Archive for the 'Real Estate News' Category
The Disappearing Time Table for the Home Buyer Tax Credit
August 20th, 2009
Categories:Real Estate News
Will you be able to find a home and close in time to receive the $8,000 tax credit?
Let’s look at the home buying time line and discuss some of the pitfalls you’ll want to consider before spending any more time sitting on the fence or gambling on short-sales.
What We Know:
- Tax Credit “expires” on December 1st, 2009
- You must close on your home by November 30th
- The IRS says there will be NO exceptions
- Rumors of next year’s tax credit have gone silent
Time Factors for Each Party in the Transaction:
Depending on who owns the home and what process they are using to facility the sale, will vary greatly from home to home. Here’s a breakdown of how long each major phase of the sales process takes. Take note of the never ending list of reasons for a short sale to be delayed. Read the rest of this entry »
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Get 22% off Your Next Home! (seriously)
August 3rd, 2009
Categories:Real Estate News
iMortgage has recently released a new loan program for homebuyers. It allows homebuyers to get 22% of their loan for free and do 1% down. FHA, Conventional, VA or USDA it doesn’t matter, this program will work. However, like most good deals the opportunity might not last long!
The program has one small catch, but if you can find a way around it this is an excellent way jump into a home with very little down!
Here’s a quick summary:
- The buyer still needs to come up with 3% down, however 2% of that can be “gifted” from a family member (etc)
- The 22% from ADOH never has to be paid back if the buyer stays in the home for 5-15 years! (depending on the amount) and if they pay it back, its a zero interest loan!
- This applies to bank owned properties only
- The home must sell for 1% below market appraised value (the catch)
Here is what i have so far Read the rest of this entry »
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Survey Results: Downpayment and Closing Costs are the Biggest Obstacles
July 24th, 2009
Categories:Real Estate News
National Association of Realtors (NAR) released their 2009 National Housing Pulse Survey last week. Here are some of the highlights.
82% of home buyers looking to take advantage of this market feel saving for a down payment and closing costs is still too great of an obstacle.
On a positive note, 83% of Americans surveyed believe buying a home is a good financial decision.
75% of those surveyed believe now is a good time to buy a home, a number that continues to increase.
80% of homeowners feel it is harder to sell a home in today’s market than it was a year ago.
Only 18% of Americans expect prices to Read the rest of this entry »
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Time's Quickly Ticking for the $8,000 Home Buyer Tax Credit
July 20th, 2009
Categories:Real Estate News
Are you looking to purchase a home and take advantage of the lucrative $8,000 First-Time Home buyer tax credit?
Well the clock is a ticking!
In order to receive the $8,000 gift from the IRS, the house must close by December 1st.
Keep in mind, the IRS is handing out the dough for this one. I don’t think they will be too keen on the idea of making exceptions.
Give yourself a good 45-60 days for your deal to close. Which means plan on having the home under contract and in escrow by Read the rest of this entry »
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Got SRP? Expect to Pay More in November
July 17th, 2009
Categories:Real Estate News
SRP’s increased cost is estimated at an average of 8.8% or $12.22 per month for customers using the Basic Price Plan and 1,208 kilowatt-hours per month.
While the talks started on Monday to discuss the proposed increase, the changes won’t take affect until November 1st, 2009. Which will give consumers a chance to adjust their energy spending and possibly make long-term improvements towards more energy efficient programs.
SRP makes it very clear they have already dramatically reduced their operating budget by over $40 million and decreased capital expenditures by $90 million this year. However, they still face the challenges involved with stricter environmental requirements as the country shifts to cleaner way of generating energy. Which they note as also being a more expensive way of generating energy. Read the rest of this entry »
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Fact or Fiction: 1% Down FHA is Back?
July 6th, 2009
Categories:Real Estate News
Believe it or not, it appears the 1% FHA Loans are coming back. Well, more like crawling back.
Last Friday I received a completely random phone call from Robert Spector with The Lending Company. He ran across an post I wrote about 9 months earlier when a private investor offered a 1% down program. The program was immensely successful. However, it didn’t stay on the market long because the investor only had a limited amount of funds to support the program.
It appears The Lending Company is the first lender to have access to a new 1% down program offered by the H.O.M.E. Gift Program. While other lenders say they have similar programs coming, Read the rest of this entry »
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Bill Introduced for 18-month HVCC Moratorium
July 3rd, 2009
Categories:Real Estate News
The H.R. 3044 bill was introduced this week to put an 18-month moratorium on the Home Valuation Code of Conduct!
This is very exciting news as the HVCC has been viewed by many as a poorly thought out program to a problem that needs a quality solution.
Since the HVCC took place, it has increased the costs to consumers and decreased the quality of appraisals. Neither of which are helping today’s housing market get back on its feet.
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