Anchorage

About Anchorage

One destination. Endless adventure.

Anchorage is a unique destination located in one of the world's most spectacular settings – Alaska.

Embraced by six mountain ranges and warmed by a maritime climate, Anchorage is alive yearround with adventure, recreation, seasonal festivities, sporting events and more.

Recognized as a four-time All-America City, Anchorage is a modern city surrounded by spectacular wilderness with adventures just steps from the hotel.

During summer the days seem endless. Dazzling displays of flowers adorn homes and storefronts, live music fills the air, while king and silver salmon are caught right downtown in Ship Creek.

During winter Anchorage is truly a wonderland. Thousands of lights decorate downtown Anchorage and the excitement of many activities reverberates throughout the entire city.

Explore, travel some of the most exciting places and activities Alaska’s largest city has to offer!

12 Tax Season Tips for Home Owners

March 10, 2011

Owning your own home opens the door to many tax opportunities. CCH, a Wolters Kluwer tax information company, suggests these 12 ways to save on your tax return:

• If you bought a home last year, you may benefit from a refundable first-time home buyers’ credit of 10% of the purchase price of a new home—up to $8,000. The credit is available for homes purchased before October 1, 2010 and you must have entered into a binding agreement to buy the home before May 1, 2010. You can’t have had an ownership interest in a principal residence during the three years before the purchase.

• A refundable repeat home buyers’ credit is available is you entered a contract to buy a home by April 30, 2010 and closed on the sale of the home before October 1, 2010. The credit is 10% of the purchase price with a limit of $6,500. To claim the credit, you have to have owned and used the same home as a principal residence for five straight years within a time period that may go back a maximum of eight years. You also must be at least 18 years old and your home purchase price must be under $800,000.

• You can exclude up to $250,000 of gain on the sale of your home (up to $500,000 for joint filers) if you have owned and lived in the home as your principal residence for two out of the five years prior to the sale, although a partial exclusion may be available for sales due to a change of employment, health, or unforeseen circumstances. The periods of ownership and occupancy do not have to be identical.

• You can take the interest on your mortgage indebtedness of up to $1 million as an itemized deduction. The interest can be on your principal residence and one additional residence.

• For ordinary income purposes, up to $100,000 in home-equity loan interest can also be deducted. In regards to the alternative minimum tax, interest on home-equity loans is deductible only if the loan is used to acquire, build, or substantially improve a home.

• The points you paid on a mortgage loan you used to buy or improve your principal residence are deductible in the year you paid them, as long as the points represent a customary practice in your area. Points paid on a refinancing loan must be deducted over the term of the loan.

• Through 2010, you can deduct mortgage insurance premiums as mortgage interest. However, the mortgage insurance had to be originally acquired on or after January 1, 2007.

• You can take the state and local property taxes you pay as an itemized deduction. An option to take up to $500 ($1,000 for joint filers) as an additional standard deduction for real estate taxes expired at the end of 2009 and is not available for 2010.

• If you rented your home for fewer than 15 days during the year, you don’t have to include that rental income in your gross income, but you can’t deduct any expenses related to the rental either.

• If your lender forgave your mortgage debt of up to $2 million on your principal residence, as in a write-down or foreclosure, the transaction won’t be treated as “cancellation of debt income.” This special relief is temporary and is available for six years, retroactively for taxpayers filing amended returns, from January 1, 2007 through the end of 2011.

• If you own a home and installed qualifying energy-efficient fixtures or systems by December 31, 2010, you may claim a 30% tax credit—up to a maximum of $1,500 for both the 2009 and 2010 tax years. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 created energy tax credits for installing insulation, energy-efficient exterior windows or doors, heat pumps, furnaces, central air conditioners, or water pumps.

• A separate 30% credit is available to home owners who installed alternative energy equipment such as fuel cells, solar water heaters, solar electric equipment, small wind energy projects, or geothermal heat pumps. Although the tax credit is more likely to apply for businesses, it’s also available for home owners.

Source: CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business

Read more: http://www.houselogic.com/news/articles/12-tax-season-tips-home-owners/#ixzz1Ig0bsfoA

Higher Down Payments May Be the New Norm.... Permanently

At the height of the mortgage boom, required down payments were at an all time low. In June of 2006, the average down payment percentage on the purchase of a single family residence was 4%. If you had good credit and a heartbeat, there were lenders who would provide you with a 100% loan with no documentation outside of your name, address, and Social Security Number. Now, all of that is about to change. Serious talk is being floated around Washington D.C. that the return of the days of a minimum of 10% and an average down payment of 20% is swiftly approaching.
The Obama Administration has called for 10% minimums on Fannie/Freddie loans. Sheila Bair, Chairwoman of the FDIC has stated that she flat out wants 20% down payments. Many banks are already there. An analysis of major metropolitan areas reveals that the current average down payment is at 22%. Much of this is driven by the large commercial banks pushing for higher down payments to stem their losses and discourage delinquencies with borrowers having “more skin in the game.” In addition, this is also a form of pre-emptive planning as housing prices continue to fall. The thought is that lower leverage equals lower risk. This conventional wisdom holds true in the majority of cases as most property owners are less likely to walk away from a property in which they have made a significant investment. However, what happens to the individual who wants the “American dream” but no capital? Their option will most likely be a government agency.
As previously mentioned, Fannie/Freddie will require 10%. That’s half of the new norm, but depending on who you are and your price maximum, that’s still a lot of money. Then, there is the FHA and the VA. They have seen a lot of action over the last 2.5 years. In 2009/2010, 50% of all mortgages originated were made with FHA guaranteed funds. The caveat is that FHA funds have various financial handcuffs, e.g. tax impounds, forced insurance, upfront MIP fees, and higher interest rates. If a borrower puts down 20% or more on a non-government backed loan, the rates are usually lower, impounds aren’t required, and mortgage insurance is illegal. Essentially, a new “sub-prime” market is being created whereby those without sufficient down payments are forced to pay extra fees and incur higher rates, or continue renting.
These actions have resulted in the financial world of two extremes: those with a 20% down payment who get all of the perks, and those without the capital who get all of the fees. I foresee a great demand for something in the middle to be created. It may take some time to materialize as the methods of filling the void in the past have faltered. Mezzanine financing above 80% CLTV is currently non-existent. Currently, cities are broke so the availability of the Housing Finance Agency’s “silent seconds” is scarce. The private market hasn’t been incentivized to fill the gap, so the void with the need to be filled will remain, and hard money is too expensive. I believe that if the American public was aware and takes a close look at this new reality, protests will ensue, lobbying will occur and something will be done, as the “charges for some, but not for all” mantra can’t continue for too long. Eventually, a product or solution will be produced, as the margin between 3.5% and 20% is too wide, the demand is heavy and the pending increases in Fannie/Freddie costs are too real.

By Preston Howard

Northern Lights

The northern lights can be incredibly bright, multihued and fast moving. The most common color is a brilliant yellow-green. Colorful northern lights displays can produce red, blue and purple patterns.
Glowing, dancing curtains of light that ripple and sway, fold and unfold then suddenly disappear, only to reform in a new shape minutes later.
Anchorage's bright starry nights are nature’s perfect backdrop for dancing northern lights, also known as Aurora Borealis. Fall, winter and spring are the prime seasons for viewing the northern lights, and the best displays tend to be accompanied by sub-zero temperatures and moonless skies. The best hours are often near midnight,  Local Aurora Forecasts are available online or in the weather section of the Anchorage Daily News.
Many of the area hotels have a “northern lights wake up call” for guests who indicate that they want to be awakened if the lights are dancing in the night sky.