All Things PS Real Estate

Thursday, December 31, 2009

Happy New Year

[caption id="attachment_140" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Happy 2010"][/caption]

Wishing you and yours a New Year full of Promise.

Michael Layton, PShouseblog.com

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Property Tax Exemption For Families

[caption id="attachment_129" align="alignleft" width="92" caption="Sun "][/caption]In Riverside County California - the county where Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley are located, property transfers between family members are exempt from property tax reassessment. Called proposition 58 this law allows for the transfer of Real Property between Parents and Children and Grandparents and Grandchildren without a change to the tax basis of the property.

A claim for this exemption must be made within three years of the date of transfer.

If you have other property tax questions or Real Estate issues in Riverside County please feel free to contact me at 760-408-5300 Michael Layton, GRI, e-PRO Realtor

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Riverside CA - The Mission Inn

Located about 50 miles West of Palm Springs the city of Riverside has its' attractions as well. One of the best know is the Festival of Lights at the Mission Inn. Check out the video I shot on December 17th 2009.







If the video above makes you want to know more about the Mission Inn check out this video:






Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Market Gains In Palm Springs Area

Stylized Sun
Sunny Palm Springs
Year over year Stats show impressive Gains in the Palm Springs - Coachella Valley Market area.






























 November 2008Novemebr 2009Change +/-
For sale8,9836,925-2,058
Under Contract531934+403
Sold523657+134


With  a decrease of 22.9% in available inventory and and an increase of 75.9% in listings
going under contract  the Market is moving in the
right direction.

For specific neigborhood breakdowns please feel free tocontact me at michael@psagent.com

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Indio Hosts Worlds' Largest Tamale Festival

The first weekend in December, in 2009 this means December 5-6, always brings a Unique event to the valley. Since 1992 the City of Indio has hosted the Indio International Tamale Festival. If you have never tried Tamales this woud be the perfect time to try one. Did you know that they even make sweet tamales? I did not learn that until I moved to the Palm Springs area in the 90's. Trust me they are delicious.[caption id="attachment_109" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Mexican Flag"][/caption]

Part food festival, part carnival, part state fair this great event has something for everyone. rides, games, live entertainment, a Parade and of course the food! The Guinness Record holder for largest Tamale and biggest tamale festival the event is covered by national media and is great fun for all.

For more information go here Indio International Tamale Festival

Lease Land And Fee Land Explained

When looking at property in the Palm Springs CA area you will often encounter the terms Fee Land or Lease Land. The term Fee always sends up peoples red flags but the reality is that you need to watch for Lease land. Fee Land comes from the term Fee Simple Ownership. Although that sounds like reverse logic it is just real estate lingo for paying for land and owning it outright. You pay your "simple fee" and assume full ownership rights to the land. Your obligation after that is property tax only.

Not so in Lease Land which actually comes from the term Leasehold. In Lease Land scenarios you
never own the land. People are sometimes further confused because vacant lease land parcels will sometimes be offered for sale - at what may seem like a fair price for the land. Buyer beware because in a leasehold situation you are only purchasing the right to pay the lease. You become the lessee, bound to the payment structure and terms of the lease. All leases are different. Some are owned by huge groups of people with very small fractional ownership rights and others are owned by a few people sometimes just one person. Leases can also be held by private companies.

People frequently ask about the physical structure on the property. Yes, it can be and is sold to you. No, you cannot remove it. Technically anything done to the land is considered a “leasehold” improvement and the beneficiary of that improvement is the leaseholder. I have seen leases with clauses that state the leaseholder is allowed to inspect the property and require you to maintain it to certain standards. Even though I have never heard of anyone having a leaseholder inspection that language is in the lease.

Another issue is taxation. People often say that they think that they should not be taxed for the value of the lease land that their home sits on. The government sees it differently. The IRS has ruled that in the case of lease land with a structure on it they can tax the person who is enjoying the “benefit” of the leased property. This effectively gets them around the fact that they cannot tax the Indian Tribes who control a large percentage of the lease land in the Coachella Valley.

In the case of Short sales or Foreclosures on a home located on lease land the leaseholder is going to be like any other creditor. They will be in line and must sign off on any agreement for debt forgiveness or transfer of the property. In fact the leasehold has right superior to the lender in many cases. This of course adds another step to these complex procedures.

So what is the benefit of buying on Lease Land? Primarily you are getting more structure for less
People Want to Know!
money. Since you are not paying for the land upfront - basically a lease is pay as you go - the amount of money you are paying is for the structure alone. This affords you a larger home for less money than one on Fee Land where the seller is trying to recoup some of the cost of the land. Then there are also cases where a particular property is very desirable from a location and/or view standpoint and people simply want it. The compromise for living there is that you have to pay the lease.

Coming soon… What is a short lease? If you have any questions about lease land properties in the Coachella Valley please feel free to e-mail me.