I've been trying to tell buyers to get out there and look for homes so they can take advantage of the $8,000 home buyer tax credit if they have an offer to purchase accepted by 4/30/2010 and close on that sale by June 30th, 2010. I just realized - POTENTIAL SELLERS SHOULDN'T WAIT either. If you were thinking of selling your home in late spring, you would miss this whole group of motivated buyers if you wait to list your home till after 4/30/2010.
Get a hold of a Realtor today and take advantage of these buyers. Also, if you have owned your home for 5 of the last 8 years, you may qualify for a $6,500 tax credit if you sell and buy another home to live in.
Let me know if you need details. Even if you're not in my area, I will still offer my expertise and advice. I'm licensed in Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
SELLING YOUR HOME IN THE SPRING?
I've been targeting buyers to tell them about the $8,000 homebuyer tax credit. Now I want to tell you sellers. If you are thinking of putting your home on the market this spring, don't wait - do it now. There are a lot of buyers wanting to get their offers accepted by the April 30th deadline. If you wait to list your home in the spring, you'll miss out on this pool of ready buyers!
Then if you sell your home, you can buy a new one and possibly qualify for the repeat buyer credit up to $6,500. If you need details, just drop me an e-mail or give me a call. If I can't help you, I'll direct you to someone who can.
Then if you sell your home, you can buy a new one and possibly qualify for the repeat buyer credit up to $6,500. If you need details, just drop me an e-mail or give me a call. If I can't help you, I'll direct you to someone who can.
Friday, January 22, 2010
99 DAYS REMAIN TO GET $8,000 HOMEBUYER TAX CREDIT
Time is fast running out to take advantage of the stimulous plan's HOMEBUYER TAX CREDIT. Offers must be accepted by April 30th, 2010 and loans must then close by June 30th.
Up to $8,000 available to buyers who have not owned a home in the past 3 years.
Up to $6,500 available to buyers who are buying another owner occupied property as long as they have occupied their current/past residence for 5 of the last 8 years.
Call or e-mail me for details.
Up to $8,000 available to buyers who have not owned a home in the past 3 years.
Up to $6,500 available to buyers who are buying another owner occupied property as long as they have occupied their current/past residence for 5 of the last 8 years.
Call or e-mail me for details.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
100 DAYS REMAIN to cash in on the homebuyer tax credit
To take advantage of the $8,000 or $6,500 home buyer tax credit, you have to have an accepted offer to purchase no later than April 30th, 2010 and the loan must then close on or before June 30th, 2010.
PLEASE don't wait long to start shopping for that new home.
You can qualify for up to $8,000 if you have not owned a home in the past 3 years.
You can qualify for up to $6,500 if you have lived in your home for 5 of the last 8 years and buy a different owner-occupied property.
Call or e-mail me for details. Why not take advantage of this while you can.
PLEASE don't wait long to start shopping for that new home.
You can qualify for up to $8,000 if you have not owned a home in the past 3 years.
You can qualify for up to $6,500 if you have lived in your home for 5 of the last 8 years and buy a different owner-occupied property.
Call or e-mail me for details. Why not take advantage of this while you can.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Stupid new guildeine update
Stable Income is the topic of the day. Now we're told we need a 2 year history of employment. If someone can not show a 2 year history they'll have problems getting a loan. Now we've always looked for stable dependable income, but the news we're hearing now is truly stupid. Say you're an RN who graduated and has had a nursing job for 11 months. You may have trouble getting a loan because you don't have 2 years of employment history. How idiotic is that! Why does having 2 years of employment constitute more stable income than 11 months of nursing for dependable income? Before educaiton in your field of work counted as work history. Not any more.
You know I'll argue this one for you!
I know that they needed to tighten up lending guidelines - anyone could borrow money 3 years ago, but now they're going a bit too far and shutting good borrowers out of the market with the stuff they're dreaming up. Tell kids to go to college and get a good education so they can get a good job, but - oh, I'm sorry, until you work for 2 years, you don't deserve to buy a home.
There's no common sense, no grey areas, no compensating factors.
Make sure you're dealing with a knowledgable loan officer who keeps on top of the every changing mortgage market. Give me a call if you need help or have quesitons.
You know I'll argue this one for you!
I know that they needed to tighten up lending guidelines - anyone could borrow money 3 years ago, but now they're going a bit too far and shutting good borrowers out of the market with the stuff they're dreaming up. Tell kids to go to college and get a good education so they can get a good job, but - oh, I'm sorry, until you work for 2 years, you don't deserve to buy a home.
There's no common sense, no grey areas, no compensating factors.
Make sure you're dealing with a knowledgable loan officer who keeps on top of the every changing mortgage market. Give me a call if you need help or have quesitons.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
$8,000 BUYER TAX CREDIT AMENDED TO INCLUDE $6,500 FOR REPEAT BUYERS
Seems like buyers are once again gearing up to cash-in on the buyer tax credit.
Your offers must be accepted by 4/30/2010 and the loan must close no later than June 30th, 2010. Don't wait till last minute, because it would be a shame if you miss it by 2 days because everyone was so busy the loan couldn't get closed in time. Find a home early!
Can you use it for your down payment? No. It's a credit you apply for after you buy the home. You can't get it ahead of time, as it's a credit to the income tax liability you have so until you do your Federal Income tax return you will not know how much of the tax credit you're intitled to.
Let me explain.....
You buy a home in April. You're a 1st-time buyer or haven't owned a home in the last 3 years. You buy a home for $100,000. You qulaify for the max, which is 10% of the sale price UP TO $8,000.
You purchas the home, then file your 2009 income taxes. If you would end up owing the IRS $2,000, because you can claim the tax credit, you would get $6,000. That's the $8,000 tax credit, less $2,000 you owed in income tax.
If you would be getting a refund of $2,000 in income taxes, with the tax credit you would end up getting $10,000. That's the $2,000 you would get plus $8,000 tax credit.
Now if you can't buy a home in time to file your taxes, you can amend them right away and should get the credit pretty fast.
Say you're not a 1st-time buyer? If you have owned your home for 5 of the last 8 years, you could qualify for up to $6,500 as a repeat buyer.
One exception to using the credit to buy a home: You can't GET the credit, but in very few instances, depending on where you are buying, there may be HUD approved down-payment provider that would borrow it to you till you get the tax credit. Here in LaCrosse, Wisconsin there aren't any approved providers. 99% change you can't find one in your area, so probably no chance of borrowing against the tax credit. It's still worth checking out just to make sure it's not available in your area.
CNBC had someone on NBC's Today show telling people they can use it for the down payment. I hope this comment didn't get anyone's hopes up. They also said you can use the $6,500 to buy investment properties. WRONG! You could buy a rental property if you were going to occupy it. Then you can only claim the credit against the portion you are occupying. Say you buy a duplex for $140,000. You can claim 10% of $70,000 (half of the $140,000 sale price) for $7,000 max credit, or $6,500 for repeat buyers.
I've done a lot of research on this, and have researched a lot of scenarios, so if you have questions about the $8,000 or $6,500 tax credit for homebuyers, just give me a call or send me an e-mail.
I'm here for you!
Your offers must be accepted by 4/30/2010 and the loan must close no later than June 30th, 2010. Don't wait till last minute, because it would be a shame if you miss it by 2 days because everyone was so busy the loan couldn't get closed in time. Find a home early!
Can you use it for your down payment? No. It's a credit you apply for after you buy the home. You can't get it ahead of time, as it's a credit to the income tax liability you have so until you do your Federal Income tax return you will not know how much of the tax credit you're intitled to.
Let me explain.....
You buy a home in April. You're a 1st-time buyer or haven't owned a home in the last 3 years. You buy a home for $100,000. You qulaify for the max, which is 10% of the sale price UP TO $8,000.
You purchas the home, then file your 2009 income taxes. If you would end up owing the IRS $2,000, because you can claim the tax credit, you would get $6,000. That's the $8,000 tax credit, less $2,000 you owed in income tax.
If you would be getting a refund of $2,000 in income taxes, with the tax credit you would end up getting $10,000. That's the $2,000 you would get plus $8,000 tax credit.
Now if you can't buy a home in time to file your taxes, you can amend them right away and should get the credit pretty fast.
Say you're not a 1st-time buyer? If you have owned your home for 5 of the last 8 years, you could qualify for up to $6,500 as a repeat buyer.
One exception to using the credit to buy a home: You can't GET the credit, but in very few instances, depending on where you are buying, there may be HUD approved down-payment provider that would borrow it to you till you get the tax credit. Here in LaCrosse, Wisconsin there aren't any approved providers. 99% change you can't find one in your area, so probably no chance of borrowing against the tax credit. It's still worth checking out just to make sure it's not available in your area.
CNBC had someone on NBC's Today show telling people they can use it for the down payment. I hope this comment didn't get anyone's hopes up. They also said you can use the $6,500 to buy investment properties. WRONG! You could buy a rental property if you were going to occupy it. Then you can only claim the credit against the portion you are occupying. Say you buy a duplex for $140,000. You can claim 10% of $70,000 (half of the $140,000 sale price) for $7,000 max credit, or $6,500 for repeat buyers.
I've done a lot of research on this, and have researched a lot of scenarios, so if you have questions about the $8,000 or $6,500 tax credit for homebuyers, just give me a call or send me an e-mail.
I'm here for you!
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
$8,000 tax credit for the down payment on a house
This is basically not possible. You get the $8,000, but it's after you purchase the house and it might not be the whole $8,000, as it's a tax CREDIT. If you file your 2009 taxes and you end up owing in $2,000, with the $8,000 tax credit you will only get $6,000. On the other hand, if you were to get a refund of $2,000, with the $8,000 you would end up getting a refund of $10,000. Because it's impossible to know what you will be getting for a refund till you file your taxes, the tax credit can not be used for the down payment. There are a few "approved" agencies that can contaract to BORROW you the $8,000 on the agreement that when you get your refund from the IRS you will pay them back, but 99.9% can't get this, so basically the tax credit is AFTER you buy your home. The repeat buyer tax credit of up to $6,500 can not be used for real estate INVESTMENTS. You have to occupy the property you will be purchasing. You can buy a rental property if you are going to live in it, but you can also only use the value of the % you will be living in. For example, if you buy a 4-plex for $200,000 what you would base your tax credit on is a value of $50,000.
Deal with a knowledgeable mortgage professional who has researched the tax credit thouroughly (like me).
Get your offers written now, as you only have till 4/30/10 to have an offer accepted and you must close on that purchase by 6/30/10 to be eligible for the tax credits.
Deal with a knowledgeable mortgage professional who has researched the tax credit thouroughly (like me).
Get your offers written now, as you only have till 4/30/10 to have an offer accepted and you must close on that purchase by 6/30/10 to be eligible for the tax credits.
New RESPA regulations
What a financing nightmare. Laws designed to help borrowers are really hurting and confusing them. Don't get me wrong - there were a lot of predatory lenders out there who ruined it for all of us, but it's sure hard to do a loan these days. Putting the blame on all lenders for the real estate crisis is like saying all investment people are bad because of Bernie Madoff. They talk about all the money out there and how it needs to be loaned out, but in truth, lenders don't want to lend to borrowers unless they are super perfect, plus they are scared to in case the loan goes bad as they approved it. The desired minimum credit score now is 720 and up. 75% of borrowers in the US probably don't have a 720 score so it's difficult for them to get loans. There are still a couple government loan programs out there. I can go down to a 640 score (FHA) and there is no minimum required score on Guaranteed Rural Housing (GRH) but there are income and credit requirements on the GRH loan.
These new regs are really screwing up pre-approvals. Basically, we can't pre-approve someone without a property. Why? If we were to issue a good faith estimate (note the word estimate?) we have to basically stand by those esitimated figures. If things change, the lender pays the difference. Without knowing all the details of the purchase (a firm offer to purchase, sale price, loan amount, closing date) it's not possible to quote costs. Lenders are not supposed to gather "supporting documentation" which is pay stubs, bank statements, tax returns, until we have an application. An application consists of these 6 things: Offer to purchase, loan amount, estimated property value, social security numbers, names, and income.
So basically, we can meet with a buyer who is house shopping, ask them what they make, pull credit, and determine if we think they will qualify. We can issue a PRE-QUALIFICATION letter, but it would be subject to them finding a property, getting their offer accepted, property appraising, and then the lender verifying they make enough to afford the house, their credit is satisfactory, and they have sufficient funds to close. Pre-qualified is not a pre-approval. There is a lot that can go wrong with a loan until we have everything verified, which we can't do till we have an accepted offer to purchase and can proceed with the application.
Please work with a qualified mortgage professional who keeps on top of the changes and has your best interest in mind (me of course). There are a lot of trustworthy, professional, knowledgeable loan officers out there. Be sure you're working with one.
These new regs are really screwing up pre-approvals. Basically, we can't pre-approve someone without a property. Why? If we were to issue a good faith estimate (note the word estimate?) we have to basically stand by those esitimated figures. If things change, the lender pays the difference. Without knowing all the details of the purchase (a firm offer to purchase, sale price, loan amount, closing date) it's not possible to quote costs. Lenders are not supposed to gather "supporting documentation" which is pay stubs, bank statements, tax returns, until we have an application. An application consists of these 6 things: Offer to purchase, loan amount, estimated property value, social security numbers, names, and income.
So basically, we can meet with a buyer who is house shopping, ask them what they make, pull credit, and determine if we think they will qualify. We can issue a PRE-QUALIFICATION letter, but it would be subject to them finding a property, getting their offer accepted, property appraising, and then the lender verifying they make enough to afford the house, their credit is satisfactory, and they have sufficient funds to close. Pre-qualified is not a pre-approval. There is a lot that can go wrong with a loan until we have everything verified, which we can't do till we have an accepted offer to purchase and can proceed with the application.
Please work with a qualified mortgage professional who keeps on top of the changes and has your best interest in mind (me of course). There are a lot of trustworthy, professional, knowledgeable loan officers out there. Be sure you're working with one.
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