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May 2004
Real Estate Update

Rates Rise, But Sales Remain Strong

      In late April mortgage rates reached their high for the year, 5.94 percent plus .7 points, according to Freddie Mac. In essence, rates are now somewhat higher than the levels we saw in early January.
      While rates in the current marketplace are now rising, they are rising relative to lows unseen for decades. One result is that sales of both existing and new homes remain strong in most communities.
      So what will happen to prices and sales as rates rise? It's a local

Mortgage Rates

Source: Realty Times

U.S. averages as of April 29, 2004:

30 yr. fixed:   6.01%
15 yr. fixed:   5.35%
1 yr. adj:        3.75%

question -- speak with your real estate broker and ask about sales and prices in your immediate community. In particular look at the local job market, building restrictions and population growth.

The Taxing Matter of Points

    With so much financing and refinancing underway, one has to ask: Are points deductible? The rules for points vary, but in general terms they look like this:
      If you buy a home and pay a point at closing, the point is deductible in the year paid.
      If you buy a home and the seller pays the point, the point is deductible as a marketing expense to the owner -- and as an acquisition cost to the buyer. When the buyer sells, the value of the point can be used to reduce any profit from the sale.
      If you refinance and pay a point, the point may be deducted over the life of the loan.
     As always with tax questions, speak with a CPA, enrolled agent or tax attorney about specifics.

Computer Screens Change Home Design

Since computers first evolved as common household appliances space has always been an issue. Early computers the size of suitcases were deemed "portable" because they had handles. But today we not only have traveling laptops, we have something else: flat-panel or LCD screens, a few inches wide that take up little or no desk space.
In terms of household decor, such screens can radically change the notion of home offices. No longer do you need a desk as large as a piano to hold a huge and heavy monitor. Instead, combine a laptop with a flat-panel monitor and printer and there's your home office. A table or shelf in any room can now become a computer center.

What To Do With That
Tax Refund

    If you were one of the lucky citizens to receive a tax refund this year from one part of the government, another part has some ideas regarding how you can spend the money to improve household safety. Here are several suggestions from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission:
     Install and maintain new smoke detectors and CO detectors.
     Purchase fire extinguishers for the kitchen.
     Have a professional electrician inspect your home's electrical wiring system. This should be done every 10 years.
     Have an electrician install ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs) in rooms where water could be present.      Install safety latches and locks on cabinets and drawers so children cannot gain access to medicines and cleaners.
     Window blind cord safety tassels can help prevent strangulation in the loops of cords.
     Get anti-scald devices for regulating water temperature to help prevent burns.
    Spring-loaded lid supports can prevent the lid of chests used to store toys from falling on a child's neck or from closing and trapping a child inside the chest.
     Outlet covers and outlet plates can protect children from electric shock or electrocution.
     Use helmets when riding on bicycles, scooters, and skates.

Equal Housing
Opportunity

Terry Denoux, P.C. Broker
Cellular: (541) 350-2921
Web: http://www.gobend.com
E-mail: terryd@gobend.com

RE/MAX Equity Group
235 SE Wilson Ave.
Bend, OR 97702

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