Tax Credit for first time homebuyers to end..act now!

This was in www.cnnmoney.com and I wanted to get it known to all that are looking for a home…time is of the essence.
There’s barely three months left before the $8,000 tax credit for first-time buyers ends — and it can take that long to close on your new home.
By Les Christie, CNNMoney.com staff writer
Last Updated: August 27, 2009: 3:38 PM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Use any metaphor you want: the ticking clock, sands running through the hourglass or pages falling away from the calendar. The fact is, time is running out to claim the $8,000 first-time homebuyers tax credit.

Passed earlier this year as part of the economic stimulus package, the credit is good for up to $8,000, or 10% of the purchase price, and applies to people who have not owned a home in the previous three years. (There are some income restrictions.) The best part: Unlike a similar program from 2008, the credit does not have to be repaid.

The bad part: It ends on Dec. 1.

Because it usually takes around 90 days to close on a house after a contract is signed, buyers have very little time left to act. As of Thurs., Aug. 27, there were only 96 days left before the credit ends.

“Buyers have to get a home under contract very, very soon,” said Tom Kunz, CEO of Century 21. “They probably should get out looking.”
Sense of urgency

What they will find may surprise them: Many of the prime properties have already been snapped up. Home sales have been on the upswing, and inventories are so depleted in hot markets that first-time buyers are struggling to find homes in their price range. (Check prices in your city.)

In Whittier, Calif., for example, there are few repossessed homes for sale. Those are easy to buy because there isn’t a lot of red tape and the bank wants to get rid of them as quickly as possible. Instead, most of the properties are short sales, where the sellers have to convince their lender to let them sell the house for less than they owe.

“That’s why there’s such a sense of urgency now,” said Irma Tapper, a Century 21 real estate agent in Whittier. “The banks have to approve short sales, and they’re taking three to six months to do that.”

That means a first timer putting a bid on a short-sale might not get an answer form the bank until well after the Dec. 1 deadline for the tax credit. So when an actual repossession listing hits the markets, it creates a feeding frenzy.

Chuck Whitehead, who runs the Coldwell Banker agency in Temecula, Calif., said one recent listing hit the market on a Friday and by Monday there were 57 bids.

The National Association of Realtors attributes much of this activity to the first-time buyer tax credit. It estimates that 1.8 million buyers will file for the credit, and 350,000 of them wouldn’t have been able to buy without it.

“It makes a big difference because most of these clients are in a lower price range,” said Michelle Edmunds, an agent with Coldwell Banker in Temecula, Calf., who has closed sales for six first-time buyers. “The houses they buy need work and normally they wouldn’t want to move in because of the [less than perfect] conditions the homes are in.”

That is true for Wesley Forsythe. This June, the 30-year-old computer consultant and his girlfriend bought a row house in the Fishtown section of Philadelphia. Since he paid just $80,000 for the three-bedroom, two-bath place, the credit acted like a 10% discount.

“It allowed us to expand our price range and plan additional renovations,” he said. “My mortgage is several hundred dollars less than what my new rent would have been.”

Forsythe applied for the credit immediately after closing, filing an amended 2008 tax return. The IRS cut him a check in less than seven weeks. He’s spending it now on new hardwood floors, repainting most of the interior and renovating a bathroom. He’s stretching the cash by doing much of the work himself.

So, time is running out…act now.

Gas Stations for Sale in California

More Gas Stations for Sale in California

Posted May 06, 2009 at 00:26 AM

ronlargent

Gas Stations for Sale in California...

Our network has just expanded, and we now have stations available for sale from Bakersfield in the Central Valley up to the Oregon border. We have just added a very profitable station in Orland and a good store and gas operation in Red Bluff.

In addition, we will be listing three stations in the San Francisco Bay area....all doing very well.

We also have added two financial "guru's" for additional resources when it comes to financing. Even though SBA will no longer loan on just the business, and is continuing to loan on the land....we have money resources for the right buyer.

Consider being in business for yourself with a money making gas station and convenience store.

www.ronlargent.com

ronlargent@yahoo.com

Tony Perkins Washington Update

New America Lacking Time-Tested Ideals

"If you don't know where you're going, any road will lead you there." For the Republican Party that African proverb seems incredibly apropos. In another step away from its conservative roots, Republican members of the House unveiled The National Council for a New America in hopes of recasting the Party's ailing identity. The effort only underscores the Republicans' present identity crisis, as the GOP leadership kicked off the campaign devoid of the values that once caused voters to identify with the party.

The group's priorities, which were unveiled at a pizza parlor press conference, include the economy, health care, education, energy, and national security. Notice anything conspicuously absent? Former Gov. Jeb Bush explained the values void by saying it was time for the GOP to give up its "nostalgia" for Reagan-era ideas and look forward to new "relevant" ideas. (Yes, because that worked so well for Republicans in 2006 and 2008!) Bush ignored the fact that abandoning the array of principles that Reagan espoused is exactly what got the GOP into this mess. No one is suggesting that we try living in the past, but President Reagan's principles are the ones that guided our nation from its very inception. Turning away from those fundamental truths would be a death knell for the GOP as little would be left to distinguish the Republicans from the Democrats.

Too many Republicans leaders are running scared on the claims of the Left and the media that social conservatism is a dead-end for the GOP. If that were the case, why are pro-family leaders like Mike Huckabee creating such excitement in the conservative base? The Republican establishment doesn't draw a crowd. Governor Sarah Palin does. Also, take a look at the recent Pew Research poll, which showed overall support for abortion in America has dropped eight percentage points in the last year and support for it among moderate and liberal Republicans has dropped a whopping 24%. Based on that, how can the GOP suggest that life is a losing issue? If there were a road sign for the GOP on this new journey, it would read: Welcome to the wilderness. You're going to be there for awhile.

Redding Real Estate and Financial Conditions

Market Outlook

05/04/2009

Positive economic data is helping push stocks higher this morning. Bonds have not suffered to badly as a result and are fairly close to where they closed on Friday. Construction spending rose in March as more industrial and government projects got underway. We can expect this metric to continue to rise as government infrastructure projects that were part of the most recent stimulus bill get going.

Pending Home Sales also far exceeded expectations causing more speculation that the 4 year housing decline may be coming to an end.

Price Trend: Neutral

Price Volatility: Moderate

Rates for Conforming 30 Year Fixed are 4.375% - 5.00%, FHA 30 Year Conforming is running 4.50% - 5.25% and USDA 30 Year Fixed is running 4.625% - 5.75%. Make it a great week!

Walkaways...what are they?

Walkaways?
Walkaways…what are they?

Mortgage law experts say the incentive to walk away from a home loan is highest in states that have anti-deficiency statutes, which prohibit lenders from suing borrowers for additional funds after foreclosure. California is one of those states.

These anti-deficiency laws make a huge impact on foreclosure rates because they are basically “get out of jail” cards, said Professor Zywicki of George Mason University in the Washington D.C. area.

The handful of non-recourse mortgages states includes, in addition to California, the high foreclosure states of Arizona, Florida, Texas, and even Washington. The statutes generally prohibit or limit a lenders’ ability to go after the borrowers’ assets to satisfy the unpaid mortgage debt.

In Redding, CA, and in our office, we have one of the largest inventories of foreclosed homes in the North State. From Los Molinos and Corning, north to the California border, including Red Bluff, Cottonwood, Anderson, Redding, and Shasta Lake City, we have a choice of REPOs from the $100,000 range up to the $600,000 category. Price is largely based on square footage of the home, the location, and the overall condition.

For additional information, lists of foreclosures, photos, etc….e-mail ronlargent@kw.com or go to www.ronlargent.com

Willl mortgages ever be the same?

Posted December 25, 2008 at 13:51 PM
ronlargent
Will the lessons learned from the real estate slowdown spark genuine creativity in marketing and lending to push more sales?
What are the chances that the residential mortgages bought and sold in the secondary markets will revert to the conservative portfolio business that existed before the first securitizations in the early 1980s?
The real estate industry will recover, but it will be different.
Tom Kelly at Inman News has some thoughts on this....and what are yours?
From my viewpoint, I think we will continue to see a continuing interest on the part of lenders in making good loans, but they will be to those that are qualified, using some old measurements. Not too many years ago, the yardstick was that your mortgage payment should not exceed 25% of your gross income. If you made $1000 a month, your mortgage payment could not exceed $250, for example. Over the recentl years, this went to as high as 50% with some lenders...and this was the beginning of the end. Then, lenders started including the 2nd income in the family as a permanet source of income and that was considered in the payment amount. All was good and fine as long as that 2nd income was there. Things changed, though, when the 2nd earner had other things enter in, such a another child, unexpected illness, or college expenses that were not expected. All of a sudden, the 2 family income became 1, and a problem was on the horizon.
So, we will be back to good financing in the future, but for the next few years, the guidelines will be more conservative than in the past 5 years. Now is the time to refinance, if you can....for interest rates are at an all time low.
To discuss this further, give me a call or e-mail ronlargent@kw.com or www.ronlargent.com