Sonoma Wine Country

My clients can breathe again.

Congress has been wrestling with extending the First Time Homebuyer’s tax credit ever since it became clear that up to 185,000 transactions might not qualify. The problem was that otherwise qualified transactions that met the April 30 contract date were going to fail to meet the “close by June 30″ deadline. It’s the log jam in processsing and the many short sales that were part of this program that are creating delays that have occasionally resulted in transactions being cancelled due to buyers fearing the loss of the credit.

The house passed HR 5623 on June 29 and yesterday the Senate followed suit on a unanimous voice vote. The bill is now on its way to President Obama’s desk for his signature.

Here’s the text of the bill that relates to the credit extension an an exercise in legistative language:

AN ACT

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend the homebuyer tax credit for the purchase of a principal residence before October 1, 2010, in the case of a written binding contract entered into with respect to such principal residence before May 1, 2010, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the `Homebuyer Assistance and Improvement Act of 2010′. SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF HOMEBUYER CREDIT FOR CERTAIN PURCHASES PURSUANT TO BINDING CONTRACTS.

(a) In General- Paragraph (2) of section 36(h) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking `paragraph (1) shall be applied by substituting `July 1, 2010′ and inserting `and who purchases such residence before October 1, 2010, paragraph (1) shall be applied by substituting `October 1, 2010′.

(b) Conforming Amendment- Subparagraph (B) of section 36(h)(3) of such Code is amended by inserting `, and for `October 1, 2010′ after `for `July 1, 2010′. (c) Effective Date- The amendments made by this section shall apply to residences purchased after June 30, 2010.

The NAR did a great job lobbying for this extension.

Here are the Congress-critters who were co-sponsors. If any of them are yours, a thank you note might be in order:

Sponsor: Rep Dahlkemper, Kathleen A. [PA-3] (introduced 6/29/2010)

Cosponsors

Rep Berkley, Shelley [NV-1] – 6/29/2010

Rep Childers, Travis [MS-1] – 6/29/2010

Rep Courtney, Joe [CT-2] – 6/29/2010

Rep Kratovil, Frank, Jr. [MD-1] – 6/29/2010

Rep Levin, Sander M. [MI-12] – 6/29/2010

Rep Lewis, John [GA-5] – 6/29/2010

Rep Titus, Dina [NV-3] – 6/29/2010

Workers in mustard in the Russian River Valley

Weekend wine events in Sonoma County are great fun. You get a chance to interact with the winemakers more closely than on normal wine tour days and there is almost always great food and a festive atmosphere that is created by your fellow wine enthusiasts.  On January 16 and 17, the Russian River Wine Road is putting on their 18th Annual Winter Wineland. It’s a great opportunity to discover the Russian River valley and other appellations outside Healdsburg. If you’re looking for a weekend getaway, this is a great choice.

Let me know if you are going to be attending the Winter Wineland. I’ll talk our Healdsburg Sotheby’s office into having some post-tour snacks on Saturday and arrange a discussion about vineyard property and the economics of the vineyard and winery business.

Participating Winery List  2010

Sonoma.net

I was honored when Greg invited me to participate in HousingStorm.  Sharing some of my Sonoma County knowledge and observations with you will be the focus of my writing here. On my own blog at sonoma.net I often get into charts and data analysis about specific communities and neighborhoods.  I may post a tiny amount of that here, but for the most part, this blog is going to be about wine and vineyards, wild steelhead streams, redwood getaways,  and good ways to completely relax and enjoy a weekend.  I hope I can introduce you to neighborhoods and hamlets you’ve never heard of. The Sonoma County wine country is a very special place that I’d love to share with you.