Brookfield Homes

The California Tax Credit for a New home purchase is HOT!

In the first 13 days of the California Tax Credit for buying a New home, 1,188 people have submitted an application to the Franchise Tax Board. Their total credit request is almost $11.6 million! If this pace holds true, buyers of New homes in California will exhaust the State’s allocation of $100 million in total tax credit by July of this year!

Is that a surprise? Look at the historic low interest rates, the Low pricing on New homes and the increased loan amounts allowed under Fannie, Freddie, FHA and VA. It all adds up to some of the best affordability rates seen in California in a long time! Now is a great time to buy a New home!

Tax Credits are Hot!

And, if you are a first time home buyer, with a joint total income of $150,000 or less, you may also qualify for the Federal Tax Credit of $8,000! Please visit your local Brookfield Homes sales office and let our professional Sales Counselors help you make a great deal today!

Why? Because Tax Credits are Hot!

Brookfield Home Owners

Who is the “Top Homebuilder in San Diego, California“? Who is the “Best Homebuilder in San Diego, California”? I guess that really depends on who you ask and how they justify their answer.

I want to make the case that Brookfield Homes is the Best Homebuilder in San Diego. My justification is not based on the total number of houses sold or the highest amount of revenue generated. Those measuring sticks are great for “industry ranking”. Home buyers in San Diego want the best home for their money and their family. We at Brookfield, take the time and effort to consider these values, and more!

What sets Brookfield Homes apart from other home builders is our philosophy and implementation. Our philosophy starts with the planning of our communities. Brookfield is a master planned community developer and builder. We do more than build your home, we build your neighborhood and your community.

Before Brookfield acquires a property for development, we investigate the surrounding neighborhoods, the schools, recreational amenities, public facilities (like libraries, fire stations and parks), commercial facilities and the infrastructure situation. We talk with community groups and local jurisdictions to better understand the current neighborhoods and their needs. Then, we start to look at how the property being considered fits into the existing situations.

Once we commit to a piece of property, we engage the local community and other interested parties, to help us design the new master plan. We coordinate with the local city to facilitate infrastructure needs and identify areas of concern. We do all this leg-work before we start the technical side of the planning and engineering.

We use this same philosophy when we begin to design new neighborhoods for our new master plan. We spend hours, days and weeks going through architectural design concepts and use focus groups to help us hone in on the best floor plans for our new homes. Once the conceptual work is done, we move on to the implementation phase. We work with our contracting partners and coordinate a plan review with our construction team to reduce design and construction conflicts.

We integrate architectural design, interior design and landscaping design on paper, before we put a shovel in the ground. We look at the house from every angle, perspective and point of view. We focus on live-ability, flow through the home and comfort for the future residents. We want to build homes that people want to live in.

Our construction process is unique. We go above and beyond other companies’ standards. We quality walk our homes at every stage of construction. We focus on the design aspects, and equally important, the “behind the walls stuff”. You can see many of these features at www.expectmoreinahome.com.

Our Quality Assurance Manager is a stickler for detail. His 300+ point checklist is his bible and he is very picky. Our Customer Service Team is second to none. We focus on getting things done right and doing them right the first time. We are there for our home buyers and we proudly stand by our homes.

Awards are a nice way of showing off your design and marketing prowess. And, Brookfield has won lots of awards. We have Home of the Year Awards from local, state and national organizations. However, the best award we can ever receive is the letter from a happy home owner telling us that we exceeded their expectations and how they are happy and proud to recommend Brookfield Homes to all their friends.

When you measure the Best Homebuilder in San Diego or the Top Homebuilder in San Diego, remember to ask who did the measurement of best and what was their guideline for judging. If your criteria is the Best or Top Homebuilder for you and your family, Brookfield Homes will always be at the top of the list!

Are we there yet?

Are we there yet?

MDA Data Quick reported yesterday that the overall median price of a San Diego home went UP in February. This is the first time in ten months, and prior to that blip, you need to look back to June of 2007 to find a month-over-month increase in median home prices.

You also have to look back to June of 07 to find the last year-over-year decrease in the number of sales for a given month. That means the number of homes sold in San Diego county has increased every month (compared to the same month a year before) for 20 consecutive months. This is good news for San Diego real estate sales!

The San Diego Association of Realtors said there were 14,733 active listings as of yesterday. A similar comparison would take you back to January 2006 to find a number that low. Even with 52% of the home sales coming from foreclosed homes in February of 2009, you have to go back 3 years to find a time when the number of homes listed for sale was lower than what was reported yesterday.

The Realtors also said the number of listing represented about a 7.3 month inventory for available homes in San Diego. In February of 2008, the inventory stood at 13.7 months! As inventory continues to drop and sales continue to rise, the balance between the number of homes available and the number of buyers looking for homes will flip. Traditionally, a 5 to 6 month inventory is called a “balanced inventory”.

Add into this mix, historically low mortgage rates, State and Federal tax credits for buying homes and increased loan limits. The more you look at the trends, the more likely you are to agree, were are reaching stability in the San Diego home market. And, the opportunities presented by this market are quickly being absorbed.

So what does this all mean? Well, I come back to my first question in this post … Are we there yet?

Your Stimulus!

The California $10,000 Tax Credit for the purchase of a new home has made a lot of news lately.

The increase in conforming loan rates by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA and VA have also brought home buyers back into the sales offices.

Now, we see the impact of falling interest rates. Chief Economist, Frank Nothaft from Freddie Mac announced that the 30 year fixed rate mortgage averaged 5.03% during this past week. This is good news!

That means for a home priced at $400,000, with good credit and a 3.5% down payment (loan amount = $386,000), your loan payment would be less than $2,100 per month (P&I only). This is for an FHA loan. For a VA loan (no down payment) you payment would be around $2,150 per month (P&I only).

If you buy a new home in California, you would be eligible for a $10,000 State Tax Credit. If your family income is less than $150,000 and you have not owned a home in the last 3 years, you may also be eligible for an $8,000 Federal Tax Credit. If you want to buy a home where your loan amount would be over $417,500, but less than $697,500 (in San Diego County), your rate would go up to 5.25%.

But, timing is important! According to the Franchise Tax Board, $6,987,515 of State Tax Credit has been applied for by 711 new home buyers, through March 11, 2009

With home prices back at 2002 levels (or lower), historically low mortgage interest rates, higher conforming loan amounts and up to $18,000 in tax credits, can you think of a better time to buy a new home? Many people are taking advantage of these “Buyer Friendly” market factors. And, many builders are reporting increased sales so far this year. Is this the right time for you? Stop by a Brookfield Homes sales office and let our professional sales counselors walk you through the decision making process. They will help you find the home of your dreams!

$10000 CA Tax Credit

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act brought us an $8,000 Federal Tax Credit and higher loan limits.

The $10,000 California State Tax Credit came from SB 15 and was part of the State Budget compromise.

Put these programs together and you may be eligible to receive up to $18,000 in State and Federal Tax credits along with a higher conforming loan amount. Buyers are beginning to understand the potential of these stimulus packages.

In the first three (3) days of the $10,000 California State Tax Credit, the Franchise Tax Board received over 170 requests for certification of the tax credit. The amount requested was over $1.7 million! That’s a lot of buyers, paying a lot of attention to the new stimulus legislation!