Tax Credit of up to $8,000.00 available to Home buyers From Jan. 1st through Dec. 1st 2009 could make it possible for you to get into a Home with little or no money out of pocket.
Only first-time home-buyers are eligible. A person is considered a first-time buyer if he/she has not had any ownership interest in a home in the three years previous to the day of the 2009 purchase.
So even if you have owned a Home before you can still qualify, Go and visit a lender to get pre-qualified for an amount you can afford plus get answers to all your questions from someone who knows, There is Money available and prices that are very attractive take the time to see for yourself and stop listening to the doom and gloom one sided News Reporters who want Headlines no matter what.....They could care less about the real facts and numbers.
Fact #1- There is Money available for Home Buyers.
Fact #2- Foreclosed Homes owned by Banks are Available for in some cases Half of what they sold for during the boom and they want to sell them now.
Fact #3- There is up to $8,000.00 available that does not have to be paid back if you stay in the Home for 3 Years and it is a Dollar for Dollar credit on your Tax bill with excess money sent to you. Example if you owe $3,000.00 on your 1040 and you purchase a Home for $80,000 dollars ( Credit is 10% of the Homes value up-to $8,000.00) You deduct the $3,000.00 and you get a check from the Government for $5,000.00 there are income levels for the program for example if you are Single and make up-to $75,000 you can take the full credit. Over $75,000.00 through $95,000.00 it is a graduating scale for the available amount and over $95,000.00 you would not get the credit.
Check with a professional to find out your individual situation but as you can see not a lot of First time buyers make over $75,000.00 so this program should help lots of Younger people and possibly fixed income and many others, The government is looking for ways to help with bridge loans based on you past income tax returns that will make the money available for your closing costs now but you may be able to find a way on your own, Go and see a lender today you only have until Dec. 1st 2009 to have the property Closed in order to qualify........
In today's market as we watch Short Sales and Foreclosures being sold it is becoming more and more important for buyers and sellers to ask more questions about these properties. As a buyer you could be stuck with serious problems that could come up after the sell and just as important to you as the Seller you need to make sure you are not left liable for paying back money you think is taken care of when you sell your Home.
It is always best to get legal advice from a professional such as a Real estate Attorney when ever you get involved with a short sell or foreclosure, Many times people are left not knowing they could have to pay the difference on a short sale to a second mortgage holder even years after they have moved on with life. It can be possible for a lender to wait years for you to become stable again and then come to you for payment of the amount they were shorted at the sale. Also when purchasing Foreclosure properties the lender does not issue you a warranty deed on the property so if something comes up that was missed in a title search you may wind up paying for something you didn't receive.
These statements are not meant to scare anyone but simply to make you aware and advise you to be careful and do your research on any distressed property you may become involved with.
As we listen to the news and reports of all the problems people are facing today with job loss and Mortgage payments that have become unmanageable I hear more and more questions from people who are wondering what to do.
The first thing to do when you realize you can't pay your House payment is Contact your lender, I am finding that a large number of people in trouble do not make any effort to call and speak to them. Your lender has no way of knowing your in trouble until they do not receive the payment you owe them and when it is missed they start there process of trying to collect it.
By contacting them even if nothing else can be done at least they become aware of your problem from you instead of there collection departments.
The next move will be to try and sell the property, Contact an agent and let them know about your situation. Make sure that the Agent is knowledgeable about the steps that must be taken to try and insure you can qualify for a short sale if that is what is necessary to help you.
A short sale is when your lender agrees to accept less for your Home than you owe them, This is brought about because of declining Values in your area and an increasing amount of other people in the same situation as you. The difference between a short sale and a foreclosure will be the amount of damage on your credit report. Both will drop your scores and make it hard to get credit in the future but if you can get your home sold the length of time that you are affected may be less than having a foreclosure on the report, That being said it is always better to try and work out something with your lender that you can live with rather than just giving up. Call them and see if there is any way to keep your Home by working out a plan.
The process for a short sale is very much like when you purchased your Home in the first place, The lender will require you to prove that you can not pay your debt. They will require you to show proof of income with check stubs, Tax returns, Other debt you owe and a letter from you stating your reasons for inability to pay. When they are satisfied you really can not pay they may approve the sale of your home for less than you owe them.
This process is done with each lender you may owe money to and each may have a different set of requirements for you to meet in order to get the cooperation from them. The Second mortgage holder may be a different company than the first and they may be asked to take an amount that is far less then owed them. For this reason the process may take quite some time for all to agree on the amount offered for the property. The short sale of a property generally takes several weeks to get an answer on and buyers of these properties will need to be patient when making offers on them.
It is strongly advisable that anyone considering the short sale of a property seek legal advise from a Real Estate Attorney to make sure it is the best way for your situation. Some second lien holders may have the right to seek repayment from you on the debt you owe them after the sale is made and can come back even years later and force you to pay them. For this reason you need someone watching out for you during the whole process so you can be sure you really are free and all the debts are satisfied after the close of escrow.
Each day as I read the news and e-mails from numerous sources I see many different opinions about the coming new Year and one can only hope and pray that we can as Americans begin to get our attitudes and Dreams back in line with those from days gone by.
We can all look back on the past 5 years and make our own judgements about who did this and who did that to cause the whole melt down of the Housing and Financial markets, But now is the time to start considering a change in the way we feel about the whole thing and to look ahead. Weather you are for or against the coming administration I hope we can start to at least show some respect again for our president. The remarks and comments that have been posted on the News channels and in the papers as well as all over the Internet for the past 2 years belittling and criticizing our President as though all the problems were brought on by a single man have been so terrible and hateful that I for one stopped even reading any further than the headline of the articles.
I did not vote for the incoming president but I will do my best to give him a chance to show me I should have, That being said all in all I don't think one man is going to be able to bring about the kinds of change we need right now because the first change will have to come from we the People......In attitude and respect.....Blaming and finger pointing will not get anything done but getting back to basics will.
I challenge all Americans to unite and stand proud, Be thankful that you live in a Country where you can choose to be whatever you want, And do whatever want because there are many other Countries that do not offer the chance to openly criticize the Leader of the Country let alone call them disgusting names.
This is not an attempt to stand on a pedestal and preach to anyone it is however a challenge to all who take the time to read it.
I don't know about the rest of you but I would really like to hear some easy to understand answers from either the Rep. or the Dem.
We all know the fact of the matter is that there are no easy ways to fix the problems we face as a Country right now, but I want to hear these people at least tell me what they have in mind instead of shouting I will change everything that has taken decades of deception and greed to create. No one person or Party can change the entire system but to just tell me that McCain doesn't know how to e-mail or Obama went to a racist church really just makes me want to toss them all out.
We deserve more from these people like " who is adding PORK to every bill that comes through" or "who is writing these bills that waste countless hours of time in congress debating senseless ways to increase our taxes".
Tell me in plain "English" What you will do and follow through with it or Name the Names of all who fight against it so we can get rid of them......Ya want my vote then give me some answers.
Well it happened the other day.
The Government stepped in and took control of these very important companies, So what does it mean to you as a Buyer or current Home owner. The first thing we have seen is the drop in mortgage rates to below 6% so on the surface it looks great but what about the long term implications of this move.
Well the Government has signed a law requiring both companies to down size by 10% a year starting in I believe 2010 so if you are in the process of buying or have been waiting for the right time to re-finance your Home loan then I would do it soon. At least get the process started and find out how much you qualify for and maybe wait to lock into a loan until you have to.
The long term effects will be the rise in rates as these two companies are forced to sell off by law and they will ultimately wind up spread out among the large Banks and investors who will most likely as with everything else need to see a required profit margin for there share holders. So in order to do that they will have to make there investments appeal to the people with the money simple as that.
I try to stay optimistic about our future and at times I must admit it is hard to do, But being the type of person I am to me it seems like whenever the Government is put in control of something all 500 plus of the people in Washington will get together and find a way to totally screw up what could be a great opportunity to help us all.
It seems that quite a few people some of which have purchased Homes and Vacant land before, As well as some who have never owned property are waiting for the total collapse of our economy to feel they have gotten the best possible price, The fact is that right now is probably the best time in recent history to purchase property. Of course the problem is getting a loan from the very people who started the Housing bubble in the first place.
Its the Lenders of money trying to shore up and cover the very bad mistakes they themselves brought about by lending money to people in hopes of making them "slaves" to there Homes, By increasing the payments over a few short years by in some cases double or more the original amount of there monthly payment, And to make sure they made money on the deal they came up with "PrePayment" penalties of six or more months worth of payments in effect taking away any hope gaining any equity in the property to cover the ever rising monthly payment with the promise of refinancing before the increase took effect. This whole housing collapse can be blamed on the greed of the already rich institutions trying to find more ways to become even richer by building the hopes and dreams of working class Americans and then blaming those same people for taking the bait and signing on the dotted line.
The end results here were at the very least predictable from the beginning, You can not increase your monthly income within three years enough to cover an increase in your mortgage payment of several hundred dollars, But that is just the tip of the iceberg as we all know the bubble was brought on by insiders buying property and increasing the price double digits and then reselling to make thousands of dollars in a few short months or in some cases Days, Having buyers lined up to buy and going out to find properties to purchase themselves then turning around and calling the waiting buyers to sell the property to them while still in escrow.
This last few years will go down in history (Again) refer to the Savings and Loan collapse as the years of BIG BANKS taking over all control of all the Money in our Country and in effect making it so we will only have a few choices for our Banking needs. J.P Morgan (Chase), Bank of America and a couple others will be our choices.
Right now the interest rates are at a 10 Year low hovering around 5.67 to 6.25 and as sure as we are in this slump once the Banks gain the positions they have as goals #1-2-3 or whatever, They will start to increase the rates again and at that point the sky is the limit. If you can do it now you won't be sorry you did because with-in the next two years as sure as I'm sitting here today the interest rates will be at 8 to 9% That's just my predictions and is not supported by anything more than my own gut feeling. (But I would bet you a quarter I'm close with that guess) .
If you have a credit score of 650 or more there is money available for you to purchase a Home and if you are smart you will get off the Fence and really try to buy now because the short sell and pre-foreclosure properties available today have forced all the sellers to look at prices equal to what they were in 2003 before the crazy balloon started. I have taken several properties including my own and started with the year 2001, By increasing the property 6% a year ( Which use to be the norm. in the regular market) I come up with prices equal to today's asking prices. So if you have owned your Home for 7 years you still have about a 6% return on the investment over time in a normal market.
That makes Real Estate the solid investment it has always been and will continue to be as proven in the past with "Real Estate Time Heals all".
Your Thoughts ?
As I sip on my fresh cup of coffee and read through my daily news, It ac-cured to me that many of my fellow countrymen and women probably are or will be doing the same thing. As I am writing this, Thoughts of the future of our great Country keep interrupting my concentration and reminding me that there are thousands of young people who would love to be sitting at there computers just as I am now.
They are our military who for decades have woke up in strange hostile Countries around the world and faced yet another day of not having the simple pleasure of sipping a fresh cup of coffee, Relaxing with the morning news paper or just contemplating what to do today.
And sadly as we all know many have not awakened at all, This is the time to honor those who have given there all so that we can continue to enjoy the simple things in life we all take for granted, It is a day to fly the flags at half mast and take a few moments of silence, Perhaps a prayer for those who are away now.
Remembering loved ones that have gone before us and reflecting on a few happy memories of times had together safely stored in our memory banks to be retrieved on special days like today. I awoke today at 5:15 A.M. like most days, But unlike the others instead of thoughts of appointments and things I need to do I have spent the last hour daydreaming and remembering a special handful of people from the past.
Take the time to remember those who were dear to you, Those who are not here with you, and most of all those who have given there all for you.
Great Covered Deck, Views
• 2,075 sq. ft., 2 bath, 3 bdrm single story - 
MLS® $325,000 - Reduced 20K Motivated
Rimrock, Yavapai County - Fantastic Views from this covered rear Deck of the Mingus Mountains and Verde Valley are waiting for your enjoyment. Home has great landscaping and stucco exterior for easy maintenance, Tile roof for years of trouble free service.
The seller had a Game room built in place of the garage but it (may be able to be converted but check with a contractor on that.) Three nice size bedrooms and a very open and modern front room with ceiling fan. Combined with lots of cabinets in the Kitchen and a breakfast nook with Views take time out to see this wonderful Home.
Property information
Well after quite a few years of asking the County to improve the main road through Town it is finally happening.
Construction is always painful especially when you only have one road through town. The work has been going on now for a couple months and I must admit at first I was frustrated and at times just down right ticked off. I would have to explain to people that I may be a bit late depending on how long I was trapped in the construction even though I leave ten or more minutes early.
Now that they have widened our road and added more dirt, Took out all the old pavement (including those pot holes) and are now finally doing the new asphalt I must admit it is nice to drive on a new road surface. Before I would kinda just complain mostly to myself about the condition of the road and when hitting a low spot or almost changing lanes to avoid those annoying pot holes say a few words to our county supervisor.
I like most of us wondered what the heck they were thinking when they bounced from one end of town to the other digging and ripping, Adding and subtracting dirt in places, I thought why don't they just finish were they are before moving to another spot ? Now if I'm right (and I'm not sure I am) they will be making one long pass all the way down the road with another layer of asphalt to complete the job.
All in all now that its taking shape I can see that it will all have been worth it in the end.