The first time home buyer tax credit that is set to run out by November 30th might get its second wind. Currently the Senate is working on an amendment to the unemployment house bill 4785 as decribed in my previous post Tax Credit. Ok, here is the short and sweet of what is going on with out a bunch of fill in sentences:
1. First time home buyers would continue to get $8,000 credit, while repeat buyers of primary residence would be eligible for a credit of $6,500 if the current buyers owned their own homes for at least 5 years.
2. Tax credit would be available to individuals making up to $125,000 a year and couple making up to $225,000 a year.
3. Tax credits would be available to home buyers who sign sales agreements by the end of April. They would have until the end of June to close on their new homes, according to the summary that was given to lawmakers.
(the above is not set in stone and will probably change knowing lawmakering process)
The process: Depending on how this amendment gets out of the Senate, there are talks it could be voted on as early as Thursday, Oct. 29th…BUT that is for the unemployment bill and several reports are stating the amendment may or may not be attached to the unemployment bill. If and when this home buyer tax credit gets out of the Senate, it still has to make its way through the House and the leaders have already expressed their support for extending the tax credit for home buyers.
My thoughts, if you are in love with a house and ready to buy…..”Go for it!”… since you probably were going to buy it even with out a tax credit. If by some amazing event happens in congress and there is no more tax credit after November 30th, then you still have bought your house that you love and will be turning it into a place you can call home!
www.jasonwroble.com “Taking a bite out of your biggest debt, YOUR MORTGAGE!”
I wouldn’t consider myself an economist, but I did take economics 101. Remember learning about this thing called supply and demand. Currently, the United States is printing money for free….or should I say 0% to .25%…..that is the overnight rate currently. The government has also increased borrowing which means we sell that debt off and the top 3 holders of our debt are:
1. Federal Reserve and Intragovernmental Holdings 4.785 Trillion (March 2009)
2. Mutual funds 769.1 Billion (U.S. Treasury securities)
3. China (mainland) 776.4 Billion
Now, it has been announced that the FED will start to pull back from buying Treasury securities sometime around March 2010. Economics 101, if demand for these go down then price will go up and that means interest rates. The problem though with predicting anything in the financial market is that it is never just that ONE item that causes movement. There are a lot of other factors that will cause interest rates to change, and this is just one of those causes.
Will interest rates go up tomorrow, next week, next month, next year……..that is very tough for anyone to predict and if someone can……..they would be on an island somewhere they own and not telling other people of their predictions.
What I will leave you with is this; The FED can’t keep giving away money at 0% to .25% and will have to raise the overnight rate and protect the weaking dollar. Historically when rates are low and the dollar is weak, rates raise and in my opinion the reason they have been kept low for this long is to help get America back on its feet.
That is why it is important to take steps now, and find ways to reduce the amount of debt you have.
www.jasonwroble.com “Taking a bite out of your biggest debt, YOUR MORTGAGE!”
According to the AP, the Senate could vote on Tuesday to give the extension of the first time homebuyer credit set to expire by November 3oth, 2009. Senate majority leader Harry Reid is looking to attach an amendment to the unemployment insurance bill helping to extend the homebuyer credit. The bill to follow is 2009 House bill 4785 expand unemployment benefits to get stimulus money. When there is an amendment wanting to be added, you can expect several different versions to come together. Some of these ideas would be to extend the first-time homebuyer credit through December 2010 but having it get phased out before reaching December by dropping the amounts from the max of $8,000 credit down to $2,000 by year end. Others like Senator Johnny Isakson wanted to expand it to all home buyers for their primary residence and raise the income limit.
Any form of amendment is being rallied behind by housing industry groups to help decrease housing inventory while helping people buy a home. Now we just have to wait and see while our current deadline for the $8,000 first-time homebuyer credit is getting close to the end of November 30th, 2009.
This is the formation of a government agency that will regulate anything to do with consumer financial products or services. Here is the summary from the bill:
Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act of 2009 – Establishes the Consumer Financial Protection Agency as an independent executive agency to regulate the provision of consumer financial products or services (products or services) under: (1) this Act; (2) consumer finance laws including the Electronic Funds Transfer Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, provisions of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, the Truth in Lending Act, and the Truth in Savings Act; and (3) transferred authorities concerning consumer financial protection functions of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Comptroller of the Currency, the Director of the Office of Thrift Supervision, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA).
So, the good side for this is one agency will be able to regulate the whole banking industry……the bad side…..there is only one agency that will be regulating the whole banking industry. Would love to hear from you guys on this so let me know what you think!
Looks like HUD will be delaying the changes from Mortgagee letter 2009-19 to December 7th, 2009. Most of the changes are still coming out November 2nd from that letter, but new policy for condo project approval and condo unit financing is being delayed until the December date. So if you are in the market for a condo and need FHA financing to do it…..now is the time before the changes take place. Remember, the major changes that effect Chicago, Illinois are: HUD is putting the condo approval process in the hands of the direct endorsement lenders, so it will be up to them. HUD is still going to require 50% occupancy rate and they are capping their concentration to no more then 30% financed through FHA.
I can help you nationwide and Podemos ayudar en espanol! With my network of trusted individuals within the housing industry, allow me to be a person who is a one stop person for any of your home buying needs. If you are needing a mortgage on your purchase, or the refinancing of your mortgage start by sending me an email or give me a call now.
Stay tuned to this space — the brand new MortgageJaw.com website is being finalized for launch this week and will launch on Monday October 26th. We can’t wait!
HUD and Condos, don’t forget about the change happening November 2nd! This should help a condo market like Chicago Illinois. Yes there are some downsides like consentration of FHA loans within a project, but conventional lenders have always had this in place and never hurt the market before. HUD is putting the condo approval process in the hands of the direct endorsement lenders, so it will be up to them. HUD is still going to require 50% occupancy rate and they are capping their concentration to no more then 30% financed through FHA. Most major lenders never went over 33% at the most in any project, so again, this has always been there and HUD is just coming into the times. There are several more changes that are taking place and encourage people to read the Mortgagee letter that I have linked to and is mortgagee letter 2009-19.
http://tinyurl.com/mortgagejaw10
I can help you nationwide and Podemos ayudar en espanol! With my network of trusted individuals within the housing industry, allow me to be a person who is a one stop person for any of your home buying needs. If you are needing a mortgage on your purchase, or the refinancing of your mortgage start by sending me an email or give me a call now.
Oct6
I often hear of people waiting to get the rates at the very bottom……well…..we are here. Even if you got a rate some where in the 5’s……wouldn’t that still be good enough and low enough for you? When a person buys a stock, of coarse you want to buy it at its very lowest and sell at its very highest. What happens if you stay on the side line and never get in the game…..well you don’t get to play.
Let me give you two reasons why NOW IS THE TIME!:
1. $8,000 tax credit ……….you could get this money!!!
2. Rates are pushing an all time low record. If you are waiting for them to get lower……DON’T!!!!
We can help you nationwide and Podemos ayudar en espanol!
With my network of trusted individuals within the housing industry, allow me to be a person who is a one stop person for any of your home buying needs. If you are needing a mortgage on your purchase, or the refinancing of your mortgage start by sending me an email or give me a call now.
Oct3
I sound like a broken record about this $8,000 tax credit for 1st time home buyers, but November 30th is right around the corner and if you were ever just thinking of buying…….NOW IS THE TIME.
Let me give you two reasons:
1. $8,000 tax credit ……….you could get this money!!!
2. Rates are pushing an all time low record. If you are waiting for them to get lower……DON’T!!!!
Have you ever heard of a person buying a stock buy at the excact lowest price of that stock…….NO! If a person did, then it is like them winning the lottery. The FED can not keep printing our money for FREE (over night rate is 0% to .25%) and from the sounds of it, looking to start pulling back buying treasury notes in the 1st quarter of next year. What this means is when the Treasury stops buy the governments debt……….RATES GO UP!!!
I can assist you nationwide and Puedo Asistirle en espanol!
With my network of trusted individuals within the housing industry, allow me to be a person who is a one stop person for any of your home buying needs. If you are needing a mortgage on your purchase, or the refinancing of your mortgage start by sending me an email or give me a call now.
Oct2
Well we do have this saying in Chicago……..”Wait till next year.” so I guess we were prepared. Well, back to work for Chicago! Speaking of work, if you have not heard already, rates are low, 1st time homebuyer credit ends Nov. 30th and there are a couple more changes coming down the way for FHA mortgages. I will get most the changes posted over the next few posts so keep watching for them. If you have any questions, just feel free to ask!
I can assist you nationwide and Puedo Asistirle en espanol!
With my network of trusted individuals within the housing industry, allow me to be a person who is a one stop person for any of your home buying needs. If you are needing a mortgage on your purchase, or the refinancing of your mortgage start by sending me an email or give me a call now.
