Wednesday, April 8, 2009

loan modifications--- save money and read this

Many people have asked me about these loan modification programs that you see advertised.

Don't be fooled. A home owner that wants to modify their loan needs to go to their servicing company to do that.

These companies that advertise that they can modify the loan are just a middleman and they charge some pretty hefty fees to do what the homeowner can do themselves.

You may have heard that CHFA now has a program that will allow a first time buyer to use a large portion of their $8,000 tax credit to pay off the down payment loan from CHFA after they get their tax credit. This program allows the buyer to get a deferred interest and payment loan for the down payment on an FHA Loan to buy the home and then pay that 2nd loan back once the tax credit has been received.

If you are trying to sell a condo or have a buyer for a condo you will be interested to know this. You probably know that a condo complex needs to be FHA approved in order to do an FHA loan there.

Now we are finding more and more convention loan programs that are requiring a similar approval. In addition Fannie Mae is requiring a buyer to get insurance for the interior of the property. It's the same thing as renters insurance.

Saturday, April 4, 2009

buy now and get $8ooo back from the IRS

The following information can be extremely helpful in educating buyers in our "buyers' market"

New Stimulus Bill: What You Need to KnowOn February 17, 2009, President Obama signed into law HR 1, The American Recovery and Investment Act of 2009, a $789 billion economic stimulus bill. With more than 700 pages of legislation, the stimulus bill seems to have addressed everything from homelessness to home-buying incentives. But in this article we'll focus only on the provisions that directly affect our industry.

$8,000 tax credit – First-time home buyers (anyone who hasn't owned a home in the last three years) can claim a credit worth up to $8,000 (or 10% of the home's value, whichever is less) on their 2008 or 2009 taxes for a primary residence purchased from January 1st, 2009 to December 1, 2009. Unlike the $7,500 credit from the previous stimulus bill, this is a true tax credit, in that it doesn't have to be repaid, as long as the buyers remain in the home for at least 3 years.

It's not the $15,000 credit that Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association Realtors (NAR) wanted to see. But, Yun said, "The $8,000 credit will bring an additional 300,000 new homebuyers into the market. The credit could also create a domino effect," he said, "because each first-time homebuyer sale will lead to two more trade-up transactions down the line." See NAR's detailed comparison between the $7,500 and $8,000 tax credits.

Qualified buyers, however, can apply for the credit on their tax returns in either 2008 or 2009 – which a great opportunity for your clients to put some money in their pockets right now. Qualified taxpayers who have already completed their returns and filed for the $7,500 credit can file amended returns for 2008 to claim the credit. The following release from the IRS has all the information your clients need to claim the credit on their 2008 taxes, including a link to the tax form itself.

Yours in Staying Updated,

Brian Bacon
GRS GRI ABR MRE
Bacon Ent., Inc.
bacondenver@gmail.com
303-301-7133 direct
303-905-5002 cell
12365 Huron St. (SW corner of 124th& Huron)Westminster CO 80234
http://www.bacondenver.comwww.housefindercolorado.com
assistants:Linda Lowe -- 303-862-4173
Marilynn Crider 303-887-8321 cell/txt