Real Estate Information Archive

As part of its plan to stimulate the U.S. housing market and address the economic challenges facing our nation, Congress has passed legislation that:

• Extended the First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit of up to $8,000 to first-time home buyers until April 30, 2010.
• Expanded the credit to grant up to $6,500 credit to current home owners purchasing a new or existing home between November 7, 2009 and April 30, 2010.
• First-time home buyers who purchase homes between November 7, 2009 and April 30, 2010.
• Current home owners purchasing a home between November 7, 2009 and April 30, 2010, who have used the home being sold or vacated as a principal residence for five consecutive years within the last eight.

Who Qualifies for the Extended Credit?

To qualify as a “first-time home buyer” the purchaser or his/her spouse may not have owned a residence during the three years prior to the purchase.

Which Properties Are Eligible?

The Extended Home Buyer Tax Credit may be applied to primary residences, including: single-family homes, condos, townhomes, and co-ops.

How Much Is Available?

The maximum allowable credit for first-time home buyers is $8,000.

The maximum allowable credit for current homeowners is $6,500.

Can a Buyer Still Qualify If He/She Closes After April 30, 2010?

Under the Extended Home Buyer Tax Credit, as long as a written binding contract to purchase is in effect on April 30, 2010, the purchaser will have until July 1, 2010 to close.

How is a Buyer's Credit Amount Determined?

Each home buyer’s tax credit is determined by two additional factors:

1. The price of the home.
2. The buyer's income.

 Price

Under the Extended Home Buyer Tax Credit, credit may only be awarded on homes purchased for $800,000 or less.

 Buyer Income

Under the Extended Home Buyer Tax Credit, which is effective on November 7, 2009,  single buyers with incomes up to $125,000 and married couples with incomes up to $225,000—may receive the maximum tax credit.

If the Buyer(s)’ Income Exceeds These Limits, Can He/She Still Get a Credit?

Yes, some buyers may still be eligible for the credit.

The credit decreases for buyers who earn between $125,000 and $145,000 for single buyers and between $225,000 and $245,000 for home buyers filing jointly. The amount of the tax credit decreases as his/her income approaches the maximum limit. Home buyers earning more than the maximum qualifying income—over $145,000 for singles and over $245,000 for couples are not eligible for the credit.

Will the Tax Credit Need to Be Repaid?

No. The buyer does not need to repay the tax credit, if he/she occupies the home for three years or more. However, if the property is sold during this three-year period, the full amount credit will be recouped on the sale.

I listen to the news and I read the news (online) and I hear about the economy and I know it has slowed down in much of the country but here in Warner Robins we are seeing signs of growth. Passing Houston Lake Road and Hwy 96 today I was amazed at the progress of the new Kroger Superstore coming to that corner. ( I hope it has gas pumps) I love my 10 cent discount with my Kroger card. Then drive right around the corner onto Houston Lake Road in front of Shenanigans and you will see a new Chinese restaurant almost completed. I am way excited about this one also. It is being opened by a local couple who already own another restaurant in town. It has the appearance of being upscale and a great date location. Then if you continue on to the 247 connector you will see the lot cleared for a new Publix grocery store that they have not started building yet but it is coming. We have some great things happening in our little neck of the woods and I just wanted to share it with you. Have a wonderful day!

One of my favorite things about living in the south is that starting in March the town of Macon is draped in cotton candy pink Cherry Blossoms everywhere. We have just finished a very rainy festival celebrating the over 300,00 Yoshino cherry trees in all their amazing beauty. Did you know that Congressional records list Macon Georgia as the Cherry Blossom Capital of the world? It is said that if all the Cherry trees in Macon were planted 10 feet apart side by side they would stretch for 500 miles. My favorite part of the history of the Cherry Blossom festival is that it was started by a local Realtor, named William A. Fickling, Sr . In 1949 he found a tree growing in his backyard and was awed by the unique beauty of the tree and set out to find out what the tree was called, but it was not until 1952 on a trip to Washington DC that he discovered the name of the tree. He then learned how to propagate the Yoshinos and began freely sharing them with the community. As the years passed and the number of Cherry Trees grew they spread all over Macon and with that the start of the Cherry Blossom festival started. Despite its humble beginnings, the festival has become one of the Top 20 Events in the South, Top 50 Events in the U.S. and Top 100 Events in North America. It has grown from a three-day festival with 30 events, to a 10-day celebration featuring hundreds of events planned to entertain all ages and backgrounds. Originally a sleepy Southern town, Macon has now become a bustling center of beauty and international friendship. It roots began with a man who possessed a deep appreciation for beauty and a passion for horticulture, and of course a love of Real estate. So as the Cherry blossoms are replaced with the dogwood blossoms I wanted to share some pictures of Macon with you. My assistant Cheryl sent the pictures to me. I wish I could give credit to the photographer but I have no clue who it was. So for those of you in the North look what we in the South are enjoying.

Well by the time you read this the President would have signed the economic stimulus package. What is ths going to mean to you? Well since there are so many numbers I am sharing with you what one of my acive rain friends Dan Hartman from Providence RI.posted in his blog. He had a great post on activerain and I just did not think I could say it any better so below is a portion of his blog. If you would like to read the entire blog follow the link below.

http://activerain.com/blogsview/938562/Economic-Stimulus-Act-Signed-Into-Law-What-does-it-mean-for-homebuyers

So what does the package contain for the average homebuyer?

$8000.

Section 1006 (page 54 of the conference report) describes changes to Section 36 of the Internal Revenue Code modifying the previous homebuyer credit that had been enacted in October of 2008.  Specifically, the following important changes have been made:

• Credit has been increased: the original credit was limited to $7500 or 10% of the home's purchase price; this has been upped to $8000 or 10%. 
• Credit no longer requires repayment: a significant criticism of the original 2008 credit was its repayment requirement, as those taking the credit would be required to repay it over 15 years. That has been addressed in the new law so that repayment is now required only if the home is sold within the first 3 years. 
• Credit is now allowable for buyers using "revenue bond" funded mortgages: many state and local entities offer first-time homebuyer mortgage programs that sometimes offer terms more favorable than government or conventional mortgages. Previously those buyers had been prohibited from accepting the credit, however they may now claim it.
• Time to purchase extended: the original credit was due to expire June 30th; the revision extends that to November 30th

Meanwhile, many components follow the original wording instituted last fall, specifically:

• Credit is refundable: this means that a homebuyer who would otherwise owe no tax may still claim this credit and receive it as part of a tax refund
• Credit is for first-time homebuyers only: sorry, move-up buyers, but you won't receive this credit; do expect many more first-time homebuyers to be looking at your house, which should help you sell more quickly, if you're priced correctly
• Credit is income-limited: the legistlature didn't see fit to modify the terms of this program to allow all homebuyers to benefit, only those who haven't owned in the past 3 years

Finally, certain components are still somewhat unclear:

• Credit may be retroactively claimed: the prior credit offered the option to claim as if the purchase took place 12/31/2008 even if it closed in the early parts of 2009. The final bill's language appears to replace this paragraph (page 122, Stat 2981, section 36 subsection g) with something unrelated, which may mean buyers will need to wait until 2010 to claim the credit.

Overall, this program does a lot to change current programs by making them significantly more attractive to homebuyers. The removal of repayment requirement makes the credit much more attractive than the previous offer that had been made. The other changes are more semantic than meaningful, but the most significant thing accomplished by enactment of the bill is this:

Clarity

At least now, we can stop guessing, and start working towards improving the housing market.

So now that we have a new economic stimulus I hope this answers some of your questions and that the above numbers will help you in making a decison.

Have a great weekend and enjoy this great weather.

Jacque

More gloom and doom news from everywhere Today. I wonder if the media gets as sick and tired of reporting that type of news as we do hearing it. One of the so-called analysts reported that most Americans are sitting on the sidelines because they believe that home values will continue to fall in the first half of 09. Maybe they will and then again maybe they won't.
 
Let's take a positive spin on this info rather than a negative one. Customers who are sitting on the sidelines waiting to strike, could be missing out on the greatest real estate purchasing opportunity of the last few decades, especially in Georgia. The average home price is $207,000.00, with the change over one year of -4.4%. However the change over a 5 year period is +16.6. That's a pretty good return if you plan on keeping your home for more than a year. When was the last time anyone has seen rates hovering at 5% and less. Also, what happens if all the stimulus packages coming down the pike, raise the rates and push home values higher.
 
I guess my point is, who are the customers listening to, the Pundits on Wall Street or the Professionals in Real Estate.

I know that my stock broker always tells me that when the market is down is the best time to buy not when companies are going along at gang buster pace. So when I take that into the real estate field I can not think of a better time to buy then now when  the market is down and there is an overage on the MLS. We are seeing increased calls and more of our listings are selling. So if you are sitting on the fence I would encourage you to jump off and jump in.

Jacque

Got a great email from a Lender friend in Buckhead and I wanted to share some of it with you. He is very in tune with what the banks are doing and his forcast for the market at the end of this week is as follows.

The flight to quality will remain in place for quite a while. Possibly six months maybe longer. What prompted the tightening was a semi-annual report published Tuesday. This report stated that delinquency rates spiked in the previous six months,  for loans with borrowers having mid FICO scores of below 620. This in turn spooked investors who hold warehouse lines of credit for other investors. They will no longer tolerate any more of these loans on their books.

Rates have moved upward again. The 30 year fixed is now at 5.5% PAR for a 30 day lock. 10 and 15 year terms have moved to 5.25%, fully amortized.

3/1 and 5/1 ARM's still remain under the 5% threshold. 3/1 money is at 4.375% with the 5/1 ARM going to 4.75%.

He goes on to state that your debt to income ratios are going to become very important. That if you have credit card debt that you will not want to have more then 50% of the limit used.

Several banks here in town have just stopped doing mortgages. I know for a fact Atlantic Southern has and today I heard Security Bank announced they are putting a hold on all home mortgages.

It is a very unusual market that we are experiencing, and I really don't see a change coming for the next six months. So my advice would be to keep your credit steller, don't be late on payments, and try and get your debt ratios down below that 50% mark. Typically the other industries like auto and credit follow suit on credit guidelines. So we may see changes in those markets as well.

As for the good new this Friday, home sales have risen and in the Warner Robins area we actually saw an increase of a little over 2%. So maybe all the doom and gloom is not going to be around for a whole lot longer.

Have a great weekend

Jacque Applegate

Thanks to Greg for the loan information.

Greg Brown

BuckHead Home Loans

1455 Old Alabama Road  Suite  195-A

Roswell, Ga. 30076

Office: 404-303-7411

Cell: 678-943-0423

gbrown@buckheadhomeloans.com

Last night we said good bye to another year yet once more. As we greet the new one have your followed your family traditions? I know today that I made my mother and father proud as we shared the Georgia game with good friends and we ate all the traditional foods meant to bring us good luck and wealth.

We had black eyed peas and rice in the south we call it Hoppin Jon. For a little trivia question do you know what Hoppin Jon is called when you have it as left overs the next day? My daughter Jaime informed me it is referred to as Skipping Jane. That was my small fact to learn today. One I did not even have a clue of. Along with Black eyed peas I had to make a concession on the cabbage that I grew up eating and hating I might add because I have learned in the south it is not cabbage but Collard Greens as the symbol of choice. I guess the greens symbolize money so after this year being so crappy I forced the greens down. The rice is a food that has long been know as a lucky food so of course we had that also and we vectored away from the hog jowls, some things I just can't do so we had pulled pork another concession I have made from my Northern roots.

Food, family friends and football what more could you ask for on the first day of a New Year.

If you would like to read more about the traditions of New Years check out this link, has some fun facts to know and learn. http://wilstar.com/holidays/newyear.htm

I wish you blessing and joy in 2009! And remember as always Real Estate is still a strong investment and always a great place to invest your money. The highest complement you can ever pay my team is the referral of family and friends.

Once more our little town of Warner Robins Georgia has made the front page news. Yesterday evening it was decided unanimously that Warner Robins would be the new South East regional headquarters for Little League!

This is impressive news following upon Business Week naming Warner Robins as one of the best places to raise your kids.

Below is an excerpt from the press announcement from the Warner Robins Little League website.

With back-to-back world champions and a strong passion for Little League, I cannot imagine a better place than Georgia for the Southeast Region Headquarters," Gov. Perdue said. "Little League is a great program that I was proud to be a part of during my youth, and we will be honored to host the regional playoffs each year as the Southeast representative to the Little League World Series is determined. Little League is a world-class organization and I am proud to welcome them to Georgia."

the entire article can be found at

http://tinyurl.com/5g5xwl

This is definitely something for us to be proud of since our boys showed such great sportsmanship to the young men from Japan in the final playoffs of 2007. I must say that at the end of that game I had tears in my eyes. I have known many of these young man and have watched them grow during our time here in Georgia and it was a very humbling moment when our boys went and hugged the young boys from Japan. It's what we as parents hope to install in our children and that game showed that many parents and coaches had met the mark.

So once more our small town is brought into the headlines and with this honor we will be forced to improve what many of us feel is already a great sports program. An interesting fact that the above article stated is

Little League Baseball and Softball is the world's largest organized youth sports program, with more than 2.6 million players and 1 million volunteers in every U.S. state and 75 other countries.

I must say that I had no clue that the sport was that huge. That even makes it bigger news when you recognize those facts.

So if you are ever in our area please don't hesitate to pull off I-75 and check out our little news worthy town. You know you will always be welcomed! Have a great day!