FROM CURBED LA: Downtown LA’s normally busy streets have been eerily quiet over the last few months. Lately though, its buildings have come briefly to life.

That’s when residents open windows and step out onto apartment balconies to join in a round of applause for healthcare workers fighting to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

It’s a ritual that’s spreading quickly through neighborhoods in and around Los Angeles—from Long Beach to Silver Lake.

Nightly cheering, clapping, and singing helped residents of Wuhan, China weather a long lockdown when the virus broke out there. The practice has been taken up in cities around the world, and formalized as a salute to frontline medical staff.

Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council president Patti Berman says members of the neighborhood council were inspired by cheering taking place in New York and worked to get a similar ritual started in the Downtown area.

“There are so many people working at their own peril right now,” she says. “The least we can do is say thank you.”

Through emails and social media posts, coordinated by outreach chair Marcus Lovingood, the neighborhood council last week began encouraging people to clap every night during the month of April. Berman says her apartment doesn’t have windows to the street, so she can’t participate in the applause, but she’s been encouraged by videos of cheers circulating on social media.

“It’s gotten pretty loud,” she says.

South Park resident Sara Eastwood has lived in her one-bedroom apartment for two years. She says the 8 p.m. applause has brought out neighbors she’s never noticed.

“It’s built more of a sense of community here,” she says. “A lot of people say that’s lacking in Downtown LA. It seems like a dense neighborhood at times, but it’s pretty quiet [in South Park] most of the time.”

For more than a week, the Wilshire Grand, its hotel rooms darkened, has been displaying its own tribute—an enormous digital display that reads “thank you medical workers.”

Eastwood says these tributes are nice, but that she wishes some of the positive energy could be directed toward ensuring better pay and benefits for non-medical workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis.

“This sort of misses the custodians, grocery workers, and lower paid workers who are essential right now,” she says.

Berman says the nightly cheering is a small gesture, but that it’s a clear and easy way for people to feel like they are supporting their community at a time when public officials are urging most people to simply stay at home. It can also be therapeutic.

“There’s nothing like opening the window and yelling,” she says.

Written by Elijah Chilland for CURBED LA

FROM LAIST/ UPDATED 3/20: Our friends at the Long Beach Post have put together this helpful list (which we organized into categories and made some additions to).

You can still go on walks. You can still go to the grocery store. You can still pick up food from restaurants (to-go orders only). Take your pet to the veterinarian. Visit your doctor or pharmacy. Help someone else get supplies.

Last night, Los Angeles County and state officials issued a stay at home order to help slow the spread of coronavirus. Under this new “safer at home” order — and the governor’s order given minutes later—gatherings of 10 or more people are banned.

For gatherings that aren’t prohibited, people must be separated by at least 6 feet, have a hand washing station or hand sanitizer available and post a sign notifying people not to come if they have a fever or cough.

Malls, shopping centers, playgrounds and nonessential retail businesses are ordered closed. Gyms, movie theaters, bars and wineries were ordered closed on Sunday. People can still exercise outside and go on walks or hikes.

The order went into effect at midnight and is punishable by fines or imprisonment. Here’s how the City of L.A. puts it in an FAQ on the orders:

Q: Is this order mandatory? What happens if I don’t comply?

A: Yes. This is a legally enforceable order. It is against the law to violate this Order, and you may be punished by a fine or imprisonment for doing so.

That said, asked at yesterday’s news conference if you should call the police if you see someone violating the orders, L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti stressed that the countywide goal was to have a “light touch,” not to to march people into jail:

There are never going to be enough county or cities workers to be able to quote unquote enforce this. This is on 10 million people to self enforce, and for us to look where there are those holes and make sure that those are closed quickly.

Residents can expect everything but “essential businesses” to be closed and for workers whose jobs don’t fall into that category to stop reporting to work. Let’s take a closer look at what that means.

ESSENTIAL BUSINESSES INCLUDE:

Places that sell or produce food:

• Grocery stores, certified farmers’ markets, food banks, convenience stores, pet supply stores, farm and produce stands. This includes stores that sell groceries and sell other non-grocery products, and products necessary to maintaining the safety and sanitation of homes.
• Restaurants and beverage facilities that prepare and serve food or beverages, but only for delivery, drive-through or carry out.
• Food cultivation, including farming, livestock and fishing.

Places with medical purpose:

• Home-based care for seniors, adults, people with a disability, or children.
• Residential facilities and shelters for seniors, adults, people with a disability, and children.
• Cannabis dispensaries with a medicinal cannabis license.

Media outlets:

• Newspapers, television, radio, magazine, podcast and other media services.

Core life services:

• Gas stations, and auto-supply, auto-repair and car dealerships.
• Banks and credit unions.
• Hardware stores, garden nurseries, building supplies.
• Laundromats, dry cleaners and laundry service providers.
• Personal grooming services.
• Plumbers, electricians, exterminators, custodial/janitorial workers, handyman services, funeral home workers and morticians, moving services, HVAC installers, carpenters, landscapers, gardeners, property managers, private security personnel and other service providers who provide services to maintain the safety, sanitation, and essential operation to properties and other essential businesses.
• Businesses that supply office or computer products needed by people who work from home.
• Businesses that supply other Essential Businesses with the support or supplies necessary to operate.
• Businesses that ship, truck, provide logistical support or deliver groceries, food, goods or services directly to residences, essential businesses, healthcare operations, essential infrastructure.
• Airlines, taxis and other private transportation providers providing transportation services necessary for activities of daily living.
• Businesses that provide parts and service for essential infrastructure.
• Professional services, such as legal or accounting services, when necessary to assist in compliance with legally mandated activities.

Childcare for essential workers:

• Childcare facilities providing services that enable employees exempted to work. To the extent possible, childcare facilities must operate under the following mandatory conditions: (1) Childcare must be carried out in stable groups of 12 or fewer; (2) Children shall not change from one group to another; (3) If more than one group of children is cared for at one facility, each group shall be in a separate room. Groups shall not mix with each other; (4) Childcare providers shall remain solely with one group of children.

Places that provide shelter:

• Hotels, motels, shared rental units and similar facilities.
• Homeless shelters and social services for economically disadvantaged people.

Places that educate:

• Educational institutions (including public and private K-12 schools, colleges, and universities) for purposes of facilitating distance learning or performing essential functions, provided that social distancing of 6-feet per person is maintained to the greatest extent possible.

Military/defense contractors/FFRDC (Federally Funded Research and Development Centers).

• Essential personnel may leave their residence to provide any service or perform any work deemed essential for national security including, but not limited to defense, intelligence and aerospace development and manufacturing for the Department of Defense, the intelligence community, and NASA and other federal government, and or United States Government departments and agencies. Essential personnel include prime, sub-primes, and supplier contractor employees, at both the prime contract level and any supplier levels at any tier, working on federal United States Government contracts such as contracts rated under the Defense Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS) and contracts for national intelligence and national security requirements.

Of course, there are times when a pocket listing might benefit a seller. With the continued presence of sites such as Zillow, Trulia, Redfin and others, there appears to be a tug of war going on. These sites make it easy for home buyers to see the starting price for a home, what it previously sold for and how long the property has been on the market. Having said that, having that days-on-market clock start ticking immediately could be detrimental to a seller’s prospects.

Written By Kathleen Howley for HousingWire / and Ilyce Glink and Samuel J. Tamkin  For The Washington Post

“The housing market could provide a cushion to the national economy in the next recession, economists say.”

FROM MARKETWATCH: It’s unclear when the next recession will come. But a recent report argues that when it does the U.S. housing market is unlikely to adversely affected in any major way.

Researchers at First American Financial Services FAF, -0.49%, a title insurance company, examined how the country’s housing market has fared historically during recessionary periods. Based on what’s happened in past recessions, the report argues that the next recession is unlikely to prompt a major downturn in housing.

“While the housing crisis is still fresh on the minds of many, and was the catalyst of the Great Recession, the U.S. housing market has weathered all other recessions since 1980,” wrote Odeta Kushi, deputy chief economist at First American and the report’s author. “In fact, the housing market may actually aid the economy in recovering from the next recession — a role it has traditionally played in previous economic recoveries.”

Using its own data along with information from Freddie Mac FMCC, -0.32%  and the National Association of Realtors, the report maps out how the housing market has traditionally fared in economic downturns. In most other cases, home price appreciation continued at an even pace, and existing-home sales growth only edged downward slightly, Kushi wrote.

So what made the Great Recession different? The housing boom that preceded the last recession was largely driven by an explosion in both home-building activity and mortgage credit. Home buyers were able to get mortgages with no documentation of their income and no down payment, and many loans had introductory 0% interest periods that made them cheap to start but more expensive as time wore on.

These homeowners were over-leveraged. “The housing crisis in the Great Recession was fueled heavily by the fact that job loss was paired with a significant share of homeowners who didn’t have much equity in their homes,” Kushi wrote.

While this has made the prospect of buying a home unaffordable for millions of Americans, it has also meant that those who are homeowners have seen their home equity grow substantially in recent years. That decreases the likelihood that they would be underwater on their loan if home prices were to dip in a recession.

“Were we to have a recession, I’d argue housing would provide a cushion because the shortage of supply at the entry-level suggests builders could actually continue to build,” Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae’s chief economist FNMA, +0.88%, told MarketWatch in December.

There still are red flags that homeowners should be on the lookout for when it comes to how a potential recession might affect the housing market. For starters, many Americans have taken out cash-out refinance mortgages on their homes as their home values have grown. That’s whittled away the equity these people have in their property, leaving them more vulnerable to owing more than their home was worth in the potential event the home prices drop.

Another issue: Many Americans who fell behind on loan payments and modified their mortgages in the wake of the recession to avoid foreclosure have since redefaulted. Were these people to lose their jobs in a recession, they could easily fall into foreclosure. Research has shown that foreclosures exacerbate economic downturns — and they can have a ripple effect through a local market, causing other homes to drop in value.

And at the local level, certain local housing markets could prove more resilient in the event of recession, depending on the strength of the local economy relative to what’s going on at a national level.

And because developers constructed so many homes, their home values quickly sank when the bubble burst, exacerbating the situation further.

The growth in home prices seen during the current economic expansion has not been fueled by increased access to mortgage credit. Rather, it’s a simple reflection of supply and demand: Many Americans want to become homeowners, but the supply of homes available for sale is very low, pushing prices upward.

WRITTEN BY JACOB PASSY FOR MARKETWACH.COM

FROM REALTOR.COM: What are the tax benefits of owning a home? Plenty of homeowners are asking themselves this right around now as they prepare to file their taxes. You may recall the new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act—the most substantial overhaul to the U.S. tax code in more than 30 years—went into effect on Jan. 1, 2018. And as a result, last year likely brought big changes to your taxes, especially the tax perks of homeownership.

While not much has changed tax wise since then, an entire year has passed—so you might need a refresher as you sit down with your receipts.

Well, look no further than this complete guide to all the tax benefits of owning a home, where we break down all the tax breaks homeowners should be aware of when they file their 2019 taxes in 2020. Read on to make sure you aren’t missing anything that could save you money!

Tax break 1: Mortgage interest

Homeowners with a mortgage that went into effect before Dec. 15, 2017, can deduct interest on loans up to $1 million.

“However, for acquisition debt incurred after Dec. 15, 2017, homeowners can only deduct the interest on the first $750,000,” says Lee Reams Sr., chief content officer of TaxBuzz.

Why it’s important: The ability to deduct the interest on a mortgage continues to be a big benefit of owning a home. And the more recent your mortgage, the greater your tax savings.

“The way mortgage payments are amortized, the first payments are almost all interest,” says Wendy Connick, owner of Connick Financial Solutions. (See how your loan amortizes and how much you’re paying in interest with this online mortgage calculator.)

Note that the mortgage interest deduction is an itemized deduction. This means that for it to work in your favor, all of your itemized deductions (there are more below) need to be greater than the new standard deduction, which the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act nearly doubled to $24,400 for a married couple. For individuals the deduction is $12,200, and it’s $18,350 for heads of household.

As a result, only about 5% of taxpayers will itemize deductions this filing season, says Connick.

For some homeowners, itemizing simply may not be worth it. So when would itemizing work in your favor? As one example, if you’re a married couple who paid $20,000 in mortgage interest and $6,000 in state and local taxes, you would exceed the standard deduction and be able to reduce your taxable income by an additional $2,000 by itemizing.

Tax break 2: Property taxes

This deduction is capped at $10,000 for those married filing jointly no matter how high the taxes are. (Here’s more info on how to calculate property taxes.)

Why it’s important: Taxpayers can take one $10,000 deduction, says Brian Ashcraft, director of compliance at Liberty Tax Service.

Just note that this year, property taxes are on that itemized list of all of your deductions that must add up to more than the standard deduction ($24,000 for a married couple) to be worth your while.

And remember that if you have a mortgage, your property taxes are built into your monthly payment.

Tax break 3: Private mortgage insurance

If you put less than 20% down on your home, odds are you’re paying private mortgage insurance, or PMI, which costs from 0.3% to 1.15% of your home loan. But here’s some good news for PMI users: You can deduct the interest on this insurance thanks to the Mortgage Insurance Tax Deduction Act of 2019. Also known as the Secure Act, it retroactively reinstated for 2018 and 2019 certain deductions and credits for homeowners.

“These include the deduction for PMI,” says Laura Fogel, certified public accountant at Gonzalez and Associates in Massachusetts. (This credit is retroactive for 2018, so talk to your accountant to see if it makes sense to amend your 2018 tax return.)

Why it’s important: The PMI interest deduction is also an itemized deduction. But if you can take it, it might help push you over the $24,000 standard deduction. And here’s how much you’ll save: If you make $100,000 and put down 5% on a $200,000 house, you’ll pay about $1,500 in annual PMI premiums and thus cut your taxable income by $1,500. Nice!

Tax break 4: Energy efficiency upgrades

The Residential Energy Efficient Property Credit was a tax incentive for installing alternative energy upgrades in a home. Most of these tax credits expired after December 2016; however, two credits are still around. The credits for solar electric and solar water heating equipment are available through Dec. 31, 2021, says Josh Zimmelman, owner of Westwood Tax & Consulting, a New York–based accounting firm.

The Secure Act also retroactively reinstated a $500 deduction for certain qualified energy-efficient upgrades “such as exterior windows, doors, and insulation,” says Fogel.

Why it’s important: You can still save a tidy sum on your solar energy. And—bonus!—this is a credit, so no worrying about itemizing here. However, the percentage of the credit varies based on the date of installation. For equipment installed between Jan. 1, 2017, and Dec. 31, 2019, 30% of the expenditures is eligible for the credit. That goes down to 26% for installation between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2020, and then to 22% for installation between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2021.

Tax break 5: A home office

Good news for all self-employed people whose home office is the main place they work: You can deduct $5 per square foot, up to 300 square feet, of office space, which amounts to a maximum deduction of $1,500.

Understand, however, that there are strict rules on what constitutes a dedicated, fully deductible home office space. Here’s more on the much-misunderstood home office tax deduction.

The fine print: If you work from home occasionally but have an office to go to, you can’t take this deduction.

Tax break 6: Home improvements to age in place

To get this break, these home improvements will need to exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income. So if you make $60,000, this deduction kicks in only on money spent over $4,500.

The cost of these improvements can result in a nice tax break for many older homeowners who plan to age in place and add renovations such as wheelchair ramps or grab bars in slippery bathrooms. Deductible improvements might also include widening doorways, lowering cabinets or electrical fixtures, and adding stair lifts.

The fine print: You’ll need a letter from your doctor to prove these changes were medically necessary.

Tax break 7: Interest on a home equity line of credit

If you have a home equity line of credit, or HELOC, the interest you pay on that loan is deductible only if that loan is used specifically to “buy, build, or improve a property,” according to the IRS. So you’ll save cash if your home’s crying out for a kitchen overhaul or half-bath. But you can’t use your home as a piggy bank to pay for college or throw a wedding.

The fine print: You can deduct only up to the $750,000 cap, and this is for the amount you pay in interest on your HELOC and mortgage combined. (And if you took out a HELOC before the new 2018 tax plan for anything besides improvements to your home, you cannot legally deduct the interest.)

WRITTEN BY MARGARET HEIDENRY FOR REALTOR.COM