Check out this great story in USA Today about how Oklahoma City is one of the healthiest cities, least effected by the recession over the past two years.
Keep up the good work Oklahoma!
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2010-03-20-cities-recession_N.htm
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Downtown Oklahoma City, Economy, Maps 3, New York Times, OCU Law, Oklahoma City Real Estate, Real Estate Market
Just getting around to posting this link from an article in the New York Times last week, but a great read about the renaissance taking place in Downtown Oklahoma City. Not just the building of the Devon Energy headquarters, but the relocation of AAA’s headquarters and possible relocation of the OCU Law School to the former Ford Motor Co. Factory. to the highly publicized Maps3 Projects which include a 70-acre Central Park, Oklahoma City is definitely shining with all of the positive changes taking place.
Mr. Mayor puts it so well when he says: “Initially, we took a city that was a nice place to live and raise a family, but was not a great place to visit,” said the current Oklahoma City mayor, Mick Cornett. “We’ve now created a city that we want to show off and we’re proud of.”
I couldn’t agree more, I am proud of our city and hopefully other retailers and businesses will continue to reinforce the idea by relocating and expanding into our market.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 2010, Economy, Family, Holidays, New Years
Whew….
Did the holidays fly by for you as fast as they did for me? It was my goal to keep this blog updated 2 to 3 times per week and I have fallen way short of that during the month of December. My last post was written while watching a blizzard ensure from our hotel room in Rochester, MN, where my wife was recuperating from surgery at the Mayo Clinic. Getting settled back in our own home was not as easy as we had expected. We lived with my wife’s parents until this past week. Richard & Glenda we could not have done it without you! They have the perfect family home, which easily accomadates all 15(!) members of the family. It was a great place to get back in to the swing of things, next to our own home, there is no other place we would want to be. We all hunkered down over the week of Christmas, during the infamous blizzard of 2009, and had a great time playing in the snow. These picks are for you UK:
Work-wise, things have definitely taken off! Opportunities to help Buyers & Sellers have abounded from every direction and I am grateful for the chance to get to help others!
My family and friends have been super supportive of this new endeavor and I am so grateful to you all.
Rachel’s Uncle, who lives with his wife in a small village just outside of Paris, France has even been keeping up with my new work in real estate. Last week he forwarded me this link from indeed.com, it shows how strong the job market is in Oklahoma City, #7 on the list among the ranks of some major metropolitan areas, just another sign showing the strength of our local economy. For every job posting there are two unemployed workers, not bad compared to Detroit at 13 unemployed for every job posting.
2009 was a year full of more ups and downs than any other year in my life. I have to admit I was not sad to see it pass, but I am excited to see what is in store for 2010. I am going to make it a great year, for myself, my family and my career. My parents ended up offering to take J for the night, so the Mrs. and I enjoyed a much needed night out on the town to ourselves. Dinner at Red Prime, one last look at the lights around town, and home before 10, just the right way to end the year.
What about you, what are you looking forward to this year?
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 2009 Tax Credit, Economy, Homeownership, Real Estate Market
Unless you are living under a rock, you know that there have been incentives by the government to offer a tax credit to for the purchase of a home to in an effort to kickstart the recent stall of the national housing market. There are a lot of terms being thrown around and I wanted to post a short breakdown of the details for the newest Act which added existing homeowners as the beneficiaries of the possible tax credit. All information is taken from the IRS website, which you can click for yourself to read, here.
Housing & Recover Act of 2008
American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009
Homeownership & Business Assistance Act of 2009- signed into law November 6, 2009
Tax Credit Details
New Deadlines- Under contract on or before April 30th 2010
Closing must take place on or before June 30, 2010
Long-time homeowners- up to $6,500 ($3,250 for married filing separately)
Must have lived in same principal residence for 5 consecutive of the last 8 years
First Time Homebuyers- $8,000
Higher Income Limits- After November 6, 2009 Phased out with Modified Adjusted Gross Income
Single- $125,000 and $145,000
Joint- $225,000 and $245,000
Please contact me if you think you might be interested in getting in on this opportunity, I love helping people understand what options are before them to make the best decision possible.
Post your questions as comments to this post and I will be sure to reply as soon as possible. What other information would you like to see on this blog?
