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What a Mortgage Deduction Reduction Could Do to Home Values

That’s literally the million dollar question. Many of our colleagues think that it will not be passed as the House version did this week. Some have good points and others just wishful thinking.

Many agents have voiced an opinion that the mortgage deduction will be indexed for the higher cost coastal states, but we feel that’s exactly the targeted group this limitation is designed to hit—so we doubt we’ll see relief their. The senate bill may uphold the million dollar cap on mortgage interest—we’ll see.

We’d be surprised if in this administration, a dramatic negative shift in policy towards homeownership would emerge, but then this administration has been anything but predictive.

If it does pass as the House version stands, we’re not as worried about future homeowners—they’ll get over it and only the ones currently looking into buying a home will even know what’s going on. But for the millions of homeowners who bought their homes counting on the tax relief as the only way they can sustain their payments—therein lies the problem.

Assuming our homes are hovering around a median home price of $1,600,000. A buyer today could write down up to $1,000,000 in mortgage interest, which would be $42,174 in interest the first year. With the new proposed plan, that deduction drops in half to $21,087—resulting in an additional tax liability of around $7,380.50 a year, and that equates to as if they purchased a home for $125,000 more than what they had bargained for. Or another way to look at it. Is home prices (not values) on the Peninsula just went up over $125,000 overnight—so much for making more affordable housing.

Most regular folks are still purchasing homes with mortgages, and most mortgages are higher than in the above example. Obviously, the higher the mortgage, the more of a disparity this system creates in the allowable deduction.

What will real home values do? Probably not much since demand still outstrips supply in today’s market (locally). But the market for vacation homes—a huge segment in San Francisco for example—could drop precipitously since there will be NO deduction for second home mortgage interest. So a silver lining exists for the rich, and they could have a great opportunity to buy into vacation homes at diminished prices—all cash of course.

Drew & Christine Morgan are REALTORS/NOTARY PUBLIC in Belmont, CA. with more than 20 years of experience in helping sellers and buyers in their community. They may be reached at (650) 508.1441 or emailed at info@morganhomes.com.

For all you need to know about Belmont, subscribe to this blog right here. You can also follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Mor ganhomesand on Twitter @ https://twitter.com/morganhomes

The information contained in this article is educational and intended for informational purposes only. It does not constitute real estate, tax or legal advice, nor does it substitute for advice specific to your situation. Always consult an appropriate professional familiar with your scenario.

What was Served at the First Thanksgiving?

If you’re like us you might remember being taught the history of Thanksgiving as early as Kindergarten. But recalling those facts some 50 years later has escaped me. That led me to refresh my fading recollections with some interesting facts about the traditional feast. So before you sit down for that annual feast we now call Thanksgiving, only to fall fast asleep from overindulging in the intoxicating tryptophan from Turkey, here’s some of the back story trivia that might just serve to divert a heated political conversation, or a festering sibling rivalry.

The first “Thanksgiving” as we call it today lasted three days, with food festivities and celebration. Today, most families are content on convening for a few football games and a meal that takes five hours to prepare and fifteen minutes to consume.

There seems to be a lot of debate even amongst scholars as to whether or not Turkey was served at the first feast. If not, then what was served at the first Thanksgiving in 1621? The answer is simple—whatever they had in abundance. After all, they were inviting their guests, the Wampanoag tribe to help celebrate their first successful harvest in the New World and they ate whatever was available.

Stories go that the local visiting tribe brought Venison to the feast, clearly abundant at that time and a major staple of the indigenous people, so it’s reasonable to assume venison was probably on the menu. As was no doubt Lobster, clams and mussels as well as other seafood items, being so close to the Atlantic Ocean. Corn would have been out of season by then so it’s unlikely that fresh corn was served, but Flint corn, AKA, dried “Indian Corn” would have most likely made the cut. Other grains and nuts such as chestnuts were most likely there, Hogs were imported to the America’s in the 16^th century so one of the proteins might have been Ham as well. But scholars disagree upon whether or not Turkey would have been served. It seems likely that while not the star of the show as it is today, a wild turkey or other foul would have made it to the feast, so we’re a little unsure about the skepticism on the part of some scholar’s, other than it makes for a good headline.

Potatoes first arrived in the Colonies in 1621 but the first permanent potato patches in North America weren’t established until 1719, so mashed, boiled, roasted or otherwise potatoes no doubt missed the festivities.

What about Pumpkin Pie? Probably not. Though winter squash no doubt was in attendance. Since sugarcane wasn’t imported until around until 1619, and the colonists couldn’t make it grow, it’s doubtful a pie was constructed though it is possible that a sweetened squash of some sort may have been served using molasses or maple syrup.

All this makes one ponder then why do we have all of these so common accoutrements surrounding this famous feast? As it turns out, the author of the poem, Mary Had a Little Lamb, Sara Josepha Hale, had quite a bit to do with it. Inspired by President Washington’s proclamation in 1789 as November 26^th to be the First Thanksgiving Holiday, she lobbied aggressively for years from 1827-1863 to get a day of Thanksgiving recognized as a national holiday, when finally Abraham Lincoln got wind of her plea and used it to his advantage to inspire the country going through a civil war. In October of 1863 Lincoln pronounced that a day of Thanksgiving shall be celebrated on the final Thursday in the month of November. Why the last Thursday? Sara went on to write, “The last Thursday in November has these advantages — harvests of all kinds are gathered in — summer travelers have returned to their homes — the diseases that, during summer and early autumn, often afflict some portions of our country, have ceased, and all are prepared to enjoy a day of Thanksgiving.”

But it was Sara’s writings chronicling what should be including in the feast that jump started what today many Americans serve at the table including mashed potatoes, Turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie.

What about the green beans? You can thank Campbell’s Soup Company for that one. They lobbied hard their recipe to push the sales of their mushroom soup.

But the last Thursday didn’t stick forever. President Franklin Roosevelt in 1939 changed it to one week earlier to allow for an additional week of shopping before Christmas and his timing wasn’t a coincidence—the country was in a middle of a depression.

Finally, in 1941 FDR moved it to the 4^th Thursday in November where it has remained until today.

And our final bit of trivia that we’ll leave you with before you enjoy the Thanksgiving Holiday…

Why is a Turkey called a Turkey?

A popular theory arises from turkeys coming to England from the Americas via merchant ships from the Middle East where they were domesticated successfully. Again the importers lent the name to the bird: because these merchants were called “Turkey merchants” as much of the area was part of the Ottoman Empire. Hence the name “Turkey birds” or, soon thereafter, “turkeys”.

What was served at the first Thanksgiving

Waterdog Tavern in Belmont-What’s in a Name?

Waterdog Tavern

We were delighted as were many Belmont residents with the opening of a new restaurant, Waterdog Tavern in the Carlmont Village Shopping Centre last year. This past Spring, they opened the spacious outdoor area for sociable dining in a “dog friendly” environment, and we now visit frequently with our dog, Wyatt.

If you see us outside with this friendly little guy, stop by to say hello!

One of the questions we often hear: Where did they get the name Waterdog Tavern?

Since Belmont is our home, and we’re quite familiar about our local history, we knew at once where they got the clever name. We asked the owners, Toby and Anne, who often get asked the same question, to weigh in for our readers about the backstory of why they picked the name they did. Enjoy!

Toby McMillan (Owner):

Our family moved to Belmont from Sacramento in 2006. Not long afterwards Anne & I were strolling through Carlmont Village for the first time, when we came upon the outdoor area where the old Carlmont Nursery used to display their huge selection of Japanese Maples. We both remarked how beautiful the space was, and hoped that someday the adjacent restaurant (Hola!) might make arrangements to serve food & beer in the outdoor space – a few picnic tables would be great. I remarked, not very seriously at the time, that if it were ever possible to get both of those spaces, we should jump on the chance.

Fast forward to the Fall of 2015. After seriously searching for a couple of years for the right space to open a new restaurant that had outdoor seating and great parking, Carlmont Nursery and Hola! decided to close their doors within a month of each other. We pinched ourselves that two spaces had become available simultaneously and set out to create a casual, comfortable, warm, inviting restaurant, where the community and those traveling by The Village could gather to enjoy great food & drinks – The Tavern concept was born. Now…what to name it?

We had come up with different names for other concepts, but they were all location specific and would not work with what we had planned for this restaurant. As Belmont residents, we wanted the name to reflect the surroundings and the casualness of the concept. One day I was talking to a friend, and they mentioned they had taken their dog for a walk at Waterdog Lake, and a light bulb went on: Waterdog Tavern! Waterdog Lake is not only a long time Belmont landmark, but is known by folks up & down the Peninsula. To add to that, we had already begun tossing around the idea of making the Beer Garden dog friendly, and with so many local residents walking their dogs at Waterdog Lake on a regular basis it seemed a perfect fit.

Now with that being said, we are aware that the name of Waterdog Lake has nothing to do with dogs, but was coined because the lake (officially named Notre Dame Lake) used to teem with salamanders, and ‘waterdog’ is a salamander nickname. Anne has fond childhood memories of spotting waterdogs in her Grandma’s fountain in Belmont. Having made the decision to make the Beer Garden dog-friendly, we came up with our ‘Shaking Dog’ logo as a bit of a play on words. A recognition of all of the waterdogs that we all know and love, including our Australian Shepard, Buddy… We mean no disrespect to salamanders and have enjoyed sharing our story with guests!

Debbie Wilhelm Drew & Christine Morgan Haifa Khoury Janet Pepe Davis Morganhomes RE/MAX Waterdog Lake Waterdog tavern

Cell Phone Photos Should Be Banned

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then what does an awful picture say?

Putting your home’s best foot forward is of paramount importance to get the positive attention you want when selling your home.

If you stop and think about the role that advertising plays in our culture, one can easily see why it’s important that your home’s advertising is top notch—after all, there’s a reason the top 200 advertisers in the United States collectively, spent a record $137.8 billion on advertising in 2014, up 2% year on year, according to Ad Age’s annual “200 Leading National Advertisers” report, advertising works!

Let’s take just one aspect of the marketing for your home—the photos.

The idea behind photographs in on-line marketing, is to entice potential buyers to come and physically see your home. The photos should be of high quality and resolution and be taken by a professional. The days of using your own camera are gone. So, should the use of cell phones, yet we still see this atrocious practice employed even in our sophisticated market.

The old saying, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”, applies equally to photography. Remember, photos are a vehicle to get people to visit your home, not scare them away. Too much information can be as detrimental as none at all. A professional photographer typically knows the difference, but not always, so we’re still vigilant about filtering out only the shots that best represent a home.

We’ve seen some amazing work by seasoned agents who should clearly know better.

This is one of our favorites. It was on the market for 21 days and yet the agents never took the time to straighten the photo.

In this photo, we can see the agent never even visited the home. They simply took a screen shot of a Google Map (the directional arrow is clearly visible in the photo).

But there are less obvious infractions, like crooked photos, over or under exposed shots and even small minutia like leaving a toilet seat up when shooting the bathroom.

Here’s a home where the agent
took her own photos. Not only were all of them crooked, in this photo of the bathroom she can be seen standing in the mirror with a washed -out flash.

When Photoshop Works Wonders

Let’s face it, the weather doesn’t always cooperate on the day of a shoot. For this home in San Mateo we recently sold, the day came for photographs and the sky was ominously dark. The driveway also had streaks from rain water running down to the street. Here you can see what a few minutes of Photoshop can do to remedy a problem.

When interviewing an agent to sell your home, it’s best to see examples of their work. Avoid the dangers of Adverse Selection and asymmetric information by doing an on-line search for their work in its entirety, not just the examples they’re willing to share.

For all you need to know about Belmont, subscribe to this blog right here. You can also follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Morganhomesand on Twitter @ https://twitter.com/morganhomes

Belmont home values Best Bay Area Deals Coldwell banker Debbie Wilhelm Drew & Christine Morgan Haifa Khoury Hometown Realty Janet Pepe Davis MorganHomes.com Photographers for homes

When Less is More in the Kitchen…

If you’ve ever heard the term “form over function”, this $100,000+ great kitchen defines the term. Sometimes people just have more money than common sense and this kitchen is a great example of putting only the monetary assets one has to use. While on the surface, it looks to be a wildly fantastic kitchen, and we’re sure whomever designed it intended it to deliver just such a wow factor, but clearly they under-baked their ideas when it came to functionality.

One needs to look no further than a professional kitchen layout—kitchens I spent many years in—to learn what makes sense and what is senseless.

A professional kitchen is designed for efficiency, while most home kitchens lean toward aesthetics first, and efficiency a distance second. Both of these chefs will have access to a sink directly behind them on either side of the cook island.

It’s clear to see that the large behemoth island in this designer showcase kitchen would quickly become nothing more than an obstacle to efficiency. In order to get from the stove to the sink one must walk clear around. And where do your guests sit? Not in the way we hope!

Go ahead, add another stick of butter—then put your Fit Bit on and watch you burn those pre-dinner calories.

Drew & Christine Morgan are REALTORS®/NOTARY PUBLIC in Belmont, CA. with more than 20 years of experience in helping sellers and buyers in their community. They may be reached at (650) 508.1441 or emailed at info@morganhomes.com.

For all you need to know about Belmont, subscribe to this blog right here. You can also follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Morganhomes and on Twitter @ https://twitter.com/morganhomes

Fixing up your kitchen

Homeowner’s Face Mandatory Upgrades

Homeowner’s face mandatory upgrades as the state legislature has determined that it’s time for us all to remodel our bathrooms. Well, not just bathrooms, actually any part of your home that contains older plumbing fixtures. Now there’s no excuse to put off that bathroom upgrade you so desperately needed. Of course, everybody knows that changing a plumbing fixture will open Pandora’s box, and of we’ll all then need fancy new bathroom vanities and glass tiled backsplashes to accentuate our new low flow faucet.

In the end this is good for our water conservation efforts, as well as stimulating our economy with hundreds and thousands of remodel projects about to get on the books. How long before you have to take on a multitude of remodel projects? Less than six months it turns out.

Though this new ordinance does not rise to the level of a point of sale requirement, it is a disclosure requirement at the point of sale. It also encourages cities and counties to adopt more stringent rules than the statewide mandated “disclosure only”, so don’t be surprised if a town near you rises this to the level of a new point of sale ordinance, assuring every home for sale would then be outfitted with the latest trendy look.

Below is the text we excerpted from the Civil Code, for your convenience.

(a) On and after January 1, 2014, for all building alterations or improvements to single-family residential real property, as a condition for issuance of a certificate of final completion and occupancy or final permit approval by the local building department, the permit applicant shall replace all noncompliant plumbing fixtures with water-conserving plumbing fixtures.

****(b) On or before January 1, 2017, noncompliant plumbing fixtures in any single-family residential real property shall be replaced by the property owner with water-conserving plumbing fixtures.

****(c) On and after January 1, 2017, a seller or transferor of single-family residential real property shall disclose in writing to the prospective purchaser or transferee the requirements of subdivision (b) and whether the real property includes any noncompliant plumbing fixtures.

(Added by Stats. 2009, Ch. 587, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2010.)

Disclaimer:

The information contained in this article is educational and intended for informational purposes only. It does not constitute real estate, tax or legal advice, nor does it substitute for advice specific to your situation. Always consult an appropriate professional familiar with your scenario.

Adele Della Santina Civil Code Section 1101 Coldwell banker Debbie Wilhelm Drew & Christine Morgan Haifa Khoury Hometown Realty MorganHomes.com RE/MAX Water Conservation

Belmont Tries to Paint the Town Red

THIS JUST RELEASED: Belmont, has hastened its pace to become the leader in paint stores on the Peninsula. When asked what initiated this race for dominance, a senior spokesperson from Belmont said, “Let’s face it, if we can’t compete with San Carlos’ or San Mateo’s dining and entertainment options, we can certainly go after their paint stores. By forcing the unpropitious Holiday Liquor store to close, we’re now just two paint stores shy of besting San Carlos.”

While San Carlos may be known for their wide array of dining options and a vibrant downtown, Belmont continues its goal to reign supreme when it comes to paint stores. “This is great news for the citizens of Belmont, he continued, after all what’s more exciting than paint? Isn’t there even a saying about how fun it is to watch paint dry?”

Yet there’s a real and present threat to the livelihood for stores such as Starbucks and Pete’s Coffee in Belmont. Sherman Williams for example is serving FREE coffee in their establishment, becoming a one-stop-shop for entertainment and refreshments.

The citizens of Belmont are overwhelmingly in favor of more paint stores, with comments like, “Look how colorful their store front is now” and “Who needs more social dining and gathering places when you have some many chic new palates to talk about?”

The much anticipated Water Dog Tavern scheduled to open in September in the Carlmont Shopping Center couldn’t have picked a worse time to go head-to head with more deep-pocket paint stores.

When asked for further comment, a senior spokesperson in Belmont continued “If we can’t “Paint the Town Red”, like our neighboring cities with watering holes and fine dining, by golly we’ll paint it just the same.”

Drew & Christine Morgan are REALTORS/NOTARY PUBLIC in Belmont, CA. with more than 20 years experience in helping sellers and buyers in their community. They may be reached at (650) 508.1441. And sometimes, we just like to poke fun at our own town.

Benjamin Moore Paint in Belmont Carlmont Shopping center Grey's Paint Sherman Williams Paint Waterdog tavern

Belmont to Open its First Golf Course!

“Around 1929, the Belle Monti project fell on financial hard times, and an attempt to salvage the operation was launched by opening the club to the public.”

Belmont Gol Course Belmont Golf Course Belmont home values Drew & Christine Morgan MorganHomes.com

Belmont Ignores a View Ordinance

Belmont, or beautiful mountain (beau mont)–for which this blog is also named– is one of the most unique and charming cities on the peninsula. It’s heavily forested hillsides and undulating hills make for a delightful backdrop against the busy peninsula transportation arteries.

Belmont offers impressive views of San Francisco and the open space around Sugarloaf Mountain, the San Francisco Bay, and on any clear day Mt. Tamalpias, Mt. Diablo and Mt. Hamilton.

Belmont’s attributes are many but its highly coveted views are among the top reason people choose to live in Belmont.

The hills of Belmont weren’t always so heavily wooded as suggested by this rendering–published in “Heritage of the Wooded Hills”A Belmont History, by Ria Elena MacCrisken and available at the Belmont Historical Society. As Belmont neighborhoods developed tress were planted which forever changed the natural foliage into forested hillsides (one needs to look no further than the Watershed open space to see what Belmont’s hills probably looked like before it was populated).

Ironically, Belmont has no view or tree ordinance which regulates whether or not a tree can obstruct the view of a homeowner; one can’t build a structure to block a view but there’s nothing to regulate allowing a tree to grow unchecked into what once was someone’s impressive vista.

Many of the trees in Belmont which grow unattended such as eucalyptus are not indigenous to Belmont and in fact are not protected under Belmont’s existing tree ordinance–yet those are some of the most offensive trees in terms of obstructing views (and they’re pretty messy too).

When living in a society where our existence impacts others it’s essential to have ordinances to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public. We currently have ordinances to protect the quality of life and Belmont should seriously consider adding a view ordinance which will allow for the responsible ownership of trees.

Balancing the rights of a homeowner to maintain their view against that of a nearby property owner to plant and grow trees where they wish is difficult as property ownership rights are always held in high regard–as they should be. Like anything else though, views must be preserved and a balance must be struck between the property ownership rights of both parties.

Are trimming trees counterproductive to living green? Absolutely not. The International Society of Arboriculture not only recommends tree ordinances they go so far as to suggest how to structure one. Furthermore many adjacent towns which benefit from similar views already have such ordinances in place. Cities such as Tiburon and Berkeley, both where property values are substantially affected by their views, have adopted view ordinances to cope with urban tree growth and should serve as a guide to Belmont to act to preserve our declining views.

Disclaimer:

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Pumpkin Pie Strudel for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a great time to get together with friends and family and try out some new recipes. Sure they old standbys are a nice way to pay homage to our parents’ holiday traditions, but we like to mix it up just a little bit at the risk of enraging any stalwart traditionalists.

If you’ve been on our mailing list for over a year, you already know about our famous Upside Down Pumpkin & Pecan Pie recipe we call “Piece of Cake Pumpkin Pie”, in reference to the pecan and cake crust which is used, as well as the simplicity of the recipe.

But last year, we added something new from, once again, Michael Symon. It’s a light Pumpkin Strudel, and also simple to make . If you’re not up for making a large batch of pies, or just want something new, this will do the trick.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Total Time:

45 min

Prep:

30 min

Inactive Prep:

—

Cook:

15 min

Level:

Easy

Yield:

12 servings

INGREDIENTS

FILLING:
One 15-ounce can pumpkin
One 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
12 sheets frozen phyllo dough (18- by 14-inch rectangles), thawed
2/3 cup butter, melted
1 cup chopped pecans
3 tablespoons turbinado sugar, or other coarse sugar
2 tablespoons honey, for serving
Whipped cream, for serving, optional [who said optional?]

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

For the filling: Combine the pumpkin, cream cheese, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger and nutmeg in a small bowl. Mix until nearly uniform and set aside.

Place 2 sheets of the phyllo on top of one another and brush the top sheet with some of the butter. (Keep the remaining phyllo dough covered with plastic wrap to prevent it from becoming dry and brittle.)

Cut the 2 layered sheets of phyllo lengthwise to create 2 long strips. Place a well-rounded tablespoon of the filling about 2 inches from the end of the dough strip.

To shape, fold the bottom edge of the phyllo up and over the filling. Fold in the sides and roll up to encase the filling, brushing the exposed dry phyllo with some of the butter as you roll. Place the rolled phyllo on a baking sheet, seam-side-down. Brush the top of the phyllo with some of the butter. Repeat with the remaining ingredients. Sprinkle the tops of the phyllo with pecans and turbinado sugar. Bake until the phyllo is golden brown, about 15 minutes. Serve the phyllos warm drizzled with the honey and topped with whipped cream if using.

Recipe courtesy of Michael Symon

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