House Hunt: Open Houses in Healdsburg Sunday 1-4 P.M.

OPEN HOUSES SUNDAY, 1 to 4 p.m.

$610,000, 439 Piper St, Healdsburg, 2Brm, 2Bth close to the Plaza. North County Properties

$699,000, 14707 Grove St. Healdsburg, 4Bdrm, 3Bth                Wine Country Group

$915,000, 2650 Westside Rd. Healdsburg, 4Bdrm, 3Bth,            Wine Country Group

$1,575,000, 5201 No Name Rd. Healdsburg, 3Bdrm, 2.5Bth,     Wine Country Group

$399,000, 544 Westmont Ct. Healdsburg, 3Bdrm, 2.5Bth,          Full Spectrum

$525,000, 1532 Oak Leaf, Healdsburg, 3Bdrm, 2Bth,         Healdsburg Sotheby’s

$820,000.00, 514 Sunnyvale Dr. Healdsburg, 4Bdrm, 2Bth,

Will the Mortgage Interest Deduction Go Away?

The think tanks in Washington, D.C., in their infinite wisdom, are pushing to remove the mortgage interest deduction. This proposal is backed by both conservative and liberal think tanks. They project that it will save the country $1 trillion over 10 years.

This is one of the hottest issues there is today in the political arena, as far as American consumer is concerned. This deduction that began almost a century ago -- in 1913 -- has been a mainstay in the housing industry.

There are plans to remove it through a process that gives us no chance to vote on it and there will not be a vote by Congress or the Senate general session.

It is buried or bundled in a "super bill" that contains many other bills and it will be voted on by a small select group that has been approved to vote on these "super bills."

The argument that is being used to support the removal of this deduction is that other countries that do not have this deduction see the exact same housing success as those that do have it.

Therefore, it has no value in helping to keep our languishing housing market move ahead. Many economists are supporting this move at this time. 

So the thinking is here that we are just giving the money away to these middle class people with no return. There is not one mention about the fact that when you pay that interest that money is being put into the economy and supporting jobs.

Although those interest payments are going to major lenders, those lenders are the same group that through the corporate veil are not paying their fair share of taxes anyway.

This will be a double hit for us Americans.

The result of the loss of this deduction will be an average increase in taxes to homeowners in Sonoma County of about $730 a month. That is not all.

Here is another thing that is not talked about anywhere but here. In that tax basis, it is common to see an 18-22 percent basis.

Remove that deduction and it will catapult those taxpayers into the next tax bracket. That $730 becomes $850 in the next tax bracket.

Economists are great. I wonder why our country does not use them to create an economic plan. What!? We do not have an economic plan. No we do not.

Have you ever really thought about this? Our country has no economic plan at this point, only a political plan. All of the decisions that are being made are done purely for political gain with no thought as to how it will affect you or I. Sorry, I digress.

There is another thing that I am seeing that I should mention while I am ranting. Most price categories are performing modestly OK right now. Nothing that we can say is great but it is better than last year with about 50 closed transactions in the past 50 days. The $800,000.00 - $1,200,000.00 range has only seen 4 closes in the last 60 days.

The common thread that I see is that those homes have been over-improved. If you are thinking about flipping homes for a profit, choose your materials very carefully.

There are less costly finishes that you can choose that will allow you to market the home for less. If you are choosing granite, and think you will see a return on it, you may as well just purchase a headstone instead.

For More Information Visit www.HealdsburgRealEstate.com