Vicky Chrisner
Keller Williams Realty
703-669-3142
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Free Money for your Home Purchase!
Would you like to receive an extra $10,000 towards your home purchase? Move quickly.
Special funds are available for qualified buyers (income must be below 80% of the median income for the area). The fund will match your contribution 5:1. That means if you put in $500 (the minimum investment), the fund will contribute $2500. If you put in $2000, the fund will contribute $10,000.
The only catch is that you must own the home for 5 years or you will have to pay these funds back. Once you own the property for 5 years, the debt is forgiven.
As you can imagine, this money runs out quickly; and only select lenders have this fund available to them in LIMITED quantities.
Please note this is in NO WAY tied to the tax credits being offered by the federal government right now, although there are some great programs allowing bridge loans to use those funds up front, as well.
Please call me for details.
Friday, June 12, 2009
No More Houses For Sale?
On the 10th of each month, MRIS (the MLS for the Washington DC Metropolitan Area) publishes market statistics by region, county and zip code.
Each month, I pull them up, review them, and sometimes incorporate information about the market into my blog. Recently, however, I haven't done that so much. That's because I don't feel like the stats really show what's going on. There's one exception: Listings.
The number of listings is DOWN. Way down. Our inventory is so low right now. At some price points (generally, under $400,000 except for the condo market), it's creating a feeding frenzy among buyers. First time home buyers, investors and relocation buyers are chomping at the bit to get into a nice affordable home here in Northern Virginia.
Stastics like Days on Market, or Available Inventory are very misleading. This is because of how distress sales are being handled in the marketplace.
REOs are frequently on the market for a few days, maybe a week or 10 days at most, and then the bank will choose an offer and "accept it". At that point, the home is no longer available to new potential buyers. However, the contract is not ratified, it's still in process. Therefore, the home still shows like it is available on web sites and in the MLS. But, it's not. It usually takes 1-3 weeks before you see these listings updated as "under contract" in the MLS system. It results in the MLS showing the number of marketing days as 14-30 days when really it was 7-10.
Short sales are even worse. Many times, they are not marked as under contract until the bank has approved an offer. This can take months - several months. Meanwhile, the seller has a ratified offer, and often has several back up offers sitting on their desk; and the home isn't really available for purchase by a new buyer. I mean, would you want to be the 10th back up offer?(Learn more about short sales: http://therealestatewhisperer.blogspot.com/2009/04/risks-of-short-sale.html) This results in the MLS reporting 90-200 days of marketing time, when in fact, the seller had 2 or 3 offers within a week.
When these two things are happening in half of the sales in the market place, it creates misleading information. So, it makes it difficult to report with accuracy.
Some days I am pouring through the listings, looking for homes to show to buyers that are "really" available. After scouring through 20 or more listings, reading through all the comments and calling the listing agents for more information, I sometimes come up empty handed. I have actually had to call buyers and say that there are no available homes that fit their criteria.
Imagine that! The national news media is saying that it's a buyers market, and their real estate agent is saying there are no more houses for sale?
If you own a home that should sell for $200,000-500,000, and you've been wanting to relocate or move into a larger home in this area, the time to consider this is NOW. At higher price points, there is still more inventory. So, you can sell your $300,000 house in Loudoun and move to a $500,000 home in the very same area and take full advantage of the seller's market and the buyer's market.
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Curious what you're home should sell for? You can get an idea by ordering a free automated snapshot at http://www.20175homesales.com/; which will tell you what homes in your neighborhood are selling for, but pay no attention to the "days on market" or even the list price - look at the sold prices.
Even better, call me and let me prepare a personalized market analysis for you. We really need more houses to sell, so I do hope to get your call soon!
703-669-3142
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
VHDA's Got Your Down Payment - The Time to Buy is Now
The Virginia Housing Development Authority has rolled out a new program allowing qualified buyers to use their expected tax credit (max of $8,000) toward the down payment or closing costs when they purchase a new home. The program is called VHDA FHA Tax Credit Plus. This potentially could mean no money down loan options for some.
Buyers must meet all requirements for the VHDA FHA loans, including the income and sales price limits imposed on all VHDA loans, which means a household of 3 can not have income that exceeds $100,000; and the sales price of the home can not exceed $408,000.
The buyers must also qualify for the First Time Home Buyer tax credit which will be in the amount of 10% of the purchase price up to a maximum of $8000. A reduced tax credit is available to buyers whose income exceeds $75,000 (single filers) or $150,000 (joint filers).
The use of the tax credit will actually be done as a 2nd trust. It will be payment, interest and penalty fee for the first 12 months. If not paid by that time, the trust will convert and be amortized over the remaining 29 years at the same interest rate as the primary trust; with no penalty. With this program, VHDA is actually making it optional to pay the second trust off or just starting making the 2nd mortgage payment.
Please note the tax credit expires November 3oth, if you are thinking of buying, now is the time!
For more information about how to take advantage of today's real estate market, please contact me.
Vicky Chrisner
Keller Williams
703-669-3142
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Special note: This is different from earlier guidance received. For practioners, please note that the funds MAY be used toward the down payment (not just closing costs as previously thought). This is because VHDA is a qualified non-profit, and is therefore exempt from the mortgagee letter that required maintaining the minimum investment of 3.5% on all FHA loans.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Use Your $8000 Tax Credit at Closing!
About a week and a half ago, there was a ruling allowing home buyers to use their First Time Home Buyer Credit (a max of $8000) toward closing costs. Today, VHDA (the Virginia Housing Development Authority) rolled out their plans implementing this program, and here are the highlights:
* The buyer's primary loan must be a VHDA FHA loan. There are income limits associated with obtaining VHDA loans, but the loans are generally below market rate. The income limits are adjusted based on family size, but for a 3 person household, the maximum income is $100,000.
* VHDA will basically "front" the buyer the tax credit - up to $8000 - to be used toward closing costs. (Note: Buyers must still invest 3.5% of the sales price as a down payment, and the tax credit can NOT be used to cover that minimum investment.)
The "fronting" of this money will be in the form of a second trust (aka a mortgage) which will be interest free for the first 12 months, allowing the buyer plenty of time to file for and receive their tax credit check, which should then be applied to pay off this loan.
* To claim the tax credit, buyers must CLOSE on their home no later than November 30th... so time is wasting! Take advantage of this loan program today.
It's a great new option for FHA buyers that qualify for a VHDA mortgage. For more information on this or other loan programs, call or email me. I am not a lender, but have alliances with several different lenders that offer different programs; and happily will refer you to the right loan counselor.
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Cindy Fox with SunTrust Mortgage provided this "Breaking News" to me this evening, allowing me to pass it on to you. She's a fabulous loan counselor familiar with all the government loan programs and options available to first time home buyers.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Yes, Virginia, There Is A Way To Buy With No Money Down
Yes, Virginia, there are still some ways you can buy a home without a down payment.
Take the Veteran's Administration loans, for example - if you've never served in the military, then this option is not available to you; but it's a great program for those that have served. In fact, this is exactly how my husband and I purchased our first home back in the early nineties. The official web site is: http://www.homeloans.va.gov
There's also the "VHDA PLUS" which is a second trust option available to moderate income families in Virginia. In Northern Virginia, the sales price/loan limit is $408K; and a family of 3 or more must have an income of $100K or less. Learn about this program: http://www.vhda.com/vhda_com/Template_a.asp?VHDA_COM_PAGE_NAME=Eligibility_Requirements
In some counties - like Loudoun - there are also second trust loan options available for households with more reduced incomes, adjusted by family size. These loans can be used to purchase foreclosures, market rate homes or ADU homes. Learn more: http://www.loudoun.gov/Default.aspx?tabid=2120
So, yes, although the options are more limited in scope and are targeting specific household types, there are some programs still available. These are just a few examples.
If you're in the market to buy a home, contact me. I am happy to help you investigate these and other options to see what the best program for you is.
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