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Hey, first-time homebuyer: How does $8,000 from your Uncle Sam sound?

Want an extra $8,000?  If you’re a first-time homebuyer then we have a nice surprise for you.

I just closed a home this week with first time home buyers and after thinking that I explained this credit to them, I realized they still did not understand the full benefit of this credit.  If you are uncertain of if you qualify or not, it is worth the phone call to find out.  My buyers almost lost the $8,000 just because they thought they did not qualify.  Please take the time to read and ask an accountant if you are still not sure.

Last fall, the Federal Government introduced a financial incentive to prospective first-time homebuyers — an income tax credit of up to $7,500. The rules were simple: you must have been a first-time homebuyer (as defined by not owning a home in the previous three years) and you met certain income restrictions.

The new $8,000 tax credit is available to those who buy between January 1, 2009 and December 1, 2009. It’s not a deduction, it’s an actual credit.  Unlike the $7,500 first-time homebuyer tax credit introduced last summer; this does not need to be repaid.

First timers who qualify can make no more than $75,000 in adjusted gross income if they’re single or $150,000 if filing jointly. The maximum tax credit is $8,000 or 10 percent of the sales price of the home, whichever is less. Three years residence in the property are required. As always, check with your accountant for details and be sure to submit IRS form 5405 when you file your taxes.

Santa will be visiting the houses of Saratoga children on Saturday night, December 20th, Sunday, December 21st and Monday, December 22nd.

This is such a great tradition and one of the many reasons I love living in Saratoga!

The way that it works is that you simply call Santa’s Helper (Carla Donaghy, a fellow Realtor and neighbor in Saratoga), to set up a time slot for Santa to arrive at your house.

It is so neat to have Santa come to your house and knock on your door and see those little faces in amazement when Santa arrives.  It also is great opportunity to snap some great photos of the family around the fireplace or with Grandparents who don’t want to make the trip to the dreaded mall and standing in line.

We have been having Santa come to our house for 3 years now.  The look on our 5 year olds son is priceless when the doorbell rings that night!  Make sure to call to schedule your reservation. 

Call Santa’s Helper @ 404-457-3889.

Pimco’s Gross: 30-Year Mortgage Rate May Fall to 4.5%Andrew Fisher | 03 Dec 2008 | 09:39 AM ET Text Size Bond guru Bill Gross told CNBC that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage could fall as low as 4.5 percent as the economy stabilizes.“The mortgage rate will come down another 50 to 100 basis points,” Pimco’s founder and chief investment officer said. “That’s basically what the government needs. They need a 4 1/2 percent to 5 percent 30-year rate in order to support home prices and, yes, to encourage refinancing and the process of reliquification within the economy.”His advice:  “Don’t refinance yet.”Gross also said he sees two conflicting trends in the bond markets, with corporate bonds overtaking Treasurys as attractive places to invest money.Watch Gross’s interview at left.“Treasuries have basically benefited from a flight to quality,” he said. “On the other side, though, corporate bonds—for example, Caterpillar and Hewlett-Packard—their spreads are 5 percent more than Treasurys, and so, yes, there’s an increasing attraction to the corporate bond market.”That said, he’s not buying corporate bonds.“PIMCO basically is still under what we call the government umbrella, and close to the handle,” he explained.  “Those would be assets, mortgage-backed securities, that the government has announced that they’s going to be buying $500 billion of over the next few quarters.”Some time next year, he sees stabilization coming to the economy, and lower mortgage rates are an essential part of that process. 

The original purpose of my blog was to inform and educate about the Home Buying & Selling Process.  I must admit, the intent is there and I am making a dedicated effort to keep this site fresh with updated content and stories for you.  This business continually amazes me and I want to share the good, the bad and the ugly with you.  This happens to be a good one…

This recent one comes to mind…this story is for the Apartment dwellers who believe that they will be paying rent for the rest of their life because of a few credit mishaps. 

I met with a young, newly married couple renting in Suwanee.  I had never met them before until they came in to the office for a Home Buyer Seminar our office hosted (Free, by the way).  Margie Alexander & Elysee Davidson from CountryWide and myself talked to this couple about the pre-qualification process.  The young man frankly told us that he had been rejected for cell phones offers, department store cards, and other credit driven items.  He explained to us that there were some ”issues” that may show up on his credit report that would negatively affect him and his new wife to purchase a home that they so badly wanted.

Margie took their information, and the next day called me to tell me the news…they had been approved!  What a great telephone call that was to make!

After delivering the news, they were both so excited to begin the home buying process.  They were little hesitant in the beginning, with the issues of breaking a lease, a down payment and closing costs.  After all, they had no intentions of being approved to purchase a home.  Their main reason for attending the seminar was to find out how they could correct their previous financial mistakes and move forward.

They have been monitoring the listings that meet their specific criteria via Internet and when they see something they like, we take a look at it.  We went out this last weekend and they found a few that they really liked.  The best part is that with it being a “buyers market”, they are able to ask the sellers for the closing costs and other concessions that would have been snubbed a few years ago. 

I think most of us can relate to this story in some way.  We never know what we can accomplish until we try.  Our team at Keller Williams along with the staff at Countywide Home Loans will consult with you and your situation on an individual basis.  Is it the right time for you to buy?   The Countrywide team and Myself  will work with you to make your dreams a reality.

Isn’t thinking about the Home Buying Process confusing enough?  Now, how in the world do you choose a competent, responsive, knowledgeable & professional agent?

Let me tell you, I have done the research for you and so has J.D Power & Associates. 

My personal experience began when I received my Georgia Real Estate License.  I had to make the choice of what Broker I wanted to work for.  The interviews began, but what was different about interviewing this time around (than when I graduated college) is that I was interviewing the Real Estate Companies and they were trying to sell themselves to me.  What intrigued me about Keller Williams was their commitment to the agents and their success, and the Culture of the Company.  The Keller Williams Mission Statement is very powerful and meaningful to me “To build careers worth having, businesses worth owning and lives worth living”.  As a Mother and Wife it really made sense to me to join this wonderful organization both on a personal and professional level.

I guess what made me want to share that tidbit of information with you today is to tell you how proud I am to work for such as amazing Company.  I am so excited to share the news that Keller Williams Realty has been awarded the J.D. Power Award!  I am honored to work for such an outstanding company!  We at Keller Williams Realty are so excited to be given such a prestigious award!  At Keller Williams we pride ourselves in many ways, our culture, our standards, and frankly, our success. We believe that our success is based on the success of others. This may refer to many sorts of people, but it always means our clients and our agents. Our clients have spoke and they think Keller Williams agents are the BEST in the land!  J.D. Power & Associates  has named Keller Williams as the number one Real Estate Company in satisfying the expectations of Home Buyers.  The article states that “When buying a home, customers particularly appreciate agent professionalism, responsiveness to calls and e-mails and the agent’s skill in locating and showings properties in the appropriate price range-all areas in which Keller Williams Excels.”

 In the recent months I have had a lot of inquiries about owner financing.  With rates starting to climb again and the continued tightening of the mortgage market this may be just the option your seller or buyers are looking for.  David Reed is very knowledgeable about this subject and has written this helpful information for those considering this option.

Owner financing has been a popular practice in previous real estate downturns. Current market conditions and upheavals in the mortgage industry have given rise to a new-found interest in this idea. If you own your property outright, have a need to sell in a soft market and are interested in converting your sold home into an investment that yields returns, owner financing may be a option worth exploring.

Successful owner financing means that you, the owner of the property, get to widen the potential pool of home buyers by offering to finance the transaction. And since private lending, where you act as the mortgage lender, tends to offer higher than standard interest rates to offset risks, you can also enjoy a nice return on the home loan.

Due diligence is the key to successful owner financing. This is not intended as a means to provide financing for those who have damaged credit, little or no income or some other “loan of last resort” characteristic.  So who is this ideal candidate and how do you, the owner, evaluate such a proposition?

Your ideal candidate is someone who has excellent credit but for some reason, lenders aren’t using all or part of the buyer’s income.  For instance, someone that has been an attorney for a legal firm for several years and just last year started their own practice or an experienced mechanic who ventures out on his own to open up his own shop. Lenders like to see two years’ worth of self employment when evaluating a loan application. 

You’ll need to check the buyer’s credit and you can do so by getting written permission to pull a credit report.  Or, you can log on together to www.annualcreditreport.com and print off a current report at no charge.  Have the prospect provide you with three months most recent bank statements, personal and business, to show cash flow. To verify employment, dial “411” and ask for the phone number for that person’s business and call the office. 

You can only hold a note on a property that is free and clear.  Any transaction where title changes hands will trigger the “due on sale” clause inserted in mortgage loans.

Finally, and most importantly, get a substantial down payment.  Anything that is 20 percent down indicates that the buyer is serious. Most owner financing arrangements are done on two to three year balloon notes. The idea is that your non-qualifying buyer will have time to establish a track record with their earnings and refinance with a traditional lender.

If the market is slowing down the sale of your home, discuss the possibility of adding owner financing to your listing with your agent.

KELLER WILLIAMS PRESENTS

“PAINT THE TOWN RED”

TOUR OF HOMES

1st & 3rd Sundays*

2:00 p.m. -  4:00 p.m.

Call or e-mail

678-457-3954 or propesb@bellsouth.net for updated information on the featured listings

for the next tour.  (View up to 20 homes in one afternoon!)

The next tour scheduled is July 12th, 2008.

  This scenario has happened to my so many times…and it just happened again!  Homeowners, PLEASE…when you are ready to put your home on the market make 100% sure that you do not leave anything behind that you may want after the home sells!

The latest example I have is a young married couple that had moved everything to their new home with the exception of a few things, one being a VERY heavy Georgia Bulldog statue at the front door.  A few weeks go by, sellers have moved, home is being showed and guess what happens?  The sellers get an offer, but in the special stipulations section of the contract states “bulldog to remain with property”. 

I find out from the sellers after reviewing the contract with them that the dog was a graduation gift from a relative and sentimental to his wife.  Although I think the buyers would have understood if they could not have the bulldog, the sellers wanted to make sure that the deal would not fall apart over a statue.  The sellers graciously gave up their bulldog to the prospective buyers.

Moral of the story…Make sure all items that are not included in the sale of the property are clearly stated on the Sellers Disclosure form at the time you list your home for sale.  To avoid any confusion amongst buyer and seller it is best just to take it with you so there is no confusion or question in the negotiation process.

This instance happens more often than not and usually over trivial things…I once had a sale jeopardized over the seller leaving a bowl of fake lemons.  Go figure!

This is the neighborhood I received my first town-home listing.  It was almost one year ago and I listed a gorgeous townhouse decorated impeccably for $259,900 3/2.5.  That of course was about the time when it all hit here, I remember there were 23 town-homes on the market and 2 FSBO’s.  How in the world was I going to sell this condo that looked  exactly like the other 25 for sale?  Well, a few price reductions, some staging, aggressive marketing and some motivated sellers finally got us an offer only a few months after listing.  The bad news came only 3 days before closing and the sellers, who had purchased their dream retirement home in Florida had packed up and left a few days prior.  The prospective buyers would not be able to close on this house because they did not get their Green Card that they anticipated.  Devastation for me and the sellers!!  Anyways, after putting it back on the market it did attract another offer and it sold.

In the meantime,  I was contacted by another neighbor in Charleston Row and asked to meet with her and her father to talk to them about re-listing their town-home.  It had already been on the market for over 6 months and their listing agreement had expired with their agent.  I agreed to take the listing.

I am still marketing this same listing but now after almost a year there are only 7 homes on the market.  Most have been pulled due to the dramatic decrease in pricing and frustrated sellers.  The first foreclosure entered the neighborhood about 6 months ago and they have continued a steady stream ever since, most averaging around 200K.

The activity has been tremendous lately and we are anticipating an offer very soon.  It has paid to be patient and I am thankful that the sellers are just that.  It really does have it all with great schools (Peachtree Ridge Cluster), Shopping (Discover Mills), Gwinnett Arena, easy Interstate access, andyou get to live across the street from Sugarloaf County Club for 1/10th of the price!