REAL ESTATE REALITY
ATTENTION: First-Time Home Buyers!
Clearwater, FL (March 2009) - The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 authorizes a tax credit of up to $8,000 for qualified first-time homebuyers that purchase a home between January 1, 2009 and December 1, 2009 and that they will occupy as their main or primary residence.
Even though this tax credit only counts for a primary residence, it may be a single family home such as a townhome, condominium, villa, manufactured home and even houseboats.
A first-time home buyer is defined as anyone that has not owned a home for three years prior to the current purchase of a home. This means that if a married couple would like to qualify for this program, that neither of them could have owned a home for three years.
Depending also on your income, the tax credit is equal to 10% of the purchase price up to a maximum of $8,000. There are income limitations that apply and can lower or eliminate the tax credit, depending on how much money the buyer makes.
It is very easy to claim the tax credit; you simply claim it on your federal income tax return!
Clearwater, FL (February 2009) - Did you know that a local Clearwater company has prevented over a quarter of a million non-destructible, non-degradable laser toner cartridges from being thrown into landfills?
Malvern Group Cartridge Services has been providing Tampa Bay businesses with name brand and remanufactured toner cartridges for over a decade. They collect your empties and send them off to be remanufactured by an ISO 9001 certified and STMC Independent lab (that tests for yields, print quality and reliability) certified manufacturer.
When they collect your empties, they bring a high quality cartridge to replace it. They not only make it easy to be green, they save you up to 50% over the name brand cartridge. Malvern says it cannot be a mistake to save meaningful dollars if you don’t sacrifice yield, dependability and quality. Malvern’s warranty is provided in writing. “We stand behind our products 100% say, Mike & Lynn Farrell”, owners of Malvern.
Malvern is also an Authorized Samsung Copier and Kobra Shredder dealer here in Tampa Bay. They also offer copier, fax, and laser printer repair. Don’t be so quick to toss a well-built laser printer into a landfill. Often times a simple repair is all it needs.
Do you want to survive and be able to experience expansion while everybody else believes this is the worst economic crisis ever – and is set to last for the rest of their life? If your answer is yes, then follow these 3 steps:
RULE NUMBER ONE:
IF YOU KNOW YOUR HISTORY, YOU HAVE NO REASON FOR WORRY! The current economic crisis is just a repetition of the past. Don’t you remember “Black Monday”? It refers to Monday, October 19, 1987, when stock markets around the world crashed. The Black Monday decline was the largest one-day percentage decline in stock market history. But all world stock markets rallied in less than 1.5 year.
Moving forward, you may recall the 1991-1992 world crisis right after the Gulf War: huge peaks in oil prices, a steep decline in the commercial real estate market and a credit crisis (following the infamous savings and loan collapses of the late 1980s). This crisis ended in 1994 and world stock markets hit top values in less than 2 years.
Clearwater, FL (Feb. 4, 2009) - This is an interesting question that I’ve been asked several times recently, so I finally called the Property Appraiser’s Office to find out for myself.
Now, before I tell you the answer, I want to clarify a few terms.
Appraised Value – This is done by an Appraiser hired to determine the value of a home when it has been sold, when it is being re-financed, or to determine the market value of a home.
Just Market Value – This is the term the Property Appraiser’s Office uses for the fair market value of a property. (This is usually broken up into two parts—the Just Market Land which is how much your land is currently worth, and Just Market Improved which is how much your home or building, is worth currently without the land value. Then there is Total Assessment, and it’s the two values added together.
Where everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came...
One of Downtown’s not so best kept secrets...
Clearwater FL, December 31, 2008 - Angie’s Restaurant, located on the corner of Myrtle and Cleveland St. has been serving Clearwater delicious home cooked meals for over 35 years.
Angie Chaconas, who took over the diner in the 70’s, gave the restaurant to her son Louis roughly 11 years ago. “Yes, I own it,” states Louis. “But Mom’s still in charge.” Retirement planning does not exist for Angie Chaconas who proudly expressed that she finds joy in hard work. With so much to do in running a restaurant, and making sure each customer is served a hot homeâcooked meal, leaving with a full belly and a smile of their face; happiness at Angie’s is not in short supply.
Prior to the Myrtle Ave. and Cleveland Streetscape construction project (3 years ago), Angie’s Restaurant was open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. However, with the rerouting of traffic away from Cleveland Street and road closures, less customers came and Angie’s Restaurant reduced their hours; closing at 3:00pm. Now that the construction is over and Downtown Clearwater is seeing increased traffic, popular demand from customers warranted the decision to increase the restaurant hours to stay open until 8:00pm. “There used to be a time…” Angie