• 

  5 Tips for Deciphering Your Home Loan’s Good-faith Estimate

  Knowing how to read your good-faith estimate can help you save money on your home loan. Read
• 

  7 Homeowner Tax Advantages

  When you’re evaluating how much home you can afford, make sure you factor in the tax advantages of homeownership. Read
• 

  4 Tips to Determine How Much Mortgage You Can Afford

  By knowing how much mortgage you can handle, you can ensure that home ownership will fit in your budget. Read
• 

  7 Tips for Improving Your Credit

  Here’s how to clean up your credit so you get the least-expensive home loan possible. Read
• 

  Find the Home Loan that Fits Your Needs

  Understand which mortgage loan is best for you so your budget is not stretched too thin. Read

• 

  Understanding Your Septic System

  Learn about your septic system so you can prolong its life and avoid costly breakdowns. Read
• 

  Do You Need to Replace Your Plumbing?

  What to look for and consider to determine if you should replace plumbing and deteriorating pipes. Read
• 

  Caring for Your Plumbing System

  Care for your pipes so they’ll last longer—and prevent a costly plumbing disaster later. Read
• 

  Low-Flow Toilets: How to Choose

  Replacing an old water-guzzler with a new low-flow toilet can shave as much as $90 off your annual utility bill and send thousands fewer gallons of water down the drain. Read
• 

  Low-Flow Showerheads: How to Choose

  Thanks to innovative new technology, today’s super-efficient low-flow showerheads save water, reduce your energy bills, and still feel good to use. Read

It’s been a rough one for some of us this year. The real estate market has definitely had its Highs and Lows. Lenders are having a hard time with it. And many deals have become a totally different machine. Short sales, foreclosures, lease purchase, and on and on. What does it mean and are we gonna make it out alive?

Well the answer is yes! If any of you are curious about your home, what it’s worth, what your options are and if you should be worried, please let me know your concerns. Deals are getting more creative and they are doable. Homes are taking a little longer on the market in some areas, but people are still out there. People have to move and life goes on. It can be really stressful, but at the end of the day you just got to tell yourself, “It’s just a house, nobody is going to die.” You do what you can and keep on living.

If you are thinking of buying there has never been a better time. Rates are low and the deals are just getting better and better. I have seen some great homes go for a lot less than they should have. Which I hate for the sellers, but they got it sold and got to move on. Everyone just keeps on living. Don’t get caught up in the worry, please if you have questions, let me know. I am here to help!

The market in my opinion is speeding up. Just in the last few weeks, I have had a few things come to light. This is a good sign and I am staying positive.

Let me know your concerns and comments!

NAR Hails House Vote on Flood Bill Extension
A bill to extend the authority for the National Flood Insurance Program, strongly supported by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®, was passed by the House today. The bill would extend the program to September 30, 2010.

“We greatly appreciate that the members of House were sensitive to the plight of thousands of home buyers whose loans were being held up since this program expired earlier this year. The passage of H.R. 5569 is a first step toward helping home buyers to the closing table. We strongly urge the Senate to speed passage of this important bill,” said NAR President Vicki Cox Golder, owner of Vicki L. Cox Real Estate in Tucson, Ariz.

Lenders have refused to close loans on properties that required flood insurance, since the insurance program expired May 31. The bill would make flood insurance coverage retroactive and would include all approved applications since that date. The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.

Source: NAR

One piece of good news, released simultaneously with the Fed’s report, was a survey of CEOs of large U.S. companies, 39 percent of whom said they expect to increase the number of people on their payrolls in the second half of 2010.

Source: Associated Press, Alan Zibel (06/23/2010)

As always I am here to help. If you want to know what your home is worth? Or think you are ready for a move, let me know!

WASHINGTON June 16 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate voted on Wednesday to give homebuyers another three months to settle on their contracts and take advantage of a popular tax credit that sparked a rush of activity in the housing market.

The Senate, with a vote of 60-37, accepted an amendment by Democratic Leader Harry Reid that extends the closing deadline to Sept. 30 for buyers who met the April 30 deadline to have a signed contract.

The current deadline requires buyers to close by June 30 to get the $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers. Existing homeowners buying a new primary residence are eligible for a $6,500 credit.

Reid offered the measure as an amendment to a bill that would extend some popular business tax breaks and extend unemployment insurance benefits for jobless workers.

The proposal would not have a significant impact on future home sales as the extension would be only for home buyers who already had a contract in hand by April 30.

The popularity of the tax credit has caused some anxiety because settlement offices are inundated with buyers trying to close on transactions by the end of this month to get the tax break. (Reporting by Donna Smith; Editing by John O’Callaghan)

Men and Women Agree in Home Must-Haves
It’s true. Men aren’t looking for exactly the same things women are when they go home shopping.

ZipRealty surveyed 1,000 home shoppers and concluded that while about an equal number of men and women sought green features – about 27 percent – and 35 percent of both sexes put a high priority on a home office, there is disparity in the desire for other features.

Both sexes did agree on the biggest turn-offs: structural damage, bad odors, a busy street, and an awkward floor plan.

Here are the top 10 features most desired by men:
1. Garage or designated parking space, 85.5 percent
2. Master suite, 79.8 percent
3. Ample storage space, 71.2 percent
4. Guest bedroom, 70.2 percent
5. Large closets, 64.2 percent
6. Outdoor entertainment area, 63.4 percent
7. Gourmet or updated kitchen, 59.1 percent
8. Breakfast room or eat-in kitchen, 55.2 percent
9. View, 44.5 percent
10. Large yard, 43 percent

Here are the top 10 features most desired by women:
1. Garage or designated parking, 87.7 percent
2. Master suite, 77.8 percent
3. Ample storage space, 72.7 percent
4. Large closets, 68.7 percent
5. Outdoor entertainment area, 64.2 percent
6. Guest bedroom, 63.9 percent
7. Gourmet or updated kitchen, 61.8 percent
8. Breakfast room or eat-in kitchen, 56.1 percent
9. Large yard, 43 percent
10. Wood floors, 40.9 percent

Source: ZipRealty.com (06/10/2010)

What to Do If the Oil Spill Affects Your Market
Anyone trying to rent or sell a property on the Gulf Coast should keep these issues in mind.

• Don’t panic. The next few months could be difficult, but this too shall pass.
• Be forthright. Address the issues on your Web site and on the Web site for your client’s property. Say something like, “We know you’re concerned about the oil spill; we are too.” Add links to reliable news stories and blogs.
• Take pictures. Date-stamped photos of clean water may reassure would-be buyers and renters.
• Focus on non-beach attractions. Golf courses, shopping, and theaters are important and unaffected assets.
• Be prepared to negotiate. Bad news brings out bargain hunters.
• Document losses. Help sellers by providing a broker’s price opinion to serve as a baseline should property values decline, and pursue compensation from the government or BP.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, June Fletcher (06/03/20

By James R. Hagerty

As we reported Thursday, Congress is considering a proposal from Sen. Harry Reid (D., Nev.) to extend the closing deadline on the tax credit of up to $8,000 for home buyers.

One risk of this proposal: It could help people who are trying to cheat Uncle Sam.

To qualify for the credit, buyers must have made a contract to buy the home by April 30. They are then supposed to complete the transaction by June 30. Because of the rush of people to close by then, mortgage companies and closing agents may have a hard time getting all the paper work done on time. So Realtors are pushing Congress for an extension. Sen. Reid has proposed to extend the deadline for closings to Sept. 30, so long as the buyers were under contract in April.

The danger is that this extension would also give more time to people who are merely pretending they were under contract in April and intend to backdate their documents.

Some real estate brokers see signs of dubious behavior. Glenn Kelman, chief executive of Redfin Corp., a Seattle-based broker that operates in nine states, says he started to wonder if tax fraud was on the agenda after hearing from some customers who were very insistent on closing by June 30 even though they went under contract after April 30.

Schahrzad Berkland, an agent for Fidelity Pacific Real Estate in San Diego, who helps produce analyses of that market, found that the number of homes listed as pending sales agreed upon in April continued to rise over the past few weeks. Normally, that number should decline as some deals fall through. Ms. Berkland thinks some buyers are backdating to April.

Beware: The Internal Revenue Service wants to see the paper trail. A spokesman for the IRS says people claiming the credit are required to “attach a copy of the pages from a signed contract to make a purchase showing all parties’ names and signatures, the property address, the purchase price, and the date of the contract.”

Backdating a contract would be both wrong and risky. “That would be fraud on the federal government,” notes Mark Fiedler of Coldwell Banker Legacy, Rio Rancho, N.M. “As a broker, I would not participate in that activity, although there may be others who might. My license enables me to earn a living, and the FBI is not someone I want to cozy up to.” Besides, Mr. Fiedler says, the FBI is “busy putting people in jail for mortgage fraud right now, so let’s not overwork them.”

Terry Smith, an agent at ReMax Integrity, Fort Worth, Texas, also thinks backdating is a bad idea. She says the IRS could demand to see fax dates on contracts, dates of emails discussing the deal and the date that the buyer put up a deposit as “earnest money.”

And is there really honor among thieves? Kevin Duffy, an analyst at ReMax Unlimited in Cincinnati, says: “First you would have to have all parties in agreement to fudge the dates, then hope no one gets mad and turns the (other) party into the IRS.”

Even without cheating, the tax credit will be expensive for Uncle Sam. The National Association of Realtors estimates that 4.4 million people will seek the credit at a cost of more than $30 billion.

]]> http://andrabrewer.com/?feed=rss2&p=90 http://andrabrewer.com/?p=89 http://andrabrewer.com/?p=89#comments Wed, 05 May 2010 16:06:14 +0000 Andra Brewer http://andrabrewer.com/?p=89 Please see link, for important flood information.

http://citylivingblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/flood-memo-from-mayors-office.html

Thanks!