The photo above is a home on Holliston Avenue in Historic Highlands.  It is not a kit box house.  I just think it is one of the more beautiful craftsman homes in Pasadena.  I’ve taken the liberty to post it here.  I will be posting photos of California Bungalow homes in this post later. 

San Gabriel real estate market has been holding pretty steady without any major variances over the last few months. The least expensive home on the market in San Gabriel right now is $299,000 and the most expensive home for sale is $2,195,000.

Interestingly, the number of homes on the market has dropped for both Single Family Residences (SFR) and Townhomes. This drop is due to more buyers opening escrows in July for SFR and more properties being taken off the market for Townhomes – a possible indication of foreclosures and unsuccessful short sales.

San Gabriel Real Estate Housing Data:

Data taken from ITEC (Pasadena Foothills Association MLS service)

If you are interested in beginning your search for a San Gabriel home, please click on the search home link here.

For weekly updates on San Gabriel real estate market activity, please feel free to request market analysis reports with detailed information by clicking here. These reports are gathered and updated by Altos Research and will be emailed to you with my compliments.

Posted by Irina Netchaev 626-627-7107

Federal Tax Withholding Rules (IRS Form W-4)

The vast majority of U.S. taxpayers allow the U.S. government to withhold more from their paychecks than is necessary to cover their tax bill due in April the following year. This is largely due to not understanding the tax withholding rules, so the proper number of withholding allowances can be claimed and thus avoid over-withholding.

Each year the IRS has to send some 80 million tax payers refunds totaling $120 billion dollars in excess withholding. This averages some $1,500 per taxpayer. This excess withholding money earns no interest and therefore costs these taxpayers some $6 billion in interest each year!

Many potential Pasadena homebuyers are prevented from buying homes each year because they cannot come up with an extra $100 to $500 per month above their present rental payments. There are also a number of homeowners who would like to move up to more expensive homes, that could use some additional monthly take home pay.

In both of these situations, it may be important to know the tax withholding rules, as these individuals may be able to increase the number of withholding allowances they claim on their W-4 tax withholding certificate. (See sample W-4 that follows.).

Contrary to popular belief the number of withholding allowances any individual may claim at their place of work is not their family size (nor 14 as many people believe). They are allowed to claim up to a maximum of 99 withholding allowances, as long as they have the tax deductions to back up the claim.

An individual on W-4 withholding can claim an allowance for himself, one for each dependent and one more for each $3,000 of tax deductions, over the standard tax deduction barrier. These tax deductions may include interest payments on mortgages for first and second homes, real estate taxes, moving expenses (if itemizing), charitable contributions (if itemizing), alimony, medical bills (above the deductible amount), some individual retirement accounts, some child care expenses and some stock or business losses.

READ MORE: Federal Tax Breaks to Owning Real Estate

If you need additional monthly income to be able to purchase a home, I recommend that you arrange an appointment with an accountant or CPA who can advise you of the proper number of withholding allowances to claim.

However, the following general rules may be helpful in illustrating that you may claim extra withholding allowances for the purchase of a home. This, in turn, would give you more monthly take home pay in order to be able to budget the home.

GENERAL WITHHOLDING RULES:

• One additional withholding allowance may be claimed for every $3,000 of itemized tax deductions, once the taxpayer has enough tax write-offs to itemize. This amount is in addition to withholding allowances for family size. ($5,450 is the minimum amount of deductions for a single taxpayer to itemize and $10,900 is the minimum amount for married couples to itemize).

• Individuals may claim as many tax withholding allowances as they desire, up to a maximum of 99, as long as their actual tax deductions support the claim. IRS tax rules state that you must pay 90% of your tax bill in advance each year, or you may incur tax penalties in the form of interest charges on the unpaid advance taxes.

• Each additional withholding allowance claimed by the individual on the W-4 withholding certificate, will result in less money being withheld from that individual’s paycheck by the employer. The actual amount of additional take home pay will depend on the individual’s tax bracket. If the tax bracket were 28%, each additional withholding allowance claimed would shelter $3,000 of income. Therefore, 28% x $3,000 = a tax savings of $840 per year or $70 per month, for each extra allowance claimed. Three such additional allowances would generate close to $210 per month in extra take home pay!

• The employer does not have the right to tell the employee how many tax withholding allowances to claim. This is up to the individual. However, many large companies provide someone to help the individual estimate how many tax allowances to claim.

• The purchase of a home usually entitles an individual to claim extra withholding allowances on his W-4 and therefore, receive more monthly take home pay. The exception would be when the home purchase and the resulting deductions are not large enough to itemize.

Information courtesy of Jeff Elias.

As a real estate agent working in and around Pasadena California, I am constantly getting phone calls from buyers looking for great deals.

If you are looking for a real estate deal, you came to the right place. I will be posting my “Dusty Deals” by area on a monthly basis right here for your review.

What is a “Dusty Deal” list? It is a list of real estate for sale including homes, condos and townhomes that have been on the market for over 100 days. Are all of these great deals? Not necessarily. BUT, the seller has been actively marketing their homes for a very long time and is probably ready to deal.

Why are these homes on the market still? The most likely reason is that they were overpriced to begin with. The first few weeks of marketing a home for sale are the most critical weeks for any seller. If the property is overpriced, or not marketed correctly, it gets stale. Local real estate agents ignore these homes and avoid showing them to their buyers. Potential home buyers look these homes up on the internet, but wonder what is wrong with these homes since they didn’t sell.

My take on this is, if you are looking for a deal, these homes are the best place to start. Why? Home sellers are tired of showing their homes and most are ready to NEGOTIATE their price and SELL!

READ MORE: Dusty Deals List for August 08 – Pasadena, Alhambra, South Pasadena, Monterey Hills, Altadena, Sierra Madre, Arcadia and San Marino

So here’s a list of homes for sale in San Marino that have been on the market for over 100 days:

As you’re going through the list, please look at the last column titled DOM (Days on the Market). This will tell you how many days these homes have been on the market.

If you are interested in getting more information about any of these home listings, please call me at 626-204-3340 or email me at Irina@Irina4RealEstate.com.

You can also search all San Marino homes for sale by clicking here.

Temple Terrace is a beautiful complex in Monterey Hills. It is very unique for the area since it consists of both condos and townhomes. It is located on Via Marisol, but the postal address is Temple Terrace.

There are 75 condos and 47 townhomes in this complex. It is beautifully landscaped and has mature trees and lush foliage. As you walk around the complex, you almost get a resort-like, almost cottage-like feel.

It is the only complex on the hill that has gas range/ovens. Everything else in Monterey Hills is electric. So if you like to cook with gas and live in Monterey Hills this complex is for you.

Amenities include a pool and a spa and home owner association fees are some of the lowest in Monterey Hills. HOA dues include water, gardening, cable TV & trash service.

There’s plenty of guest parking available throughout Temple Terrace although the townhomes have a 2-car attached garage and most condos come with 2 subterranean parking spaces.

Monterey Hills is a great place to live and is only minutes away from Old Town Pasadena, downtown LA, Paseo Colorado, the USC Health Sciences Campus and the Gold Line.

As of August 15, 2008, there is only one townhome on the market:

853 Temple Terrace, Monterey Hills 2 bedrooms/2 baths $429,000

It is nice and bright with beautiful views of the hills from each room.

READ MORE: Monterey Hills Overview

READ MORE: Top 10 Condo Buying Tips

Search for Monterey Hills condos

San Marino’s real estate activity has been holding steady in the month of August. We actuallly saw an increase in the number of San Marino homes that opened escrow, from 8 in June to 13 in July.

The number of homes on the market in July remained at 41 with 14 new San Marino listings coming on the market.

Looking at the 12 San Marino homes that actually closed escrow in July, the sales price to listing price ratio is pretty close – 98.23% – meaning that most homes sold close to asking price. Interestingly enough, we’re still seeing multiple offers in San Marino. Three of the 12 homes sold OVER asking:

Both 1740 Hilliard and 1846 Lorain Road were sold after a price adjustment and being on the mrket for several months. Once the prices were adjusted, both homes pretty quickly at full asking price. A lot to be said for correctly pricing your home.

May 2008 to July 2008 San Marino Housing Statistics:

Data taken from ITEC (Pasadena Foothills Association MLS service)

READ MORE: San Marino Real Estate Market Housing Report for August 2008

If you are interested in beginning your search for a San Marino home, please click on the search home link here.

For weekly updates on San Marino real estate market activity, please feel free to request market analysis reports with detailed information by clicking on the Real Estate Market Reports here. These reports are gathered and updated by Altos Research and will be emailed to you with my compliments.

Posted by Irina Netchaev 626-627-7107