Jeremy's Blog

Congress Expands and Extends the First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit

The bill has finally passed thru congress and is expected to be signed by Obama later today. Most of the details of the credit will stay the same with the following changes.

The end date for the credit has been moved to April 30^th, 2010. Purchase agreements must be signed by all parties on or before this date. The transaction must close by June 30^th, 2010.

The credit has been expanded to “move up buyers” or people who have owned a home as a primary residence for 5 of the last 8 years. The cap for these people will be $6,500.

Income limits increased to 125k for single people and 225k for married.

The complete list of qualifying criteria is posted on the IRS website. Be sure to review it with a tax professional to determine your eligibility. Then mark your calendar for April 30, 2009.

It's 5 months away.

Short Sales Help Is Here!

Thinking of Selling Your Home On a Short Sale? A short sale is a sale of real estate in which the sale proceeds fall short of the balance owed on the property's loan. It often occurs when a borrower cannot pay the mortgage loan on their property, but the lender decides that selling the property at a moderate loss is better than pressing the current debtor. Both parties consent to the short sale process, because it allows them to avoid foreclosure, which involves hefty fees for the bank and poorer credit report outcomes for the borrower. (www.wikipedia.org) Short Sales can be a VERY VERY cumbersome process.  It's best to hire a professional to help.  BEWARE - short sales are not governed by any laws.  Therefore there are MANY MANY shady companies out there looking to rob both the seller and lender.  For a reputable company check these guys out! (see Video)   Is there an alternative to foreclosure? Yes there is! This video will explain what a Short Sale is, the documentation needed, and the step by step process. For more information call 1-800-272-4661

HUD delayed the New GFE & HUD-1 ENFORCEMENT for 120 days to companies making a good faith effort. They are also asking the other agencies to do the same. They did NOT give lenders the choice to delay using the new GFE.   They are all going to need to use the new one, however, if they have problems put it in place HUD will not prose punichment.

http://portal.hud.gov/portal/page/portal/HUD/press/press_releases_media_advisories/2009/HUDNo.09-215

I wanted to share with all of you an email from Senator Levin in regards to the tax credit.  He sent me this email a few hours AFTER the Senate unanimously voted to extend the tax credit.  This just goes to show how much of a joke our goverment is sending voters caned responses that are not even accurate.  Read from the bottom up. . . . Enjoy!

Wow, you sent this email to me yesterday after the senate unanimously voted to extend the tax credit. That did happen in case you were not paying attention. So you obviously didn’t put any thought into this caned email. I’m so disappointed. I was hoping your office actually read these. What a shame . . . . Not that you will read this email, but you should have said thank you blab la, you will be happy to know today we voted to extend the credit. You could have even cited your Senate Floor Statement http://levin.senate.gov/senate/statement.cfm?id=319658 In case you are not aware of what that was I put the link in this email for you. That would be the proper way to get a vote. Now you lost a vote. . . .

I’ll be sure to share this on my blogs http://www.jeremydrobeck.com/MyBlog

Jeremy Drobeck

Mortgage Advisor

Office: (269) 324-4240 Ext. 132

Cell: (269) 598-3975

Fax: (269) 585-5997

1stclassmortgageservice.com

"Nothing Less Than Excellence"

From: senator_levin@levin.senate.gov [mailto:senator_levin@levin.senate.gov]
Sent: Thursday, November 05, 2009 6:04 PM
To: jeremy@jeremydrobeck.com
Subject: Re: Your Concerns

Dear Mr. Drobeck:

Thank you for contacting me about extending the first-time home buyer tax credit. I appreciate hearing your thoughts on this matter.

Last year, in an effort to stimulate the slumping housing market, Congress voted to include a $7,500 tax credit for first-time home buyers in the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (P.L.110-289). This was a temporary incentive for first-time home buyers, which, if taken, would be repaid over time, similar to an interest-free loan.

As the economy took a dramatic downturn and the housing market continued to worsen, it became clear that immediate action was necessary to make a substantial reinvestment in our country to stabilize and revitalize our economy. Congress responded by passing The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA, P.L.111-5). This package included a provision to increase the first-time home buyer tax credit to $8,000, to extend the sunset period through the end of November 2009, and to remove the repayment requirement. These additions were retroactive to January 1, 2009.

I appreciate input from real estate industry professionals, such as yourself, and will keep your views in mind as Congress continues to consider what can be done to further address issues in the housing market, including a possible extension of the first-time home buyer tax credit.

Again, thank you for writing.


Sincerely,
Carl Levin