Homeowner Independence

Now, it is important to understand, this is not a complete and total extension of the tax credit, this only applies to those buyers who were under contract by April 30th. Those who signed on a home after that date are not eligible for the credit.

Pending Home Sales Index

This week is the release of THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® forward looking indicator, the Pending Home Sales Index for May. Following the surge we saw up until the end of April, the merry month of May wasn’t so merry as it saw a drop of 30 percent.

But this really wasn’t unexpected. We saw three very strong monthly gains as buyers rushed to sign their contracts before the April 30th deadline, and with that deadline passed, a drop in pending home sales was inevitable.

Now, bare in mind, these figures are for contracts not closings, and that rush we saw over the past three months has slowed down the closing process which makes congress’s extension of the closing deadline to September 30th extra sweet, as the THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® reports it saves some 180,000 buyers who might have missed the June 30th deadline.

Well, as we reported earlier, Congress has extended the closing deadline to September 30th so we can look forward to seeing a boost in those closing figures over the next few months.

THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® chief economist Lawrence Yun isn’t surprised by the sharp decline in pending home sales, calling it a natural result after the April 30th contract deadline and predicts similar low levels of activity for June, though he also stated that there were a few surprises out there as this wasn’t a countrywide phenomenon. Some local markets like Portland, Maine and Jacksonville, Florida actually experienced an increase in contract signings from a year ago.

When it comes to price, Mr. Yun speculates that there won’t be such an immediate sharp snap back, expecting a 4 percent rise in median home prices over the next couple of years, although, again, some local markets have already started to bounce back strong, seeing double digit gains this year alone.

So now let’s break those pending home sales down for you region by region.

The Northeast

The Northeast reflects the broad picture across the country with the pending home sales index falling just over 31 percent to 67 in May of this year, that’s just under 15% lower than May 2009.

The Midwest

The Midwest saw not dissimilar figures where the index dropped about 32 percent to 70.8, 20 percent below a year ago.

The South

Down South we saw sales drop 33.3 percent from April to May to an index of 82.5, which is 14.4 percent lower than last May.

The West

And way out West we didn’t see as steep a decline from April to May as we did in other parts of the country, with the index dropping just nearly 21 percent to 85.3, but that’s still about 15 percent below May of 2009.

What will June and the summer months have in store? We’ll have all the facts and figures for you as they happen, right here on retradio.com.

Those rules are there for a number of reasons, ranging from maintaining safety, to maintaining property values.

Quite often those rules say you can’t put anything on the exterior of your property, or in common areas, that anyone can see from the street.

The idea is to present an appealing, consistent ‘look’ to the place.

But many of these associations include in the ‘banned’ list, the American Flag.

In the past decade alone, it’s happened all over the country. A veteran’s widow in a Connecticut condo, was told to take the flag down. She refused.

In Wisconsin, an Air Force Veteran’s mother, was flying the flag to honor her son. She was told to take it down. She said, no way.

In Pennsylvania, an Air National Guard Sergeant in a Home Owners Association was told to take it down or face a fine. She refused.

They all maintained that they have the right, under the laws of the land, to fly the flag whenever they want. And if you look at US law you’ll see that they’re on what appears to be, solid ground.

A federal law passed a few years ago states that people have the right to display the Flag of the United States and that no condo, coop or homeowners association can adopt, or enforce any rule to the contrary.

That law only applies to areas that you, and you alone own. It does not apply to any common areas. So what’s private, and what’s common? The answer to that is in your association documents. In many condos and HOA’s, the inside of your unit is all yours. No questions asked. But the exterior walls, and outdoor living areas, even balconies are often considered common areas. So the law might not apply to them.

A number of states have their own laws, and some of them go even further.

In Illinois, for example, associations ‘may not prohibit the display of the American flag even if it’s in a unit’s common area or on an adjacent exterior wall.

But even in the states that have passed laws allowing association owners to fly the flag, they require you fly it the right way. It has to be done according to the United States Flag Code.

So as you can see, it’s complicated. And even though the vast majority of associations in America allow flying the flag, that doesn’t help you if your condo, coop or HOA says you can’t.

If you defy those rules, you could face fines, a lawsuit, or even eviction.

But it might be a cause worth fighting for. Because remember, all those condo, coop and homeowner associations have boards are made up of residents. If you feel strongly one way or another about the right to fly the flag, we encourage you to attend your board meetings or maybe even join the board and speak up. Make your voice heard, loud and clear.

And you never know, the deciding vote might be yours.

Of course, we’re talking about the Democratic process, which has been working pretty well for these United States, since 1776.

Now, before you fly that flag, you want to make sure you follow the US Flag code. This is not enforceable law, but it is considered proper etiquette, and there are a number of rules that could earn you a nasty glance from a passing war veteran or even a boy or girl-scout if you are not careful about your display.

To begin with, flags should generally be flown only from sunrise to sunset. They may be flown 24 hours a day however, only, if they are properly illuminated.

Flags should not be displayed in the rain, unless the flag is made of an all-weather material, such as nylon.

And as most of us know already, the flag should never touch anything beneath it, whether it’s the lawn, your front steps, or your driveway.

And it should never be flown upside down, except in the case of a serious emergency.

So now you’re ready to fly the flag. Let’s look at the hardware you’re going to use.

If you have a flag pole mounted on the front of your house, the type that angles away from the wall, the blue field with the white stars, also known as the union, should be placed at the tip of the pole.

That’s also true if you have an actual flag pole in your front yard, but a flag pole carries one more rule also. If more than one flag is flown on a pole, the US Flag must always go on top.

And of course, many of us will be flying the flag on decks, or porches, even hanging from the balcony of your condo.

If that’s the case, you may display it either horizontally or vertically. But either way, the Union should be on the upper left.

Flags should never be draped over objects, worn like clothing or bunched up and used as bunting. If you want bunting, use bunting. And even there, there’s proper etiquette. Bunting should be hung with the blue stripe on top, so now you know.

Now, we’ve really just addressed the basics. There are rules for raising and lowering flags, rules for wearing flag pins and even rules for how to properly dispose of them.

Now, there’s not going to be a quiz, so don’t worry if you don’t get every little point correct. But go ahead and use the 4th of July as an excuse to get out the drill and put up that flag pole mount. You’re going to love the look of that Star Spangled Banner outside your home and it might even inspire you to follow the lead of John Wayne.

From all of us here at Real Estate Today – Happy Independence Day, everyone!