Happy early Thanksgiving...

Any of you that have kept reading the blog each year know how much I love Thanksgiving. It is the one time of year set aside to reflect on all you are thankful for without the added stress of Santa Clause, or the Easter Bunny... if they ever turn the turkey into a Thanksgiving icon... watch out.

I changed up the look of the blog a little this month... hope you like it. Make sure you scroll down past all of the blog entries and check out all of my listings, and for sure check out the business partner section. Lots of great people to do business with there. I've worked with them all at one time or another, they'll treat you like family.

This month is a busy one in real estate. The home buyer credit expires Nov. 30th and as a result I am jammed up with closings. Unless you're a cash buyer, you've missed the window at this point. The feds are contemplating extending the credit, but have postponed voting on it a couple times. Rumor has it they are thinking about an extension through June 2010... time will tell.

I stumbled onto something the other day from my Coldwell Banker office. There is a little known tax credit available to sellers that have sold a home worth less than their SEV. Apparently this has been on the books for several years, but until the last couple years... has not been that important. In a declining market however... you may be entitled to a little tax money back if you've sold a home in the last few years.

A seller does not have to pay the State of Michigan portion ($ 7.50 of the $ 8.60 per thousand) charged at a closing. The property must have been a homestead (not a second or income property), the SEV at the time of sale is equal to or less than it was when you purchased the home, The current sale price does/did not exceed the true cash value (2 times SEV) at the time of sale.

You must file for this exemption within 4 years of the sale of the home in question. I have a form I can e-mail you. All you need to do is complete the form, check with the city your home was in to make sure the SEV to sale price meets the criteria, and if you are due a refund... wait for the process to take place. Let me know if you think you are entitled to a refund. On a $ 200,000 home, the refund could be as much as $ 1,500.00

So for the family...

Last month I was reminded that I failed to put any details about the engagement party for Jessy & Anthony. I mentioned we were going in the September Blog... but must have blacked out prior to writing the October blog. Oops, sorry Belmonte fam. We did attend the party in early September in Chicago. It was a great opportunity to meet new family members, and renew acquaintences with those we've already known for a while. Sort of a pre-cursor to the wedding next year, this is gonna be a fun one. Only thing missing was the shotski... whoever is in charge of that better make sure its at the reception.

Anthony finished his high school football coaching debut season with a 6 -4 winning record... up from last year. They plan on heading home this coming weekend for a couple days to hang out at Club Hendo... where there are no wave offs :0)

Dave & Lauren are past the biggest hurdle on their new home... the appraisal. All is set for closing we think around Nov. 12th ish. They are balking at having Thanksgiving at the new place though... maybe next year. Of course Fri-ball Friday is happening the day after with the turkey frier... anyone have any ideas for interesting things to deep fry, feel free to send them my way. We fried just about everything in the pantry last year...looking for fresh ideas.

If you noticed the pics to the right, Bella was a hoot carving pumpkins last week. She was all about cleaning the guts out of the pumpkin... until she actually saw them, then pretty much turned on G-diddy and his slimey pumpkins. Oh yeah, she's all of a sudden decided to call me grandpa, sounds pretty grown up... stupid pre-school.

Kelly & I went on a color ride on the motorcycles last week. Weather was brisk, but no rain. Probably time to put them away for the seaon, just wish we'd have been able to put a few more miles on them... maybe next season.

Hate to sound like a broken record, but thank you so much for all your referrals. Without your family and friends, Real estate transactions are tough to come by. Everybody knows someone in real estate... hopefully I'm your go to guy.

Happy Thanksgiving... see you in December.

This months recipe... Ginger snap pumpkin cheesecake. I made this last week for a dinner party and it was great. If you don't have a spring form pan, go out and get one. You won't regret it.

INGREDIENTS
• 3/4 cups crushed gingersnap cookies
• ¾ cup graham crackers crushed
• 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 cup white sugar, divided
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 TBS flour
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a medium bowl, mix together the crushed gingersnap cookies, graham crackers pecans, and butter. Press into the bottom, and about 1 inch up the sides of a 9 inch springform pan. Bake crust 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Set aside to cool.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla just until smooth. Mix in eggs one at a time, blending well after each. Blend pumpkin, cinnamon, and nutmeg into the remaining mixture.
3. Spread the pumpkin flavored batter into the crust.
4. Bake 55 minutes in the preheated oven, or until filling is set. Run a knife around the edge of the pan. Allow to cool before removing pan rim. Chill for at least 4 hours before serving.