The first time home buyer's tax credit has been a much buzzed about topic this year and while it is set to expire on November 30th, the extension talks have now stepped up.
Last week, the House passed a bill allowing for the extension of the credit for military, diplomatic and intelligence personnel who are overseas. This extension signals the hope that Congress will agree to extend the credit for everyone else into 2010.
Talks of renewing the current credit and providing the tax credit to a broader group of buyers, those who are selling their current homes and purchasing a replacement home, continue.
The question of funding without adding to the deficit remains the key. The New York Times reported the possibility of using money from the 2009 $800 Billion dollar package.
Joan Rogliano has been practicing real estate for 25 years. She is a Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist and a Certified Real Estate Divorce Specialist. Based on article from Kenneth R. Harney.
While some market outlooks have been grim, the Real Estate market is welcoming a warm front. Sales, home prices and contracts on properties are on the rise while interest rates are on the decline, all which can contribute to a positive swing in the Real Estate market.
This was the 7th month straight that pending home sales have risen, the longest streak since 2001. Pending home sales increased 6.4% since August. This figure measures the number of homes under contract and is an important indication of where home sales are headed.
Home sales increased 8.2% in the Northeast, 7.6% in the Midwest, and 16% in the Western States.
Good news also comes from the Commerce Department, which reports that home sales are up seven tenths of a percent nationwide.
According to the Case-Shiller Price index, prices have increased the most in the past month, with an 1.6% increase. L.A and D.C. had 1.8% increases, San Francisco 3.3%, Chicago 2.7% and Minneapolis up 4.6%
In addition to prices increasing, mortgage rates have been decreasing, coming in at 4.9% for 30 Year fixed rates and 4.3% for 15 year fixed rates. If they continue on this pattern, rates will be at a 40 year low, which will not only increase home sales but also refinances.
This is good news on many different fronts of the Real Estate market and hopefully will continue to improve the market conditions.
Joan Rogliano has been practicing real estate for 25 years. She is a Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist and a Certified Real Estate Divorce Specialist. Information taken from article: Real Estate Outlook: Sales Stats and Rates by Kenneth R. Harney
Denver is currently undergoing one of the greatest zoning transformations ever and is expected to be introduced next year. This is bound to have an impact on property owners; what the specific impact will be is unclear.
Some proposed changes include an increase in the number of zone districts, from around 30 to 96. Some areas will also impose height restrictions, eliminating third stories or roof decks. However, what the changes will be exactly is still not clear.
Sprocket Design-Build, a Denver based company, is offering a free assessment on property zoning and an explanation of how your property could be impacted. For the free property assessment opinion send an email to zoning@sprocketdb.com.
Sprocket will look up your current zoning and then determine how it is slated to change under the new zoning laws. This is particularly helpful if you're interested in doing a remodel or scrape and are concerned that your plans will no longer be allowed under the proposed zoning laws. Joan Rogliano has been practicing real estate for 25 years. She is a Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist and a Certified Real Estate Divorce Specialist. Based on article from insiderealestatenews.com by John Rebchook.
Fall is officially here! Georgetown is hosting their 3rd Annual Aspen Festival this weekend. The festival takes place Saturday October 3 from 10 am to Dusk and Sunday October 4th from 10 am to 5pm. It's a great opportunity to see the Aspen leaves change, hear live music, browse crafts and eat great food. If you have extra time, head over to the Pumpkin Festival at Georgetown Loop! Where you can take a train ride through the Mountains and see the trees up close. There will also be a hay maze and more fun activities. The Pumpkin Festival at the Georgetown Loop will be taking place the first two weekends in October. Joan Rogliano has been practicing real estate for 25 years. She is a Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist and a Certified Real Estate Divorce Specialist.
New FHA Commissioner, David Stevens, announced the agency will be changing their appraisal rules and also including a 10% reduction in the amount senior home owners can receive from the reverse mortgage program. The latter is a discussion for another day.
The new guidelines, which will be instituted January 1, adopt some of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's "home valuation code of conduct" (HVCC). They also stipulate that FHA will not accept appraisals ordered by mortgage brokers, lenders, or anyone compensated on a commission tied to the completion of the loan. FHA regulations do differ from Fannie and Freddie, in that FHA wants appraisers to be paid fairly and in full.
Surprisingly, the Commissioner states that appraisers can disclose the amount of their fees, making this information available to the buyers and sellers in the appraisal report. This goes against traditional practice, where it is typically forbidden for appraisers to reveal their compensation.
An informative move for the consumer, as on average they are charged $400, when the appraiser, who works for the management company receives only $175-$200. This will increase consumer awareness of the many appraisers who have been driven out of business by these new regulations involving management companies.
Along with the disclosure fees, Stevens is thankfully mandating what he refers to as "geographic competency". This requires appraisers have a familiarity with the local markets and access to data relevant to the home's sale.
Geographic competency is imperative and a welcome addition to the new rules. Recently I received an offer on a property and the appraisal came in below the contract price. It was revealed the appraiser was not familiar with the area, and in fact resided and worked many hours away.
Remember my client from last week who failed to get an inspection before purchasing her home in the divorce? She recently got an offer on her home.
During the inspection it was revealed that the roof was a Woodruff product, and there had been a class action law suit against Woodruff for their defective roof products.
We've been hearing conflicting reports that lenders are requesting 5 year certifications for the roof or will require the roof replacement. FHA is apparently more restrictive. My client has a roof inspector stating that the roof is in fine condition and he is willing to provide a one year warranty, to be renewed annually after inspection.
What's the best approach for successful negotiations and a smooth transaction? Your input would be appreciated!
Joan Rogliano has been practicing real estate for 25 years. She is a Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist and a Certified Real Estate Divorce Specialist.
Parking tickets, library fees, and other small fines used to have an impact on your credit score. But, thanks to new scoring system, these minor delinquencies can be overlooked when calculating your credit store.
Under the new system, FICO 08, for those with otherwise unblemished scores, fines that are under $100 will no longer count against your score. Also, a single delinquency two or more years ago, is less likely to impact your score. This means that there is a possibility more flexibility in missing a payment, as long as it does not become a habit.
FICO 08 also addresses the frequently adopted "Piggbacking" process, which allows credit-repair companies to use a person's account, and the account holder gets reimbursed for allowing them to use their account. This inaccurately represents a person's credit score and will not longer be an accepted practice under FICO 08.
The FICO 08 adjustment has been adopted within last month, so you might see a slight rise or decrease in your score. But overall, the new system was adopted in order to get a more accurate assessment of the borrowing risks for a candidate. The rationalization behind it is that one small fine is not an accurate method for detecting if a person would default a loan. Joan Rogliano has been practicing real estate for 25 years. She is a Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist and a Certified Real Estate Divorce Specialist.
While the First Time Home Buyer tax credit has been in the news these days, another bill in Congress could be equally significant, only with negative ramifications. The Congressional Budget Office has been preparing a report that suggests Congress cut deductions for home owner mortgage interest from it's present 1.1 million dollars to $500,000. The deduction would be phased in by $100,000 annually, starting in 2013. Over a 10 year period, this would increase the revenue by an estimated $41 Billion Dollars. In addition, there are two proposals which aim to replace the mortgage interest deductions with a flat tax credit of 15% of mortgage interest paid. The other proposal is for eliminating deductions for all state and local taxes, which is estimated to cost $862 billion by 2019.
What does this mean for property owners?
Currently, If you're paying $1000 a month for your mortgage, $900 might be interest payments and $100 is paying the actual principal. At the end of the year, you're allowed a $10,800 tax credit. ($900 per month interest x 12 months). However, if this suggestion is undertaken, these tax credits would be eliminated and property owners would no longer receive these write-offs.
Should this legislation pass, it would undoubtedly have a dramatic effect on our unstable housing market.
Joan Rogliano has been practicing real estate for 25 years. She is a Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist and a Certified Real Estate Divorce Specialist.
Information and facts taken from Washington Post Writer's Group, Kenneth R Harney.
WThe process of divorce is hard enough as it is, but one pivotal move can save you both stress and money. Recently, I had a client who purchased the marital home from her husband at an agreed to price, she did so without the customary inspection that occurs with any real estate purchase transaction; divorce should be no exception. It wasn’t until my client put her property on the market and the buyer did an inspection, that vital information on the property history was revealed. Not only had a class action lawsuit been issued against the manufacturer of her roof, the property had also depreciated in value. This meant that she had overpaid her husband for the property and was facing costly roofing repairs.
My client believed that since she’d been living in the home prior to the divorce, there would be no inspection issues.
Should you be considering purchasing the martial home, inspections are a quick, relatively inexpensive, yet essential way to protect yourself and your investment.
Joan Rogliano has been practicing real estate for 25 years. She is a Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist and a Certified Real Estate Divorce Specialist.
These revocations are the result of the Colorado General Assembly House Bill 1085 that was passed in early 2009 and became effective August 5th, 2009. House Bill 1085 defines circumstances in which the Director of The Department of Regulatory Agencies, (DORA), may inactivate a mortgage loan originator license if they have failed to comply with the education and testing requirements.
As a result, the Director inactivated 4,560 licenses on August 31, 2009.
Individuals whose licenses are inactive are prohibited from practicing as a mortgage loan originator or in any other capacity which requires a license.
Individuals who continue to practice with an inactive license are subject to all forms of discipline prescribed in the Mortgage Loan Originator Licensing Act, including permanent revocation and fines.
Direct managers of individuals with inactive licenses are also subject to disciplinary action if they allow such individuals to continue to practice.
In my opinion, this measure is a long overdue response to the blatant disregard for licensing education requirements that were put in place several years ago. At the time, Colorado was one of the only states that did not have any education requirements for its loan originators and the new rules were an effort to maintain a consistent level of professionalism in the industry.
In light of recent events in the mortgage industry these requirements seem more than reasonable. Now, almost 5 years after the changes there are still people out there choosing to ignore the law. The good news is they are not going to be able to hide the fact they are not licensed any longer. When shopping for a home loan be sure you are working with a licensed professional.
If you would like to know how to find out if a mortgage originator is licensed or need more information about any area of the real estate industry feel free to email me: joan@roglianorealestategroup.com.
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
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