Archive for October, 2009

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Latest News: Extension of 2009 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit Incentive

Saturday, October 31st, 2009

It’s the latest news!  The senate has come up with a deal to extend the 2009 first time home buyer tax credit incentive into 2010!  It’s not official yet… but I say “yet” because it looks very promising.  You know how it goes, it may get warped and manipulated into something else along the way, but this is the latest news on the first time home buyer tax credit…

The initial plans are to extend the expiration date and slightly modify how it works.  Instead of the first time home buyer tax incentive expiring on November 30th as expected, you will now have to have a signed purchase contract by April 30th, 2010.  So, you must be IN CONTRACT by April 30th, 2010.  Then they are allowing an additional 60 days to complete the sale and close no later then July 1st, 2010. 

I personally am very grateful for this extension.  My husband and I have been scrambling trying to help my parents find a buyer for this home we live in (their house) and let me tell you… we are running out of time.  I was going to be extremely disappointed if we missed out on this tax credit.  Now I feel a bit more relieved and not so much pressure.

In addition, there are talks of another perk to be worked into the first time home byer tax credit that would benefit sellers.  The credit will now offer a $6,500 tax credit to home owners who sell their primary residence that they owned for at least 5 consequtive years in the past 8 years.

The income limits will also be raised.  Individual from $75,000 to $125,000 and couples from $150,000 to $250,000.

Other people are saying that the increase in income may be too generous… giving a helping hand to those who really do not need it.  On one hand, I agree with that.  I feel like this government money should only be used to help those in need, not those who make enough money that they could clearly adapt to whatever income problem they might have because of the economy.  On the other hand, there are people who have had sudden income changes because of the economy and even those who were well off, are now stuck in homes about to go into foreclosure.  Maybe this well help them avoid the foreclosure?  I also suppose if it gets more movement into the housing market and more money flowing, it may be of some help to the economy… and therfor… everyone.

All in all, my husband and I are very pleased to hear about this extension.  Now it’s just a matter of them making it official.  Hopefully they do.

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Our first day of house hunting!

Friday, October 30th, 2009

Yesterday we met with our realtor to go looking IN houses for sale for the first time.  It was really exciting.  Our agent had put together a nice list of the homes were were going to look at with their information on them.  He drove us around in his Prius which was nice.  We didn’t have to put miles on our car or use up our gas.

It was a very fun and pleasant experience.  Our agent was very nice and not at all pushy.  He gave us just the right amount of space to look around, but still answer questions.

The homes we looked at were a bit depressing though.  We looked at 5 that we had previously driven by and ended up only liking 1 of them.  It’s very different going inside then just looking in the windows.  We realized a lot of problems that we didn’t notice from the windows.  One of the major issues for me was the layout of the living room or no bathroom on the main floor.  But, HUD updated their listings today and I have found several new houses to look at.  The houses are all selling so quickly though!

Still haven’t heard about our preapproval.  Keeping our fingers crossed.  The mortgage guy said it would probably be a week to a week and a half before we got an answer.

I am a bit disappointed that we have not had more showings.  I see all the homes I want to look at selling like hot cakes, but we haven’t had any offers on our home.  I am sure the price is good and it’s a very nice home for the money.  I think it’s downfall is it has a car port and not a garage.  Also that the school levy failed in this city and now there are a lot of problems because of it.  We are running out of time.  We are going to miss the deadline for the tax credit if we don’t find a buyer soon. :(

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Still waiting for our mortgage preapproval.

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

We had just applied for our preapproval last Thursday.  We had to send in a letter explaining my hubby not being on his job the full two years so it didn’t actually get submitted (from what I am told), until this last Monday.  It’s now Wednesday.  We were told it could be 1 to 2 weeks before we get an answer.  Two weeks seems kind of long to me.  Does anyone else know if it typically takes that long?  I guess I am just really anxious.

I spent a lot of time scouring the Internet for homes for sale that we like.  At one point in the beginning, I had over 80 houses in my list of potentials.  After a while, I realized exactly what we can get for our money and now know EXACTLY what houses to look for.  It’s interesting to me because when I started out, I really thought we would have to settle for not so great houses.  To my suprise, we can get so much more then what I expected.  I am very excited and not at all disappointed in what I have found.  I have narrowed my list down to 17 houses we want to look at.  We start physically going in them tomorrow!  How exciting!  We are using a realtor from ERA who has helped my parents buy and sell several homes.

These houses are selling fast.  Many of them are gone just as soon as I discover them.  That is a little sad, but there are still plenty more to choose from.  Of course, keep in mind, I am in Ohio.  It’s not going to be the same everywhere else.

I check the HUD listings daily for new houses.  I would like to watch sherriff sales and things like that, but you have to have 10% down before bidding.  No way we can do that.

That’s it for now folks.  Hey, if anyone else out there is experiencing buying their first home, share your experience here so other first time home buyers can see what it’s like.

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