Elaine Luong's Real Estate Blog

3026 Suter street oakland, CA 94602

• Built in 1918 • Totally Remodel in 2011 • Approx. 1213 sq. ft. • Approx. 3500 sq. ft. lot • 1 Story Home • Cozy 3 Bedroom & 2 full Bath • Travertine stone floors • Living Room / Kitchen Combo • Master Bedroom • Dining Room • Kitchen with Stainless Steel Appliances

This cute cottage style property is located in an awesome Laurel area. This fabulous house offers the openness and amenities more of a Contemporary home with its fine craftsmanship. This house features 3 spacious bedrooms and 2 full baths, totally remodel: new dark wood type floors, new furnace, water heater, electrical, plumbing, and dual pane windows throughout. New phone lines, cable satellite wire, cat 4 (internet), and new roof. Open space living room and dining room, great open kitchen well-equipped with stainless steel appliances, granite counter-top, and gas range cook-top with built-in maple cabinets.

This property has it all, great for first time homebuyers or investors!

For private tour or more information or to submit an offer, call:

$285,000
OPEN HOUSE
July 24, 2011
2 PM – 4 PM

Elaine Luong
License #01292225
 Realty World – Blue Property Group
Phone: 415-806-4699 Fax: 510-225-1765
 Email: eluong@realtyworld-blue.com
www.elainerealestate.com
MLS #40534113

Seller nor seller’s agent does not warrant nor assume responsibility for the accuracy of lot size, square footage, or other information provide by Seller or obtained from public records or other sources. Buyer should verify all information through appropriate professional and personal inspections.

Here’s something I came across from my CPA and would like to share it with everyone.

President Obama signed Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job  Act of 2010 on December 17 last year.  The first noticeable impact of the Act should be temporary employee payroll tax cut by 2% e.g. from 6.2% to 4.2%.  

Before the changes, Federal Insurance Contribution Act (FICA) comprise of Social Security 6.2% and Medicare tax 1.45%, totally 7.65% applies to employee as well as employer on gross wage.  It means for $100,000 gross wage, employee and employer each pays $7,650 FICA taxes.  The upper wage base for Social Security in 2011 is $106,800. There is no wages base limit for Medicare tax. 

In terms of take-home money under the new law, you will get additional $2,000 if your gross salary in 2011 is $100,000.  The social security tax topped at $106,800 in 2011, it means the maximum additional cash benefit would be $2,136 ($106,800*2%) in 2011 for employee. 

Self-employed individuals will pay a 10.4% instead of 12.4% (6.2%*2) Social Security self-employment taxes of on all their self-employment income up to the same threshold. 

The new law does not provide employment tax cut for employer.  The employer tax rate for social security remains unchanged at 6.2%.   Medicare tax rate is 1.45% each for employers and employees, unchanged from 2010. There is no wage base limit for Medicare tax.

I thought I’ll get a better chance for black Friday in Reno but I guess I was wrong. This little city do have lots of people shopping, I was planning to purchase two nice laptop for myself and my daughter but every good deal was gone within the first hour when the store open. So, it was right when they say that the stores will not be stocking on inventory this year. Can’t imagine with this kind of economy, many people are still willing to spend the money. Is this a good sign that our economy will pick back up? Well, we’ll see soon…….

Despite the positive signs, Is California still facing a bumpy road to recovery? Since unemployment is still rising, foreclosures are expected to accelerate in up coming months, and the luxury market is weak not only because jumbo loans are expensive and difficult to get approved but also because few buyers are willing or able to take a risk on pricey properties. Which is saying prices are likely close to the bottom or at it’s bottom—expects some additional pressure on prices as tens of thousands of foreclosed properties enter the market.

But now that the tax credit has been extended and expanded, home sales increased in California compared with the same period a year ago, while the median price of an existing home declined over 25%. Is this the sign of stabilization in the Real Estate market? Survey respondents indicated that attractive prices and low mortgage rates were the leading factors motivating them to buy. First-time buyer and investors are jumping to take advantage of state and federal tax incentives, low interest rates, and prices that are more affordable than they have been in many years.

The glut of bank-owned properties on the market has kept California’s housing inventory stocked, giving buyers many options, with this, home buyers have been devoting more time to considering and carefully selecting their home during the researching and buying process. But not for long inventories continue to decline according to the National Association of Realtors®. Is this the sign of real estate market in recovery? Yes, real estate markets are staging a modest recovery in the Bay Area’s peninsula region and that sale prices should remain stable for the near future.

Although living trust is often mentioned during the estate and gift tax planning, the purpose of setting up a living trust is to avoid probate, not tax savings.

WHAT IS A LIVING TRUST?

A living trust is created so that we can put our assets in it. We then can administer the trust for our benefit and transfer the asset to our beneficiaries when we die. Assets in a trust are not subject to probate because they are not owned by us. The living trust is also known by other names, such as revocable trust and family trust.

DO YOU NEED A LIVING TRUST?

Living trust is not for everyone. But it will avoid the probate and administrative cost if it is set up properly. You can see the damage of probate to the famous person below:

Individual: Elvis Presley
Estate Value: $ 10,165,434
Value after Probate: $ 2,790,799
Probate Cost: $ 7,374,635
Probate Cost % of Estate Value: 72.55%

Individual: J.P. Morgan
Estate Value: $ 17,121,480
Value after Probate:$ 5,227,791
Probate Cost: $ 11,893,689
Probate Cost % of Estate Value: 69.47%

Individual: Alta Rockefeller Prentice
Estate Value: $ 12,775,531
Value after Probate: $ 4,103,216
Probate Cost: $ 8,672,315
Probate Cost % of Estate Value: 67.88%

Individual: John D. Rockefeller, Sr.
Estate Value: $ 26,905,182
Value after Probate: $ 9,780,194
Probate Cost: $ 17,124,988
Probate Cost % of Estate Value: 63.65%

Individual: Marilyn Monroe
Estate Value: $ 819,176
Value after Probate: $ 370,426
Probate Cost: $ 448,750
Probate Cost % of Estate Value: 54.78%

Individual: General George Patton

Estate Value: $ 844,364
Value after Probate: $ 577,539
Probate Cost: $ 266,825
Probate Cost % of Estate Value: 31.60%

Individual: Franklin D. Roosevelt
Estate Value: $ 1,940,999
Value after Probate: $ 1,366,132
Probate Cost: $ 574,867
Probate Cost % of Estate Value: 29.62%

Individual: Walt Disney
Estate Value: $ 23,004,851
Value after Probate: $ 16,192,908
Probate Cost: $ 6,811,943
Probate Cost % of Estate Value: 29.61%

Individual: Dwight D. Eisenhower
Estate Value: $ 2,905,857
Value after Probate: $ 2,234,428
Probate Cost: $ 671,429
Probate Cost % of Estate Value: 23.11%

WHAT NEXT?

We all expect the Congress will do something to fix the estate tax, which will be repealed next year. At this time, we do not recommend drafting a comprehensive estate tax planning. However, we should get a better understanding of trust, will & estate planning before talking to a legal professional later. The free information provided by The State Bar of California at below will be a good starting point:

http://www.calbar.ca.gov/state/calbar/calbar_generic.jsp?sImagePath=Living_Trust.gif&sCategoryPath=/Home/Public%20Services/Consumer%20Information/Pamphlets&sHeading=Living%20Trust&sFileType=HTML&sCatHtmlPath=html/Pamphlets_Living-Trust.html

This information comes from my CPA and some from continuing education.

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