The conventional wisdom is that Canadians can stay about six months; that is generally accepted to be true. I’d never seen anything in writing about it, so I searched the internet and found a couple of official US government sites that explain the law on this subject.

As it turns out, Canadian citizens can indeed “visit” for up to 6 months, as long as they maintain their foreign (Canadian) residence. No visa is required for them as Canadian citizens. Visits can be (and usually are) undocumented. If Canadian citizens spend time in Palm Springs, or really any place in the US, for longer than 6 months, there is a danger for them in being deemed taxable residents of the US, thus they would be out of status and would be considered deportable. If a person is reentering the US after the end of his last stay, and it appears to the Canadian Border Patrol Officer that the person applying for entry is spending more time over-all in the U.S. than in Canada, it will be up to them to prove to the officer that they are not de-facto U.S. residents.  A further danger in overstaying in the US is in potentially losing their health insurance eligibility in Canada. This factor alone takes most Canadian snowbirds home in timely fashion each spring!

For a definitive answer regarding your specific situation, it’s best to seek advice from the US Immigration authorities. For more information, here are a couple of useful US government Web sites – Visiting the US and Six Months Club.

Just picture the approximately 180,000 buyers with a contract in process, patiently watching as our legislators in Washington dithered around without making a decision as to whether or not to come to buyers’ rescue by midnight yesterday (June 30th). Well, our esteemed congress members did come through at the very last minute. And it went remarkably fast when they finally did pay attention to the matter. Had they not, an $8000 bucks worth of tax credits would have flown out the window for many. I just cannot understand how anything gets done in Washington anymore; this deadline had been looming for months, and nothing was done until the very last minute.

Stimulated, as they should have been, by the national homebuyer stimulus package, these latest potential homeowners in Palm Springs dutifully signed purchase offers to buy a house well before the April 30 deadline. They were making the purchase then in order to earn the promised $8000 tax credit, only to find out belatedly that, mostly through no fault of their own, the closing date for their purchase transaction was not going to take place by the June 30 deadline.  Thus they were going to lose the $8000 credit. This was still the case up until last night!

 Well, I guess “what ends well at least ends well.” These new homebuyers can now take a collective sigh of relief because they now have until September 30, 2010 to close their deal with the $8000 tax credit. This should be enough time, even for buyers who are purchasing a “short sale” property. For some of the details of what happened last night, please go to Last Minute Vote.

*Good News for Palm Springs Homebuyers – Federal Homebuyer Credit may be Extended

Well, not necessarily, I just came across this article yesterday in the Wall Street Journal regarding the possibility that the Fed will extend this tax credit for new homebuyers.
Because of the volume of many buyers currently in the buying/lending pipeline, many are at risk of missing the contract-closing deadline on July 10, 2010. If that should happen, they would not be able to claim the tax credit.
 
These hapless buyers who met the April 30, 2010 contract deadline to start the buying process and who are now waiting on the ponderous buying/lending process to conclude may be in luck, as there is a move afoot that may extend the deadline until this fall.

If you are one of these buyers, see Tax Credit Deadline for a lot more detail. And good luck!

Well! Okay, the Loonie has recently retreated somewhat due to falling commodity prices, fears of sovereign debt defaults in the Euro-zone, and other factors having little to do with the Loonie’s inherent strength.

So, watch for the Loonie to begin anew its move towards parity, relative to the U.S. dollar. That may take a few months, but as we take the long view of overall financial health of the Canadian financial system vis-a-vis that of the U.S., the Loonie should recover nicely. One important long-term factor will be the ability of the Bank of Canada to raise interest rates before the U.S. Fed can raise them here, at the moment holding back because of continuing high U.S. unemployment.

In any case, some of my Canadian clients, planning to buy real estate in Palm Springs, have recently opened up a U.S. Dollar account in Canada or a U.S. bank account here in the U.S. They are taking these actions now so that the next time the Loonie is at, or near, parity with the U.S. dollar, they will be positioned and ready to take advantage of the translation gains.

A recent MarketWatch column in the Wall Street Journal offers an interesting perspective on Canadians buying in the U.S. real estate market: go to A Great Time to Buy Palm Springs Properties. 

From RE/MAX Headquarters, Elton Ash, Regional Executive Vice President for RE/MAX of Western Canada says,”Our Associates should be proud and honored to receive the confidence of Canadian consumers. It’s an inspiring merit that the best trained and most experienced agents have received for providing valuable assistance to so many families.”  We can be proud that Canadians also look to us at RE/MAX here in the US for their Palm Springs real estate needs.

Joining RE/MAX on the survey list were top brands such as Apple, Holiday Inn, Kellogg’s and Campbell’s. See all 2010 Winning Brands. The results are featured in the May 2010 issues of Reader’s Digest and Sélection du Reader’s Digest, the French edition. To read more, go to Reader’s Digest Survey.

Well, if you are a Canadian sitting on the sidelines waiting to buy a winter home or condo here in sunny Palm Springs, now is a great time to act. Prices on Palm Springs properties, depending on location, are down 30% to 60% from the historical highs reached at the top of the bubble in 2005/2006. At that time, the Loonie was worth somewhere around 80 cents US to the US Dollar.

The strengthening of the Canadian dollar to parity with the US dollar presently gives to Canadian buyers an effective further reduction of 20% on our Palm Springs real estate prices. This is relative to prices that they would have paid in 2005/2006.

So if you are a Canadian, looking south of your border for that place in the sun to escape the winter, now is the time to go for your very own piece of Palm Springs real estate. After all, your winter is only five or six months away.

You’re not getting any younger, so what are you waiting for?

The new guideline states that borrowers may purchase a new property after as little as two (2) years from the time of a short sale or similar non-foreclosure sale process. In short, the new guidelines will allow a borrower to purchase a new home with 20% down after 2 years, or 10% down after four years.

Fannie-Mae evidently is recognizing that many homeowners have been forced to sell their homes due to circumstances out of their control, such as a job loss. As the economy recovers and people go back to work, Fannie-Mae backed home loans will once again be available. 

To review these new guidelines please go to Fannie Mae Backed Home Loans.

This initiative is called the California New Home Credit and First Time Buyer Credit. A brief summary of the new credits is shown below.  To read the entire article about it on the Franchise Tax Board web site, go to CA Home Credits. 

General Information:
 These tax credits are available for taxpayers who purchase a qualified principal residence on or after May 1, 2010, and before January 1, 2011. Additionally, these tax credits are available for taxpayers who purchase a qualified principal residence on or after December 31, 2010, and before August 1, 2011, pursuant to an enforceable contract executed on or before December 31, 2010.  The purchase date is defined as the date escrow closes. Taxpayers may apply for the tax credits if they have entered into a contract before May 1, 2010, as long as escrow closes on or after May 1, 2010. These tax credits are limited to the lesser of 5 percent of the purchase price or $10,000 for a qualified principal residence. Taxpayers must apply the total tax credit in equal amounts over three successive tax years (maximum of $3,333 per year) beginning with the tax year in which the home is purchased. The tax credits cannot reduce regular tax below tentative minimum tax (TMT). The tax credits are nonrefundable and unused credits cannot be carried over. We will allocate the tax credits on a first-come, first-served basis.  Only one tax credit is allowed per taxpayer. If a taxpayer qualifies for both tax credits, the law specifies that we will allocate the amount under the New Home Credit.

If you are thinking seriously about buying your first home or upgrading to a larger residence, now is a good time to make your move. Average home prices continue to be at levels not seen since 2003/2004, and interest rates are still historically low. However, all indications are that interest rates are going to be trending up soon. So it’s smart to buy now and take advantage of both the low interest rates and the tax credit incentive while they are still available.

We are so blessed here in the valley to have rain, while much of the country is literally digging out from several feet of snow. Yes, snow is pretty, but we do like the sun and the temperate clime that we enjoy here in Palm Springs almost daily year round. Right now it is 59 degrees. No shovels here. No drawers filled with wool scarves, gloves and mittens; no closets by the door with heavy coats and snow boots at the ready. Actually, when the rains first come each year, Dick and I have to dig out our umbrellas, as they’ve been in retirement for ten or eleven months!

We will likely see new snow on the distant peaks at higher elevations, when the skies clear. (Of course, to enjoy snow, one need only take a tram ride up to the mountains at 8500′, less than a half hour from the heart of the Village of Palm Springs.) To watch our weather, go to PALM SPRINGS WEATHER, click on Ten Day Forecast to see more.

One part of the bill builds on provisions in the $787 billion stimulus package enacted last February, renewing the government’s $8000 tax credit for first-time home buyers through the first six months of 2010. The other part addresses the continuing high jobless rate with tax cuts for struggling businesses and provides another 14 weeks of benefits to all those out of work, whose benefits have been exhausted or will be exhausted by the end of the year.

The first-time homebuyer $8000 tax credit which was set to expire at the end of November will now be extended through the first six months of 2010; in order to qualify, buyers must sign a binding contract by the end of April. 2010.

For existing homeowners, this newly expanded program includes a $6500 credit for those who buy a new home after living in their present home for a minimum of five years.

To read more, go to articles in the Washington Post, the Associated Press, and the San Diego Union-Tribune.