Recipe of the Month

Pumpkin Chocolate Cheesecake Bars

Ingredients 1-1/4  cups  graham cracker crumbs 1/4  cup  sugar 1/3  cup  butter, melted 2  8-ounce packages  cream cheese, softened 1-3/4  cups  sugar 3    eggs 1  cup  canned pumpkin 1/2  teaspoon  pumpkin pie spice 1/2  teaspoon  vanilla 1/4  teaspoon  salt 6  ounces  semisweet chocolate, cut up, or 1 cup semisweet chocolate pieces 2  tablespoons  butter 1-1/4  cups  sour cream 1/4  cup  sugar     Grated fresh nutmeg and/or milk chocolate or semisweet chocolate curls Directions 1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease a 13x9x2-inch baking pan; set aside. In a medium bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and 1/4 cup sugar. Stir in the 1/3 cup melted butter. Press mixture evenly into bottom of the prepared baking pan; set aside. 2. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese and the 1-3/4 cups sugar. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined. Beat in pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla, and salt on low speed just until combined. Remove 1-1/4 cups of the mixture. 3. In a small heavy saucepan, combine the 6 ounces chocolate and the 2 tablespoons butter. Cook and stir over low heat until melted. Whisk chocolate mixture into the 1-1/4 cups pumpkin mixture. Pour over crust, spreading evenly. Bake for 15 minutes. 4. Carefully pour the remaining pumpkin mixture over baked chocolate layer, spreading evenly. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes more or until filling is puffed and center is set. Cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes. 5. In a small bowl, combine sour cream and 1/4 cup sugar. Gently spread over cookies. Cool completely. Cover and chill for at least 3 hours. Cut into bars.* Before serving, sprinkle with nutmeg and/or chocolate curls. Makes 24 to 36 bars. *Test Kitchen Tip: To make triangle-shape bars, cut the cookies crosswise into four strips. Then cut each strip into five triangles (you'll end up with two half-triangles from the ends of each strip). To Make Ahead: Bake and chill cookies as directed; cut into bars. Place in a single layer in an airtight container; cover. Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Do not freeze.

Fall Newsletter

by Brian Salem, Realtor

The $8,000 tax credit vs Super low Interest rates 

As valuable as the tax credit was for first time home buyers, today's incredibly low interest rates are even more exciting and a better deal over the long run. 

 Buyers-why wait? Take a look at this example:

Let's say you want to keep your monthly payment just under $1,000 per month on a 30 year mortgage and let's see what we can find for you.

Monthly payment  $998.57      at today's rate of  4.375%.          $200,000 house

Monthly payment  $998.57      last year's rate of 5.735%            $178,000 house 

That's a $22,000 difference, almost three times the amount of the tax credit. 

Another way to think about it would be a simple payback on the same house.  The payment on a $200,000 mortgage at 5.375% is $1,119.94, or $121.37 per month more than the $200,000 mortgage at 4.375%. 

In 66 months, or just over 5 years (that is what experts now recommend for the holding period for real estate), you've saved the amount of the $8000 credit in lower payments (54 months for the repeat buyer $6500 credit).  Over the entire life of the mortgage, if you stay there for 30 years, you save $43,693 in interest. 

You can certainly obtain a variety of different answers, depending on whom you ask, regarding how long these low rates will last, but  no one disagrees that they can't last forever.  The time is right now at this very moment in time: record low rates, and fewer buyers to compete with, which means prices are still likely to stay flat. That translates into more affordable for you. Once prices and rates start upward, you'll have missed the best of it. 

Please feel free to contact us at any time if there is anything we can do to assist you with your real estate needs!

Now is the best time to buy!

by Brian Salem, Realtor