If you know anyone in foreclosure please tell them not to go to court without an attorney.

Forecloure AID

• Maryland Foreclosure Prevention Pro Bono Project: 877-462-7555.
• Civil Justice Network: 410-706-0174
• Legal Aid in Maryland and Virginia: MD 888-2115-5316 & VA 866-534-5243
• Neighborhood Legal Services Program in the District: 202-269-5100

Also, I can help you if you need to modify your loan or sell your home before forclosure.

Marcus Bruno

Homes@MarcusBruno.com cell: 240-460-6318

A $7500 tax credit is available to singles, married couples and unmarried co-purchasers who purchase a home by July 2009.  Only principle residences are eligible.  No investments, or second homes are eligible however, houseboats, house trailers, cooperative apartments, condominiums are eligible.   You must be a first time homebuyer or have not owned a home in the last three years.  As a single buyer your income must not be over $95,000 and married joint filers cannot gross more than $170,000.

Congress is currently debating a deadline extension to Dec 31 and possibly making this tax credit free from repayment.  Currently purchasers are required to repay the $7500 over a certain number of years interest free. 

Whether or not they eliminate the repayment requirement it's still a great benefit to get the tax credit because $7500 can go be used as reserves for any unexpected challenges.

Hope this helps,

Marcus Bruno

240 460-6318 or Homes@MarcusBruno.com

1. Do you have a variety of loan programs to fit my cash flow and expected length of ownership needs?
2. Do you offer pre-approvals, not just pre-qualifications?
3. Do you have the ability to handle difficult credit history?
4. Is the rate that you quoted me the rate I will get at closing?
5. Can you give me a list of your last five clients as references with their phone numbers?

We have just heard that the D.C. Government-funded Home Purchase Assistance Program and the Maryland Bond Program's CDA loans have been indefinitely suspended for budgetary reasons.  What does this mean if you are among those buyers who have been approved for zero-down loans by lenders using these products?  You'll have to wait for the suspensions to be lifted or you can use more traditional forms of financing.  The good news is that down-payment assistance programs like Nehamiah and Ameridream should be rolled back out pretty soon.  Also, some lenders still offer zero-down loans that allow closing-cost assistance from the home sellers.  I know that the PG County Association of Realtors and the Greater Capital Association of Realtors are lobbying pretty hard to get these programs up and running again.  Efforts are also underway to pressure the D.C. Council to reconsider their decision.

 Contact me by email or at 240-460-6318 for more zero down opportunities.  

Good Morning,

Listen and watch the richest man in the world becuse he has something important to say about this economy.

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Unless you are living out in space you are probably aware of the government bailout of major financial institutions.  The 700 billion dollar bailout has now been expanded to include buying studen loans, car loans, credit cards and any other 'troubled' assets held by banks.

"Such a large takeover by the government will surely be accompanied by adverse, unintended consequences," said Pat Toomey, president of the Club for Growth, a conservative advocacy group.  When the government gets involved prices go up.  Fees, and points and even interest rates will start to rise.

There is a window of opportunity right now when Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are flush with new federally funded cash. They are going to be able to loan more money to banks and purchase more loans from banks.  The banks ability to lend and the very reasonable interest rates makes it a golden opportunity for those who want to buy their first home or sellers who want to move up to a larger more spacious home, or someone who is relocating somewhere else around the country.  If you decide to wait you are taking a risk because the government will raise rates, points and fees to pay for this bailout.

I just dont think that it's a risk worth taking.  If your risk tolerance is low, this may be the golden opportunity to take advantage of the low fees and points and rates that are available in the economy right now.

The homebuyer tax credit is a little misleading.   You will receive a tax credit of 10% of your purchase price up to $7,500.  Here's the kicker.  You will have to pay it back over 15 years in equal installments.  So the tax credit is actually a loan which you will pay back to the government with increased taxes.

As of October 2008,  Congress has stopped FHA lenders from accepting gift funds from down-payment assistance programs (DPAP).  What does this mean to buyers?  It means losing an amount equal to 1 to 3% of the sales price of a home which you could have used towards your purchase.  For a $300,000 dollar home, it means $9,000 that you can't get anymore.  We were using these DPAPs for years to allow buyers to purchase homes using very little or no cash.  Now every single home buyer must have a minimum of 3% down.  It's not too late though:  buyers have until October 2008 to use DPAPs--after that they're toast!