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Question:
If I don’t make the deadline for the 2009 tax credit, are there going to be tax credits for first time home buyers for 2010? (Asked and answered on Zillow)
Answer:
We haven’t heard any news about a tax credit for 2010 yet, so I would not count on it. The deadline for the current credit is that the transaction must close by December 1, 2009.
Lynette Hensley, Associate Broker
Tags: Tax Credit 2010Question:
I have a situation where my father was going to gift me $8000 for closing costs. We are done with attorney review and now my dad is saying he can’t help me out.
Without the 8k I don’t have the money for closing. I have two solutions. First is my state has a prefund tax credit program where they will lend 5k in an interest free loan. The last 3k I can get from my father-in-law.
The second option, and this is where I need your guidance, is to go back to the sellers to see if they will increase the price by 8k and give me a 8k seller credit. Is this even possible? Is it something that happens often? Thanks. (Asked and Answered on Zillow)
Answer:
Yes, it happens quite often. There are a few challenges to understand as you choose this path.
1. You need to get the seller to agree. Adding $8000 to the price will not increase the seller’s proceeds, as you will be asking for that back towards your closing costs. However, it will increase the seller’s costs slightly, commissions, excise tax etc, (any applicable in NJ). (I’m in WA)
2. The house must appraise for the higher amount. If your appraisal is already done and isn’t high enough to accommodate the $8000, you might be best going your other route for the $8000 in this transaction. If you haven’t yet had your appraisal, get the negotiating done first with the seller then get your appraisal with the new price.
Keep your loan officer in the loop as your loan program may or may not allow seller contributions. Most do allow that.
Best of luck!
Lynette Hensley, from the ComeBuyAHouse.com team with Larry Baumgartner.
Go Green
Here are some things you can do in your home….
Replace regular inefficient light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL’s). A CFL is 70-75% more efficient and although they cost a little more up front, you save on your electric bill over time and these bulbs last 8-10 years! If every family replaced one bulb with a CFL, it would be like reducing carbon emissions from 800,000 cars. Have a light bulb moment and change one light bulb.
We each use 2,200 paper napkins a year on average, which translates to a little over six napkins a day. If we all gave up one napkin a day and substituted it with a cloth napkin, we could save a billion pounds of paper waste from going into landfills each year.
When you buy one liter of water at the store, you’re actually buying about six liters of water. When manufacturers make plastic bottles, it take five liters of water to cool the plastic. Some plastics can make your water taste like plastic and leach harmful chemicals into your body. If your water tastes like plastic, you are ingesting plastic. An alternative idea is to purchase a water filter and a reusable aluminum or plastic bottle. Look on the bottom of the plastic bottle for a small triangle with a number in the middle. If you see a number 2, 4 or 5, the bottle is safe.
The average American can use up to 24 gallons of water per shower. Put a timer in your shower and try to keep it to 5 minutes.
Clean the lint trap in your dryer after every use. This can reduce the energy use by up to 30% per load.
To cut down on the amount of dishwasher water usage, choose a different colored cup for each family member to use throughout the day.
Even after turning off a computer or television, power can continue to flow at up to 40% of the power used when the screen is on. Using a power strip stops the energy from being wasted and provides surge protection.
Use environmentally safe cleaning products that are dye and perfume free, nontoxic, biodegradable, naturally derived and not tested on animals. Seventh Generation, Shaklee, Method Home and Mrs. Meyers are a few that are recommended.
Avoid using plastic Ziplock® bags for storage. Plastic bags can sit in a landfill for over 40 years. Better alternatives are re-usable glass containers with plastic or glass lids.
Bring your lunch to work in reusable plastic or glass containers instead of plastic wrap, plastic bags or aluminum foil.
Content provided by First American Title Insurance Company
Tags: Green building, household, tipsMore and more we are seeing short sale, foreclosures, REO homes for sale. It helps to understand the laws regarding foreclosures as well as the time lines.
Each state has it’s own regulations for foreclosures. These are links to the Washington State Foreclosure Laws as well as a good basic explanation:
Washington Foreclosure Law Explanation
Lynette Hensley
Associate Broker
I asked if I could publish this article about short sales by Danette, because she has a unique view of the process as an escrow closer. –Lynette
Short Sales
By Danette Johnson, of Ballard Escrow
A short sale is when a seller doesn’t have enough equity in their property to fully pay off the underlying mortgage debt and negotiates a reduced payoff with one or more lenders holding a security interest in the property. So long as the lender agrees to accept less than the amount needed to pay the debt in full, the seller is able to proceed with the sale of their property — shorting the lender or lenders the full balance due under the terms of the original loan.
With real estate values declining, sellers may consider a short sale as the answer to avoid foreclosure. Anyone considering a short sale — sellers and listing agents and perhaps more significantly buyers and selling agents – should be educated in the world of short sales to formulate their plan of attack.
It is important to understand that a short sale does NOT protect a seller’s credit rating. Once a payment is late or missed, the lender may report the late payment to the credit agencies. Upon completion of the sale, it may appear as a “charge off” or a “pre-foreclosure” on their credit rating. Hence, short sales not only adversely affect the seller’s credit rating, but sellers need also be aware that they remain liable for the unpaid balance of the loan or loans being paid short unless the lender(s) agree in writing to excuse payment and confirm in writing that the debt is paid in full. Without something in writing from the lender confirming that all further payment of debt is excused, sellers may find that one or more of their lenders, post closing, will pursue payment of any unpaid loan balances by obtaining a judgement or a lien. Short sale approvals are also frequently conditioned upon the seller’s agreement to pay some portion of the remaining debt after closing.
Buyers need to be educated about the process of a short sale transaction. Buyers may see a property advertised as a “short sale” and believe that property will be sold at bargain basement pricing, and therefore a wonderful opportunity for them. However, buyers beware, as short sales are plagued with delays and seemingly endless extensions of closing dates. We find that more often than not, buyers end up extremely frustrated with the constant delay and re-negotiations by the lenders and finanlly just walk away from the transaction. And, because of the fluctuating closing date, even buyers with the patience to wait the process out should be wary when locking in their financing until absolutely certain that their closing date will accommodate their lock-in deadlines. With interest rates again predicted to fall to record lows, short sales could cause a buyer to miss out on a very low interest rate while waiting out the lender’s approval of the short sale. Interest rate fluctuations can mean the difference in qualifying for a buyer’s dream home or losing the opportunity to take advantage of the low rates anticipated for 2009. These frustrations should give pause and lead selling agents to question the wisdom of subjecting buyers to a short sale.
It would be helpful if our industry had a list of specific requirements that lenders consider when approving a short sale transaction. If such a list existed, more certainty in the process would exist, and it would be easier to evaluate the property up front. To date we have found the approval process to be riddled with tentative approvals, then new conditions, and out of nowhere a new department or supervisor steps in to review what was believed to have been a pre-approved short sale. Unfortunately the work-out departments within the lending institutions are currently overwhelmed and appear to be under-trained, underpaid and under-valued by the lending institutions as a whole. With lending regulations in turmoil and lenders continuing layoffs, short sales with preliminary approval may never reach final approval. Our experience over the last couple of years at Ballard Escrow tells us that short sales require a minimum of six months to close. We are also finding that short sale transactions are closing with very low success rates of five to ten percent. That means 90-95 percent are rescinded, often as a result of the buyers simply giving up and perhaps taking themselves out of the market altogether as a result of the negative experience of dealing with a short sale.
All of these issues combined should cause everyone to question the wisdom of dealing with properties that are subject to a short sale. Be ready for a fight, or run for your life. The choice is yours.
Tags: closing, Escrow, Lender, Short SaleJust a note:
Pending home rise 2.1 percent in Feb. from Jan. – Yahoo! Finance
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/090401/pending_home_sales.html?.v=7
Lynette Hensley
Associate Broker
On March 19th the U.S. Treasury Department’s Making Home Affordable program went live. The program’s purpose is to help homeowners refinance or modify their Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac held mortgages. This is part of the Obama plan to keep homeowners in their homes and prevent foreclosures.
For more information, visit the Web site at makinghomeaffordable.gov as or call the telephone hotline number at (888) 995-4673.
Source: Indianapolis Star (03/19/09)
Lynette Hensley
Associate Broker
The Obama plan is designed to help stave off foreclosure for 7-9 million families by restructuring or refinancing their mortgages. This will keep families in their homes, keep communities stable, and strengthen confidence in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The Obama Plan for Homeowner Affordability and Stability
Feel free to call or email for more details.
Lynette Hensley
Associate Broker
Here are the November 2008 Real Estate Market updates for King, Snohomish and Pierce Counties:
And statistics by neighborhood:
Snohomish County by Neighborhood
Compiled by our title partner Commonwealth Title, from MLS statistics.
Lynette Hensley, Associate Broker, Realtor
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