By Mickey Matteson
RISMEDIA, June 18, 2009-The market is warming up, the kids are out of school, and more Americans are gearing up to move long distances. A recent survey by relocation.com shows staggering data when it comes to moving:
70% of consumers are moving more than 1,000 miles, up from 38% last year
60% listed financial reasons for their move
28% are moving for family reasons compared to 18% last year
52% of Americans have a high level of fear when moving
This summer’s moving season could be a hectic one , but there are ways to move and keep your sanity. Here are some things to keep in mind to make your summer move a success:
Start Early - Allow plenty of time to get estimates from movers. It takes time to get an estimate from different companies, compare, and make a decision. 45 days prior to a move is a good time to begin to ensure the best choices are available.
Be Prepared - If are doing your own packing, get supplies and start packing early. Not finishing on time and leaving work for the moving company can result in additional costs.
Be Careful - Choosing a mover can be confusing. Comparing estimates from different companies that might reflect different items, terms, and coverage can add considerable time to the process.
The Move Advocate is a great resource to set up a summer move for success. Their dedicated Moving Coach will work with you to choose the best movers in your area, get multiple estimates, advise you on preparation, and audit and compare movers for you. Best of all this is a free service with no obligation. Sign up today at http://www.moveadvocate.com/agent/starterkit.asp for an Agent Starter Kit and start receiving up to 60% off your move.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
Mortgage Rates Reach 7-Month High
Higher interest rates put the brakes on mortgage refinancing this week, according to Freddie Mac.
The firm's weekly survey pegged interest on 30-year fixed mortgages at an average of 5.59 percent -- up from 5.29 percent last week and the highest rate since November 2008.
Other rates also climbed:
Interest climbed to 5.06 percent from 4.79 percent for 15-year fixed loans;
5.17 percent from 4.85 percent for five-year, adjustable-rate mortgages;
5.04 percent from 4.81 percent for one-year ARMs.
Freddie Mac chief economist Frank Nothaft says the gains are not affecting home purchase loans.
The firm's weekly survey pegged interest on 30-year fixed mortgages at an average of 5.59 percent -- up from 5.29 percent last week and the highest rate since November 2008.
Other rates also climbed:
Interest climbed to 5.06 percent from 4.79 percent for 15-year fixed loans;
5.17 percent from 4.85 percent for five-year, adjustable-rate mortgages;
5.04 percent from 4.81 percent for one-year ARMs.
Freddie Mac chief economist Frank Nothaft says the gains are not affecting home purchase loans.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
The Perfect Summer Party: How to Make the Most of Your Outdoor Get-together
By Susan M. Selasky
RISMEDIA, June 13, 2009-(MCT)-Get out your biggest serving bowls. Stock up on sturdy plastic dinner plates and serving trays.
If you are doing the summer outdoor party scene this year, taking a “staycation” is all the buzz as more people stay home to save money.
Whether you’re planning a graduation party, holiday cookout, block party or a party just because you’re glad it’s summer, you’ll need a plan.
We’ve got the goods on making yummy, cost- and time-efficient foods that will impress your guests, plus the recipes to get you started.
According to Mary Rembelski of Canape Cart Catering in Ferndale, Michigan, the current party trend is to keep portions and presentation on the small side.
“We do a lot of sliders, as they are still popular with parties,” she says. “Any big burger you can make small and put on a small bun.”
Rembelski thinks outside the bun and offers sliders with beef and caramelized onions, tuna burgers with wasabi glaze, and a vegetarian option with mushrooms.
Ethnic cuisine also is popular, Rembelski says, and Asian food is especially popular for graduation parties.
“Kids are into sushi or sesame noodles, ” says Rembelski. “And it’s also anything you can pick up and move with.”
So, let’s party on.
Party Recommendations:
Here are ideas from the Free Press Test Kitchen and Canape Cart Catering’s Mary Rembelski.
The plan:
- Decide whether the party will be indoors or outdoors. Have a rain plan in mind if you don’t want the expense of a tent.
- Determine the number of guests and age groups. Count how many teenagers are coming because they can be big eaters. How many children?
- Set up the food inside and the seating outside. This helps with bugs.
- Be adventuresome and use your good china outside.
- Use cloth napkins if you have them; they won’t blow away if it’s windy.
- Canape Cart uses biodegradable cutlery and plates from Michigan Green Safe Products in Detroit. The flatware is made from potatoes, the plastic cups from corn and the plates from sugar cane, all renewable sources.
The dish:
- If you’re serving sliders, allow two per person, maybe three if you’re going to have a lot of teenagers.
- For chicken as a main dish, allow two pieces per person. For appetizers and chicken or meat side dishes, figure three or four bites per serving.
- Serve whatever dinner rolls or mini rolls you like.
- Instead of beef tenderloin, which can be pricey, Rembelski uses flat iron steak. It’s simple, inexpensive and easy to grill.
- Serve shots of gazpacho in sake cups.
RISMEDIA, June 13, 2009-(MCT)-Get out your biggest serving bowls. Stock up on sturdy plastic dinner plates and serving trays.
If you are doing the summer outdoor party scene this year, taking a “staycation” is all the buzz as more people stay home to save money.
Whether you’re planning a graduation party, holiday cookout, block party or a party just because you’re glad it’s summer, you’ll need a plan.
We’ve got the goods on making yummy, cost- and time-efficient foods that will impress your guests, plus the recipes to get you started.
According to Mary Rembelski of Canape Cart Catering in Ferndale, Michigan, the current party trend is to keep portions and presentation on the small side.
“We do a lot of sliders, as they are still popular with parties,” she says. “Any big burger you can make small and put on a small bun.”
Rembelski thinks outside the bun and offers sliders with beef and caramelized onions, tuna burgers with wasabi glaze, and a vegetarian option with mushrooms.
Ethnic cuisine also is popular, Rembelski says, and Asian food is especially popular for graduation parties.
“Kids are into sushi or sesame noodles, ” says Rembelski. “And it’s also anything you can pick up and move with.”
So, let’s party on.
Party Recommendations:
Here are ideas from the Free Press Test Kitchen and Canape Cart Catering’s Mary Rembelski.
The plan:
- Decide whether the party will be indoors or outdoors. Have a rain plan in mind if you don’t want the expense of a tent.
- Determine the number of guests and age groups. Count how many teenagers are coming because they can be big eaters. How many children?
- Set up the food inside and the seating outside. This helps with bugs.
- Be adventuresome and use your good china outside.
- Use cloth napkins if you have them; they won’t blow away if it’s windy.
- Canape Cart uses biodegradable cutlery and plates from Michigan Green Safe Products in Detroit. The flatware is made from potatoes, the plastic cups from corn and the plates from sugar cane, all renewable sources.
The dish:
- If you’re serving sliders, allow two per person, maybe three if you’re going to have a lot of teenagers.
- For chicken as a main dish, allow two pieces per person. For appetizers and chicken or meat side dishes, figure three or four bites per serving.
- Serve whatever dinner rolls or mini rolls you like.
- Instead of beef tenderloin, which can be pricey, Rembelski uses flat iron steak. It’s simple, inexpensive and easy to grill.
- Serve shots of gazpacho in sake cups.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Overlooked Signs the U.S. Housing Market is Turning
By Chris Pummer
RISMEDIA, June 12, 2009-(MCT)-In the Sacramento Delta suburbs east of San Francisco - where home prices soared and fell as viciously as anywhere in the country - a housing market rebound is feverishly under way.
A 1,600-square foot rancher listed for $179,000 - after last selling for $425,000 in 2004 - drew multiple offers last month with a high of $210,000 in cash. The topper: The property was a “short sale” whose owner needs lender approval to sell for less than the mortgage owed-and which buyers wouldn’t touch just three months ago.
“My phone was ringing off the hook, my voice mail was on overload and people were coming into the office receptionist saying they couldn’t reach me,” said Christy Howard, a Coldwell Banker Coon and McCreary agent who listed the Antioch house. “Everyone was waiting for the bottom, and the problem is they waited to long, because the bottom has already come and gone.”
Spurred by markdowns up to 80% from market highs, first-time buyers and investors both American and foreign descended en masse in the last three months on San Francisco’s hardest-hit hinterlands as Wall Street and the economic climate improved. They’re picking clean the Delta region’s banked-owned inventory as soon as properties hit the market and are engaged in unprecedented bidding wars even on short sales.
The panicked buying - fueled by buyers’ fear they’ll miss out on fire-sale prices - belies the doom-and-gloom evoked by recent reports of rising mortgage delinquency rates and foreclosure activity. It is one of several overlooked signs the U.S. housing-market turnaround has started in the nation’s hardest-hit markets, which is critical to driving an overall recovery:
- After spending most of the 1990s in the $250,000 range, the median-priced home that was sold in the seven-county San Francisco area rose to a staggering $850,000 by its May 2007 peak. It since fell to a low of $399,000 in February - a 53% drop in just 21 months - before posting its first monthly gain in March, albeit a 1% uptick. The median is expected to continue rising at a healthy clip in months ahead since it’s now at the level of nine years ago, before the bubble began inflating.
- California’s statewide inventory of unsold homes - based on the number on the market divided by the present monthly sales rate - stood at a 15.2 months supply in February, 2008. That figure was down to 5.8 months in March, near the historic average.
- At roughly 22,000 units, Las Vegas’ inventory is not far off its recent record high. Yet total sales closed in March showed flourishing demand, the fourth best on record. That monthly record - set during the height of the boom - is expected to be broken this summer.
“Things have been looking up but it’s going unnoticed,” says Forrest Barbee, a board member with the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors and a broker for Prudential American Group Realtors. “It’s just going to take the data a little longer to catch up with reality.” Listen to one analyst’s thoughts about housing having hit bottom.
Adds Rick Sharga, senior vice president of RealtyTrac, which compiles home sales and foreclosure data: “We’ve overshot the market in places like Las Vegas and Arizona in terms of fair value and buyers are bidding prices up again on many properties. The challenge is going to be whether there is enough financing to eat up the inventory that’s yet to come.”
The specter of rising foreclosures - born now of the recession rather than just overleveraged subprime borrowers - is the wild card in future health of the U.S. housing market and the economy by extension. Read about the difficulty borrowers are having with mortgage modifications.
The number of U.S. homeowners behind on payments or in foreclosure shattered the record in the first quarter, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported last week. Nearly one in eight mortgage holders were either delinquent or in the foreclosure process - and prime mortgages in trouble for the first time outnumbered subprime loans on a percentage basis. Read more on the record jump in foreclosures in the first quarter.
Yet the number of pending sales of existing U.S. homes took a surprising upswing in April, rising 6.7% in the biggest monthly gain in more than seven years, the National Association of Realtors reported Tuesday. That increase lags the 9.2% jump in October 2001, but that spike owed to buyers temporarily putting off home shopping following 9/11. See the latest data on pending home sales.
And in an overlooked report that belies the first-quarter delinquency numbers, defaults on privately insured mortgages - where borrowers are more than 60 days behind - fell 3% in April and were down 24% from a record 106,482 in February, the trade group Mortgage Insurance Companies of America reported Friday.
Most important for gauging the strength of the nationwide market is how conditions are improving in the most-depressed regional markets.
With those markets now stabilizing, banks are no longer anxious to dump real-estate owned properties, as houses in their foreclosure portfolios are called, fearing they’ll get appreciably less three months from now for their foreclosed properties.
As a result, they’ll be more judicious about the pace at which they release foreclosures onto the market. The new goal: To maximize the value of supplies in hand rather than unload it helter-skelter and torpedo the housing market like they did while they were shell-shocked by the devastation they’d wrought.
With the banks themselves now somewhat more stable, they’ll also be less likely to want to part with their “toxic assets” knowing the most-scorched, still-serviceable mortgages will be the most valuable on a credit-risk markup once the economy recovers. In fact, the price stabilization in the most-depressed U.S. markets will allow a clearer valuation of the toxic assets we now all hold by virtue of bank bailouts - a modicum of certainty that will hasten the overall recovery.
Homeowners in most of America know by their own property’s value that the spike in U.S. median home values was driven in considerable measure by soaring prices and volume in major markets, especially in California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona. By virtue of their climates and economic-growth rates, those four states have been on the extremes of the U.S. boom-and-bust housing cycle since the 1950s.
You can’t discount how critical an upturn in those states will be, considering they account for 46% of foreclosures nationwide. If foreclosures there are more quickly consumed as they’re starting to be now - fueled in part by foreign buyers who recognize their value - we’ll all reap a return on our bailout money a lot faster.
“The banks are getting smarter and realizing that if they don’t sell it in a short sale, they lose more money going the foreclosure route,” Barbee said.
Adds Sharga: “The banks will be very particular and thoughtful about how they’ll release new foreclosures, because they know now how flooding the market will have a disastrous effect.”
That, and if the chastened lenders would just swallow crow and pony up for rights to an encouraging Beatles song to play on their delinquent-payers’ hold line: “We can work it out.”
RISMEDIA, June 12, 2009-(MCT)-In the Sacramento Delta suburbs east of San Francisco - where home prices soared and fell as viciously as anywhere in the country - a housing market rebound is feverishly under way.
A 1,600-square foot rancher listed for $179,000 - after last selling for $425,000 in 2004 - drew multiple offers last month with a high of $210,000 in cash. The topper: The property was a “short sale” whose owner needs lender approval to sell for less than the mortgage owed-and which buyers wouldn’t touch just three months ago.
“My phone was ringing off the hook, my voice mail was on overload and people were coming into the office receptionist saying they couldn’t reach me,” said Christy Howard, a Coldwell Banker Coon and McCreary agent who listed the Antioch house. “Everyone was waiting for the bottom, and the problem is they waited to long, because the bottom has already come and gone.”
Spurred by markdowns up to 80% from market highs, first-time buyers and investors both American and foreign descended en masse in the last three months on San Francisco’s hardest-hit hinterlands as Wall Street and the economic climate improved. They’re picking clean the Delta region’s banked-owned inventory as soon as properties hit the market and are engaged in unprecedented bidding wars even on short sales.
The panicked buying - fueled by buyers’ fear they’ll miss out on fire-sale prices - belies the doom-and-gloom evoked by recent reports of rising mortgage delinquency rates and foreclosure activity. It is one of several overlooked signs the U.S. housing-market turnaround has started in the nation’s hardest-hit markets, which is critical to driving an overall recovery:
- After spending most of the 1990s in the $250,000 range, the median-priced home that was sold in the seven-county San Francisco area rose to a staggering $850,000 by its May 2007 peak. It since fell to a low of $399,000 in February - a 53% drop in just 21 months - before posting its first monthly gain in March, albeit a 1% uptick. The median is expected to continue rising at a healthy clip in months ahead since it’s now at the level of nine years ago, before the bubble began inflating.
- California’s statewide inventory of unsold homes - based on the number on the market divided by the present monthly sales rate - stood at a 15.2 months supply in February, 2008. That figure was down to 5.8 months in March, near the historic average.
- At roughly 22,000 units, Las Vegas’ inventory is not far off its recent record high. Yet total sales closed in March showed flourishing demand, the fourth best on record. That monthly record - set during the height of the boom - is expected to be broken this summer.
“Things have been looking up but it’s going unnoticed,” says Forrest Barbee, a board member with the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors and a broker for Prudential American Group Realtors. “It’s just going to take the data a little longer to catch up with reality.” Listen to one analyst’s thoughts about housing having hit bottom.
Adds Rick Sharga, senior vice president of RealtyTrac, which compiles home sales and foreclosure data: “We’ve overshot the market in places like Las Vegas and Arizona in terms of fair value and buyers are bidding prices up again on many properties. The challenge is going to be whether there is enough financing to eat up the inventory that’s yet to come.”
The specter of rising foreclosures - born now of the recession rather than just overleveraged subprime borrowers - is the wild card in future health of the U.S. housing market and the economy by extension. Read about the difficulty borrowers are having with mortgage modifications.
The number of U.S. homeowners behind on payments or in foreclosure shattered the record in the first quarter, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported last week. Nearly one in eight mortgage holders were either delinquent or in the foreclosure process - and prime mortgages in trouble for the first time outnumbered subprime loans on a percentage basis. Read more on the record jump in foreclosures in the first quarter.
Yet the number of pending sales of existing U.S. homes took a surprising upswing in April, rising 6.7% in the biggest monthly gain in more than seven years, the National Association of Realtors reported Tuesday. That increase lags the 9.2% jump in October 2001, but that spike owed to buyers temporarily putting off home shopping following 9/11. See the latest data on pending home sales.
And in an overlooked report that belies the first-quarter delinquency numbers, defaults on privately insured mortgages - where borrowers are more than 60 days behind - fell 3% in April and were down 24% from a record 106,482 in February, the trade group Mortgage Insurance Companies of America reported Friday.
Most important for gauging the strength of the nationwide market is how conditions are improving in the most-depressed regional markets.
With those markets now stabilizing, banks are no longer anxious to dump real-estate owned properties, as houses in their foreclosure portfolios are called, fearing they’ll get appreciably less three months from now for their foreclosed properties.
As a result, they’ll be more judicious about the pace at which they release foreclosures onto the market. The new goal: To maximize the value of supplies in hand rather than unload it helter-skelter and torpedo the housing market like they did while they were shell-shocked by the devastation they’d wrought.
With the banks themselves now somewhat more stable, they’ll also be less likely to want to part with their “toxic assets” knowing the most-scorched, still-serviceable mortgages will be the most valuable on a credit-risk markup once the economy recovers. In fact, the price stabilization in the most-depressed U.S. markets will allow a clearer valuation of the toxic assets we now all hold by virtue of bank bailouts - a modicum of certainty that will hasten the overall recovery.
Homeowners in most of America know by their own property’s value that the spike in U.S. median home values was driven in considerable measure by soaring prices and volume in major markets, especially in California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona. By virtue of their climates and economic-growth rates, those four states have been on the extremes of the U.S. boom-and-bust housing cycle since the 1950s.
You can’t discount how critical an upturn in those states will be, considering they account for 46% of foreclosures nationwide. If foreclosures there are more quickly consumed as they’re starting to be now - fueled in part by foreign buyers who recognize their value - we’ll all reap a return on our bailout money a lot faster.
“The banks are getting smarter and realizing that if they don’t sell it in a short sale, they lose more money going the foreclosure route,” Barbee said.
Adds Sharga: “The banks will be very particular and thoughtful about how they’ll release new foreclosures, because they know now how flooding the market will have a disastrous effect.”
That, and if the chastened lenders would just swallow crow and pony up for rights to an encouraging Beatles song to play on their delinquent-payers’ hold line: “We can work it out.”
Thursday, June 11, 2009
FHA Tax Credit Monetization Helps Home Buyers With Upfront Costs
RISMEDIA, June 11, 2009-First-time home buyers who would otherwise qualify for the $8,000 tax credit, but don’t have the money for a down payment or closing fees, may now be able to get a loan to help cover those upfront costs.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced on May 29 that the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) will allow state housing finance agencies to provide second mortgages “monetizing” the tax credit so that borrowers can use the funds toward their down payments and closing costs for the purchase of homes with FHA-insured mortgage loans.
“This is great news for thousands of families who want to take advantage of today’s low interest rates, competitive prices, great selection and the federal tax credit that is only available until Nov. 30, but could not save enough money for a down payment and closing costs,” said National Association of Home Builders Chairman Joe Robson, a home builder from Tulsa, Okla.
HUD also announced that FHA-approved lenders may purchase the tax credit from the home buyer in advance, so that the home buyer can use the funds for closing costs or to make a down payment in addition to the 3.5% minimum. Home buyers who go directly to FHA-approved lenders will still need to come up with the 3.5% minimum down payment that is required for an FHA-insured loan.
Home buyers previously would be able to use the funds from the tax credit only after filing their federal tax returns and had to come up with the pre-purchase costs on their own.
NAHB estimates that 40,000 more homes will be purchased due to the new FHA monetization program, in addition to the 160,000 sales already expected as a result of the tax credit.
The National Council of State Housing Agencies has a list of states offering first time home buyer tax credit loan programs on their website, www.ncsha.org.
For information on the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit, go to www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced on May 29 that the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) will allow state housing finance agencies to provide second mortgages “monetizing” the tax credit so that borrowers can use the funds toward their down payments and closing costs for the purchase of homes with FHA-insured mortgage loans.
“This is great news for thousands of families who want to take advantage of today’s low interest rates, competitive prices, great selection and the federal tax credit that is only available until Nov. 30, but could not save enough money for a down payment and closing costs,” said National Association of Home Builders Chairman Joe Robson, a home builder from Tulsa, Okla.
HUD also announced that FHA-approved lenders may purchase the tax credit from the home buyer in advance, so that the home buyer can use the funds for closing costs or to make a down payment in addition to the 3.5% minimum. Home buyers who go directly to FHA-approved lenders will still need to come up with the 3.5% minimum down payment that is required for an FHA-insured loan.
Home buyers previously would be able to use the funds from the tax credit only after filing their federal tax returns and had to come up with the pre-purchase costs on their own.
NAHB estimates that 40,000 more homes will be purchased due to the new FHA monetization program, in addition to the 160,000 sales already expected as a result of the tax credit.
The National Council of State Housing Agencies has a list of states offering first time home buyer tax credit loan programs on their website, www.ncsha.org.
For information on the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit, go to www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Mortgage Rates Rise for Second Straight Week
RISMEDIA, June 10, 2009-The weekly average rate borrowers were quoted on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace for 30-year fixed mortgages increased last week to 5.48%, up from 5.25% the week prior, according to the Zillow Mortgage Rate Monitor, compiled by leading real estate website Zillow.com(R). Meanwhile, rates for 15-year fixed mortgages rose to 4.95% from 4.78%, and 5-1 adjustable rate mortgages rose to 4.62% from 4.48% the week prior.
Mortgage Type Average Rate Average Rate
Week ending 6/7/09 Week ending 5/31/09 % Change
30-year fixed 5.48% 5.25% 4.4%
15-year fixed 4.95% 4.78% 3.6%
5-1 ARM 4.62% 4.48% 3.1%
On Monday, rates for 30-year fixed purchase mortgages rose further, with the average rate on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace at 5.62%. For current, up-to-the-minute rates, visit www.zillow.com/Mortgage_Rates/.
Thirty-year fixed mortgage rates varied by state. Georgia mortgage rates and Missouri mortgage rates increased the most, from 5.15% to 5.48% in Georgia and from 5.25% to 5.53% in Missouri. New York mortgage rates and Massachusetts mortgage rates were the highest, at 5.56% and 5.55%, respectively. Florida mortgage rates were the lowest, at 5.44%. California mortgage rates were the most requested among all states.
State Average 30-yr . Average 30-yr.
Fixed Rate Fixed Rate
Week ending 6/7/09 Week ending 5/31/09 % Change
Arizona 5.47% 5.25% 4.2%
California 5.45% 5.24% 4.0%
Colorado 5.48% 5.23% 4.8%
Connecticut 5.50% 5.26% 4.6%
Florida 5.44% 5.19% 4.8%
Georgia 5.48% 5.15% 6.4%
Illinois 5.53% 5.28% 4.7%
Maryland 5.52% 5.35% 3.2%
Massachusetts 5.55% 5.30% 4.7%
Michigan 5.48% 5.21% 5.2%
Minnesota 5.51% 5.28% 4.4%
Missouri 5.53% 5.25% 5.3%
New Jersey 5.45% 5.24% 4.0%
New York 5.56% 5.29% 5.1%
North Carolina 5.52% 5.27% 4.7%
Oregon 5.50% 5.27% 4.4%
Pennsylvania 5.45% 5.26% 3.6%
Texas 5.45% 5.25% 3.8%
Virginia 5.48% 5.23% 4.8%
Washington 5.45% 5.24% 4.0%
Mortgage Type Average Rate Average Rate
Week ending 6/7/09 Week ending 5/31/09 % Change
30-year fixed 5.48% 5.25% 4.4%
15-year fixed 4.95% 4.78% 3.6%
5-1 ARM 4.62% 4.48% 3.1%
On Monday, rates for 30-year fixed purchase mortgages rose further, with the average rate on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace at 5.62%. For current, up-to-the-minute rates, visit www.zillow.com/Mortgage_Rates/.
Thirty-year fixed mortgage rates varied by state. Georgia mortgage rates and Missouri mortgage rates increased the most, from 5.15% to 5.48% in Georgia and from 5.25% to 5.53% in Missouri. New York mortgage rates and Massachusetts mortgage rates were the highest, at 5.56% and 5.55%, respectively. Florida mortgage rates were the lowest, at 5.44%. California mortgage rates were the most requested among all states.
State Average 30-yr . Average 30-yr.
Fixed Rate Fixed Rate
Week ending 6/7/09 Week ending 5/31/09 % Change
Arizona 5.47% 5.25% 4.2%
California 5.45% 5.24% 4.0%
Colorado 5.48% 5.23% 4.8%
Connecticut 5.50% 5.26% 4.6%
Florida 5.44% 5.19% 4.8%
Georgia 5.48% 5.15% 6.4%
Illinois 5.53% 5.28% 4.7%
Maryland 5.52% 5.35% 3.2%
Massachusetts 5.55% 5.30% 4.7%
Michigan 5.48% 5.21% 5.2%
Minnesota 5.51% 5.28% 4.4%
Missouri 5.53% 5.25% 5.3%
New Jersey 5.45% 5.24% 4.0%
New York 5.56% 5.29% 5.1%
North Carolina 5.52% 5.27% 4.7%
Oregon 5.50% 5.27% 4.4%
Pennsylvania 5.45% 5.26% 3.6%
Texas 5.45% 5.25% 3.8%
Virginia 5.48% 5.23% 4.8%
Washington 5.45% 5.24% 4.0%
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Moving Tips for the Busiest Moving Month of the Year—June
RISMEDIA, June 9, 2009-When moving, many people are faced with weighing the options-should they hire movers or pack themselves? What are the benefits of doing either? What do most people forget when packing up and moving? How can you save money when moving? From FlatRate Movers, a nationwide leader in moving and storage, here are some tips to keep in mind:
• Order boxes and moving supplies early so you can start packing. Moving companies provide boxes that are purpose made and easily marked. If your moving company allows you to return unused boxes, order more than you think you’ll need, by 20%. Likewise, do not scrimp on tape. It is inexpensive and prevents boxes from splitting open. You need fresh felt tip pens for labeling. Use colored ready-stick labels to designate boxes to their respective rooms.
• Start a book about your upcoming move and keep it in one place. Create a “Move Book,” using a large noticeable notebook, to centralize all the important details of your move. It should contain any lists you make, including that of labeled boxes. Supplement this with a computer printout of box contents. E-mail this to yourself as a backup. You can also access it remotely.
• First, pack up what you don’t use. Items, such as books, you do not immediately need can be packed right away. Keep your list up to date. Do not make the boxes too heavy for a person to carry, and place heavier objects at the bottom.
• Document your media connections. Take photos of or make notes on how your media equipment is set up: television, sound equipment, modems and computer equipment. Keep track of your remote controls and wires so you can locate them quickly in your new home.
• Make arrangements for pets. Moving can be particularly stressful for animals. You may want to consider leaving them with a friend or retaining a professional pet boarding service.
• Plan to care for your valuables and vital documents yourself. Most homeowner’s insurance will not cover property in transit. It may be desirable to insure certain items separately. Remember to take photos in case you need documentation to support loss or damage claims. If the items are irreplaceable (family heirlooms) or complicated to replace (passports and birth certificates), carry them with you.
• Choose a good moving company. Good companies guide you through the process and minimize surprises on moving day. They have local knowledge and a proven track record, and they can also advise you on receiving building permissions. Moving companies have no incentive to create extra hours of work for themselves, if they work for a flat fee.
• Keep your moving receipts for income tax deductions. In many cases, moving expenses are deductible from federal income taxes. If you are moving because of a change in employment, you may be able to claim this deduction even if you do not itemize. Consult your tax preparer. Also note that there is an $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers in the economic stimulus plan, signed into law by President Obama. To learn more, visit www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com.
• Order boxes and moving supplies early so you can start packing. Moving companies provide boxes that are purpose made and easily marked. If your moving company allows you to return unused boxes, order more than you think you’ll need, by 20%. Likewise, do not scrimp on tape. It is inexpensive and prevents boxes from splitting open. You need fresh felt tip pens for labeling. Use colored ready-stick labels to designate boxes to their respective rooms.
• Start a book about your upcoming move and keep it in one place. Create a “Move Book,” using a large noticeable notebook, to centralize all the important details of your move. It should contain any lists you make, including that of labeled boxes. Supplement this with a computer printout of box contents. E-mail this to yourself as a backup. You can also access it remotely.
• First, pack up what you don’t use. Items, such as books, you do not immediately need can be packed right away. Keep your list up to date. Do not make the boxes too heavy for a person to carry, and place heavier objects at the bottom.
• Document your media connections. Take photos of or make notes on how your media equipment is set up: television, sound equipment, modems and computer equipment. Keep track of your remote controls and wires so you can locate them quickly in your new home.
• Make arrangements for pets. Moving can be particularly stressful for animals. You may want to consider leaving them with a friend or retaining a professional pet boarding service.
• Plan to care for your valuables and vital documents yourself. Most homeowner’s insurance will not cover property in transit. It may be desirable to insure certain items separately. Remember to take photos in case you need documentation to support loss or damage claims. If the items are irreplaceable (family heirlooms) or complicated to replace (passports and birth certificates), carry them with you.
• Choose a good moving company. Good companies guide you through the process and minimize surprises on moving day. They have local knowledge and a proven track record, and they can also advise you on receiving building permissions. Moving companies have no incentive to create extra hours of work for themselves, if they work for a flat fee.
• Keep your moving receipts for income tax deductions. In many cases, moving expenses are deductible from federal income taxes. If you are moving because of a change in employment, you may be able to claim this deduction even if you do not itemize. Consult your tax preparer. Also note that there is an $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers in the economic stimulus plan, signed into law by President Obama. To learn more, visit www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Playing House for the First Time - Priorities for New Homeowners
By Nancy A. Herrick Print Article
RISMEDIA, June 8, 2009-(MCT)-Home prices have moderated, interest rates are reasonable, supply is abundant-and then there’s that $8,000 tax credit. Yes, it’s a great time to buy your first house.
If you do, you’ll have to furnish it, and that can be a challenge, especially if you have put much of your disposable income into a down payment. But you’re a grown-up now, and your first real home is no place for that grungy old futon or bookcases constructed with bricks and boards. It deserves better.
So what’s the best way to go about furnishing your new home? We’ve asked a variety of experts for their ideas on what to do after your offer has been accepted. Here are their ideas:
“Before you get carried away, take some time to determine what you have, what you need and what you want,” says Milwaukee-area interior designer Susan Michalek of Desumi Design Inc. “Deal with what you need first. That should be your highest priority.”
Wanda M. Colon, a designer who can be seen as host of TLC’s “Home Made Simple” and HGTV’s “24-Hour Design,” suggests that any assessment should include the amount of money you have to spend.
“It’s easy to overspend or make impulse purchases if you don’t have a budget,” she says. If you watch what you spend and stay within your limits, “as a bonus you might have money left over to purchase some extra goodies.”
Evaluate each room, says interior designer Jane Klein of Fox Point, Wis., and figure out how you plan to live in the house, considering: “Where you will spend most of your time, what you will do in each room? Will you want a table in the family room for work space, for example, or a comfortable chair and good lighting in the bedroom for relaxing and reading?
“Also think about the size of each room and the appropriate scale for the furniture,” Klein says. “You might fall in love with a sectional, but the reality is that it might not fit in a small room.”
Gary Steinhafel, president of Steinhafels Furniture, with six locations in Wisconsin, agrees.
“Not long ago, manufacturers were producing furniture designed to fill oversize great rooms,” he says. “Now many manufacturers are offering furniture on a smaller scale than ever for smaller homes and for people who are downsizing. Be aware that there are choices and figure out what works best for your home.”
Go Shopping, But Leave the Plastic Behind
Your early shopping trips should be a way to gather ideas, not furniture. As you walk up and down the store aisles and view furniture groupings, pay attention to colors, furniture styles, wood choices and more.
If you’re shopping with your significant other, have some discussions about what you like and don’t like, and what you think works well together and with the style of your home.
“You don’t have to choose strictly contemporary or strictly traditional,” Steinhafel says. “More likely the choice will be made based on whether you are going for a casual or more formal look.”
But remember that while an “eclectic” look works, that doesn’t mean anything goes. There should be some continuity or unifying elements so that the result isn’t a hodgepodge.
Colon suggests that you visit a variety of stores to see what’s available.
“Don’t buy everything in one place,” she says. “This allows you to compare styles and prices.”
It also gives you the opportunity to ask questions and to learn what goes into a quality piece of furniture.
As you peruse what’s available, take pictures of what you like, Klein says. “If you think it might work, take a picture, at stores, consignment shops, wherever you go. Then look at the pictures when you get home to remind you of the choices and to see which pieces work together.”
Get to Work
It’s easier to paint a house when it’s empty and to refinish or replace flooring or knock down walls when you’re not living there. So if there’s work to be done, allow time for that after closing but before you move in.
“The biggest change you can make for a minimal amount of money is with color on the walls,” Michalek says. “Buy good quality paint with no VOCs (volatile organic compounds), and if you do the job right you won’t have to paint again for a while.”
The colors you choose should coordinate with what you plan to buy and what you already have, of course, so take along strips of paint samples from the paint store or home center. Often furniture stores will allow you to take a fabric sample or sleeve cap home to help match colors. Make sure to look at them in a variety of lighting situations and at different times of the day to get a true idea of how well the colors coordinate.
Make Major Purchases
At minimum you will need: a good mattress and box spring and a bed or headboard to give the room a polished look; a quality sofa and chairs; a console unit for the television; and a table and chairs for dining (either for the kitchen or dining room).
Bette Kahn, spokeswoman for Crate & Barrel and CB2 stores, says microfibers are a good fabric choice for sofas because they’re so durable.
“They take cleaning or washing well and never show wear,” she says. “If you’re getting another fabric, make sure it’s fabric-protected. Solid colors are classic, but not as interesting as tweeds with small touches of color.”
She suggests going with neutrals for big pieces, “but if that’s too basic, they can always be made more interesting with pops of color through pillows, which can be changed.”
Steinhafel is a fan of leather for sofas.
“It wears three times longer, and prices have come down significantly because the tanning process is more sophisticated,” he says. “There’s a ton of variety in color, but shades of brown are very popular. It’s the new neutral and works well with other colors and with wood floors.”
“Make sure the frame of your sofa or chairs is high quality,” says Kahn, adding that if the piece wears out or looks outdated, it can be slip-covered or reupholstered if necessary.
If you buy high-quality pieces, you can build a room around them for years to come.
Fill in Creatively
After you’ve found the big pieces that serve as the foundation for a room, it’s time to fill in with smaller pieces. This is where you can have some fun, save money and add a touch of personal style.
Consignment stores, estate sales, resale shops and even Grandma’s attic are great places to find furniture, especially if you’re willing to fix it up.
For example, if you’ve purchased a bed but need a dresser or two, you might be able to find used pieces with similar lines. You can refinish or paint the dressers to match (assuming they aren’t valuable antiques, in which case the original finish should be preserved) and change the hardware for a coordinated look.
In the dining room, a horizontal dresser also can work as a server; the drawers can hold flatware and table linens. Antique chairs, even if they’re mismatched, add interest around a dining room table.
An odd-shaped table can find a new home in the corner of a living room or a foyer; add an oversize vase for visual interest. Don’t be afraid to rough up the surface and paint it so that it coordinates with the colors you’ve chosen in the room.
“America tends to be wasteful and often will replace a perfectly good piece with something that’s new,” Michalek says. “But you can find all kinds of new uses for older pieces of furniture that are built well.”
Area rugs, artwork and accent pieces are fun to shop for and also add personality to a room.
“Sometimes people spend a lot of time shopping for the big pieces but don’t do much to make the space their own,” Klein says. “A piece of art can do that, or an art furniture piece. They don’t have to be expensive but can wind up being a special focal point for a room.”
Be Patient
It probably took awhile to find the right house. It stands to reason it won’t be furnished in a week, a month or perhaps even a year.
“Many purchases can be put off, especially the decorative pieces,” Kahn says. “Besides, you’ll have more fun collecting those as you go through life.”
Colon warns first-time homeowners to take their time. “Don’t impulse-buy and end up feeling stuck because you acted too hastily,” she says.
Klein says: “Give yourself a little time. When you make a decision, use your head and your heart. Look at different options, ask lots of questions.
“When you see it, you’ll know when it is right.”
©2009, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
http://rismedia.com/2009-06-07/playing-house-for-the-first-time-priorities-for-new-homeowners/#ixzz0HqUWtvLN&D
RISMEDIA, June 8, 2009-(MCT)-Home prices have moderated, interest rates are reasonable, supply is abundant-and then there’s that $8,000 tax credit. Yes, it’s a great time to buy your first house.
If you do, you’ll have to furnish it, and that can be a challenge, especially if you have put much of your disposable income into a down payment. But you’re a grown-up now, and your first real home is no place for that grungy old futon or bookcases constructed with bricks and boards. It deserves better.
So what’s the best way to go about furnishing your new home? We’ve asked a variety of experts for their ideas on what to do after your offer has been accepted. Here are their ideas:
“Before you get carried away, take some time to determine what you have, what you need and what you want,” says Milwaukee-area interior designer Susan Michalek of Desumi Design Inc. “Deal with what you need first. That should be your highest priority.”
Wanda M. Colon, a designer who can be seen as host of TLC’s “Home Made Simple” and HGTV’s “24-Hour Design,” suggests that any assessment should include the amount of money you have to spend.
“It’s easy to overspend or make impulse purchases if you don’t have a budget,” she says. If you watch what you spend and stay within your limits, “as a bonus you might have money left over to purchase some extra goodies.”
Evaluate each room, says interior designer Jane Klein of Fox Point, Wis., and figure out how you plan to live in the house, considering: “Where you will spend most of your time, what you will do in each room? Will you want a table in the family room for work space, for example, or a comfortable chair and good lighting in the bedroom for relaxing and reading?
“Also think about the size of each room and the appropriate scale for the furniture,” Klein says. “You might fall in love with a sectional, but the reality is that it might not fit in a small room.”
Gary Steinhafel, president of Steinhafels Furniture, with six locations in Wisconsin, agrees.
“Not long ago, manufacturers were producing furniture designed to fill oversize great rooms,” he says. “Now many manufacturers are offering furniture on a smaller scale than ever for smaller homes and for people who are downsizing. Be aware that there are choices and figure out what works best for your home.”
Go Shopping, But Leave the Plastic Behind
Your early shopping trips should be a way to gather ideas, not furniture. As you walk up and down the store aisles and view furniture groupings, pay attention to colors, furniture styles, wood choices and more.
If you’re shopping with your significant other, have some discussions about what you like and don’t like, and what you think works well together and with the style of your home.
“You don’t have to choose strictly contemporary or strictly traditional,” Steinhafel says. “More likely the choice will be made based on whether you are going for a casual or more formal look.”
But remember that while an “eclectic” look works, that doesn’t mean anything goes. There should be some continuity or unifying elements so that the result isn’t a hodgepodge.
Colon suggests that you visit a variety of stores to see what’s available.
“Don’t buy everything in one place,” she says. “This allows you to compare styles and prices.”
It also gives you the opportunity to ask questions and to learn what goes into a quality piece of furniture.
As you peruse what’s available, take pictures of what you like, Klein says. “If you think it might work, take a picture, at stores, consignment shops, wherever you go. Then look at the pictures when you get home to remind you of the choices and to see which pieces work together.”
Get to Work
It’s easier to paint a house when it’s empty and to refinish or replace flooring or knock down walls when you’re not living there. So if there’s work to be done, allow time for that after closing but before you move in.
“The biggest change you can make for a minimal amount of money is with color on the walls,” Michalek says. “Buy good quality paint with no VOCs (volatile organic compounds), and if you do the job right you won’t have to paint again for a while.”
The colors you choose should coordinate with what you plan to buy and what you already have, of course, so take along strips of paint samples from the paint store or home center. Often furniture stores will allow you to take a fabric sample or sleeve cap home to help match colors. Make sure to look at them in a variety of lighting situations and at different times of the day to get a true idea of how well the colors coordinate.
Make Major Purchases
At minimum you will need: a good mattress and box spring and a bed or headboard to give the room a polished look; a quality sofa and chairs; a console unit for the television; and a table and chairs for dining (either for the kitchen or dining room).
Bette Kahn, spokeswoman for Crate & Barrel and CB2 stores, says microfibers are a good fabric choice for sofas because they’re so durable.
“They take cleaning or washing well and never show wear,” she says. “If you’re getting another fabric, make sure it’s fabric-protected. Solid colors are classic, but not as interesting as tweeds with small touches of color.”
She suggests going with neutrals for big pieces, “but if that’s too basic, they can always be made more interesting with pops of color through pillows, which can be changed.”
Steinhafel is a fan of leather for sofas.
“It wears three times longer, and prices have come down significantly because the tanning process is more sophisticated,” he says. “There’s a ton of variety in color, but shades of brown are very popular. It’s the new neutral and works well with other colors and with wood floors.”
“Make sure the frame of your sofa or chairs is high quality,” says Kahn, adding that if the piece wears out or looks outdated, it can be slip-covered or reupholstered if necessary.
If you buy high-quality pieces, you can build a room around them for years to come.
Fill in Creatively
After you’ve found the big pieces that serve as the foundation for a room, it’s time to fill in with smaller pieces. This is where you can have some fun, save money and add a touch of personal style.
Consignment stores, estate sales, resale shops and even Grandma’s attic are great places to find furniture, especially if you’re willing to fix it up.
For example, if you’ve purchased a bed but need a dresser or two, you might be able to find used pieces with similar lines. You can refinish or paint the dressers to match (assuming they aren’t valuable antiques, in which case the original finish should be preserved) and change the hardware for a coordinated look.
In the dining room, a horizontal dresser also can work as a server; the drawers can hold flatware and table linens. Antique chairs, even if they’re mismatched, add interest around a dining room table.
An odd-shaped table can find a new home in the corner of a living room or a foyer; add an oversize vase for visual interest. Don’t be afraid to rough up the surface and paint it so that it coordinates with the colors you’ve chosen in the room.
“America tends to be wasteful and often will replace a perfectly good piece with something that’s new,” Michalek says. “But you can find all kinds of new uses for older pieces of furniture that are built well.”
Area rugs, artwork and accent pieces are fun to shop for and also add personality to a room.
“Sometimes people spend a lot of time shopping for the big pieces but don’t do much to make the space their own,” Klein says. “A piece of art can do that, or an art furniture piece. They don’t have to be expensive but can wind up being a special focal point for a room.”
Be Patient
It probably took awhile to find the right house. It stands to reason it won’t be furnished in a week, a month or perhaps even a year.
“Many purchases can be put off, especially the decorative pieces,” Kahn says. “Besides, you’ll have more fun collecting those as you go through life.”
Colon warns first-time homeowners to take their time. “Don’t impulse-buy and end up feeling stuck because you acted too hastily,” she says.
Klein says: “Give yourself a little time. When you make a decision, use your head and your heart. Look at different options, ask lots of questions.
“When you see it, you’ll know when it is right.”
©2009, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
http://rismedia.com/2009-06-07/playing-house-for-the-first-time-priorities-for-new-homeowners/#ixzz0HqUWtvLN&D
Friday, June 5, 2009
Mortgage Rates Hit 25-Week High
Mortgage rates across the board jumped this week, with conventional mortgages reaching their highest point so far this year.
Freddie Mac reports a jump in the 30-year fixed mortgage rate to a 25-week high of 5.29 percent during the week ended June 4, up from 4.91 percent the prior week. As recently as two months ago, rates had been 4.78 percent.
The 15-year fixed rate also increased, rising to 4.79 percent from 4.53 percent, with Freddie Mac chief economist Frank Nothaft indicating that the gains follow a surge in long-term bond yields.
Meanwhile, the five-year adjustable mortgage rate climbed to 4.85 percent from 4.82 percent, and the one-year ARM surged to 4.81 percent from 4.69 percent.
Source: Chicago Sun-Times, Francine Knowles (06/05/09)
Freddie Mac reports a jump in the 30-year fixed mortgage rate to a 25-week high of 5.29 percent during the week ended June 4, up from 4.91 percent the prior week. As recently as two months ago, rates had been 4.78 percent.
The 15-year fixed rate also increased, rising to 4.79 percent from 4.53 percent, with Freddie Mac chief economist Frank Nothaft indicating that the gains follow a surge in long-term bond yields.
Meanwhile, the five-year adjustable mortgage rate climbed to 4.85 percent from 4.82 percent, and the one-year ARM surged to 4.81 percent from 4.69 percent.
Source: Chicago Sun-Times, Francine Knowles (06/05/09)
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Tax Credit, Low Interest, and Big Inventory Lure Rookies into Housing Market
By Steve Campbell
RISMEDIA, June 2, 2009-(MCT)-Even in a sputtering economy, one segment of the U.S. housing market is feeling a bounce. First-time home buyers-loaded for bear with a new $8,000 tax credit, historically low interest rates and a big inventory to choose from-are happily diving into domestic life, according to real estate agents, economists and mortgage lenders.
Craig Brown, a 26-year-old marketing developer for an online sales company, feels as if he were getting a free, federally funded fresh start.
“The tax credit was what brought me into the house hunt. I could pay off my debt and get an extremely low loan rate. I couldn’t pass it up,” he said.
The $8,000 tax credit for first-time buyers, passed by Congress as part of its plan to jump-start the slumping U.S. housing market, has new graduates, newlyweds and young professionals alike scrambling to get their financial houses in order-sometimes with the help of their parents-to purchase a home by the program’s Dec. 1 deadline.
The tax credit does not have to be repaid by buyers who live in the home for at least three years.
The tax credit got even more attractive Friday, when Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan announced that the Federal Housing Administration will allow first-time buyers to apply the credit toward the purchase costs of an FHA-insured home.
That move allows state housing finance agencies and some nonprofits to “monetize” the tax credit so buyers can apply it toward their down payments, according to a HUD news release.
The National Association of Home Builders estimates that the tax credit will stimulate 160,000 home sales nationwide-101,000 of which will be by first-time buyers. Fifty-nine thousand homeowners will then be able to buy another house because a first-time buyer purchased theirs.
“It’s really a big deal,” said Linda Davidson of Service First Mortgage Co. in Garland, Texas. “The $8,000 tax credit is making things crazy. In almost every conversation we have with borrowers, it comes up. Even if they are not first-time buyers, they ask about it. Everybody wants it.”
But not everyone can get it.
The program is open only to people who have not owned a principal residence for three years before the purchase, Davidson said.
There are also income limitations, but they are fairly generous: Single taxpayers with incomes of up to $75,000 and married couples with incomes of up to $150,000 qualify for the full tax credit. Singles with incomes below $95,000 and married couples with incomes below $170,000 can be eligible for a partial credit.
‘Surgical impact’
The tax credit is “driving interest” nationwide, said Lawrence Yun, senior economist for the National Association of Realtors.
“In our most recent data from a month ago, we found that roughly half of all home buyers were first-time buyers. That is much higher than the usual one-third to 40% of first-time buyers in a normal market,” Yun said.
He said qualitative data suggest that the tax credit is also increasing foot traffic at open houses and phone inquiries to brokerage agencies.
“This is one program coming out of Washington that is apparently having a surgical impact on getting first-time buyers back in the market,” he said.
“That’s definitely one factor that has improved our market,” said Ruth Story, a broker associate at Keller Williams Realty. “This is the busiest second quarter I’ve seen in 25 years. It’s a combination of things: The low interest rates are very attractive, the tax credit combined with that and the fact that buyers still view our market as being affordable.”
Peer demographic
It’s a nice niche market for a young real estate agent like Grace Taylor, a 26-year-old agent at Helen Painter Group Realtors who is working with four first-time buyers ages 25 to 30.
“They all know it’s a great time to buy and that interest rates are low. But when someone is giving you free money, it pushes them over the edge,” Taylor said.
Nathan McDaniel, a 23-year-old loan officer at Cendera Funding, is also tapping his peer demographic. He says his age helps him connect with younger buyers, who make up a large part of his business. And all of them are interested in snagging the tax credit, he said.
“It really seems anyone who was thinking about getting a place is moving up their timetable so they can get it,” McDaniel said. “Even people who don’t have the down payment, they are getting gift funds from relatives so they can take advantage of it.”
He has made several loans to recent college graduates who were initially holding off “to see if they were going to get married.” Two of them bought a home, McDaniel said. “The tax credit has speeded up the timeline of age and lifestyle,” he said.
Prabhath Boya, a 28-year-old Fort Worth attorney, shopped for a house last year but didn’t find what he wanted. After a “hard” 3 1/2 -week hunt, however, he now has a house near TCU under contract.
“I’ve been living in an apartment for almost two years and looking at interest rates and opportunities,” Boya said. “This is as good a time as anyone can imagine, rates-wise and pricing-wise.”
‘Weeded out’
The national housing meltdown has spurred tougher lending restrictions, culling the herd of would-be first-timers with less-than-stellar credit.
When the tax credit was announced in February, Davidson said her office was flooded with people who wanted to pre-qualify for loans. Unfortunately, most of them are still renters.
“It was overwhelming. Our pre-qualifies were double what we see in a normal month-but 70% of them didn’t qualify,” she said.
Now that the bad applicants have been “weeded out,” Davidson said she’s qualifying people who have done their homework and have their finances in order.
Story is seeing the same thing.
“It’s a different kind of first-time buyer,” she said. “The credit restrictions are so tight, so we are seeing real quality buyers. The profile of the first-time buyers has changed. They have been waiting, watching and saving. And they are ready when the right house comes along.”
Michael and Ambra Cole fit that profile. After living in Switzerland for five years, they moved to Fort Worth in July 2007 when Michael, 36, went to work as a management professor at the Neeley School of Business at TCU. Ambra, 34, works as an account manager for an employment agency.
The couple spent nearly two years saving, watching the market and scouting locations. They scoured Internet listings and then viewed about 25 houses over four months before the right home popped up in the Berkeley Place neighborhood near TCU.
They were the first house hunters to see the home, and they quickly cut a deal. Location and resale value were the prime attractions, Michael Cole said.
“We really tried to do our homework in advance rather than falling in love with the first house we saw,” he said. “The low interest rates, the right house in the right neighborhood — it all came together.”
Within budget
Yun says first-time buyers nationwide seem to have adapted to a more realistic view of real estate.
“We are seeing more lower-price home transactions,” he said. “The lower price point sales indicate to me that many homeowners are trying to stay within their budgets.
“The old-fashioned American way was that one starts in a starter home and after a few years people build equity and trade up,” Yun said. “That is the old-fashioned way to accumulate wealth without stretching themselves. I think we are moving back into that stage, and that’s healthy.”
Craig Brown, the young house hunter, is a model for that new long-run reality.
“The reason that I didn’t buy before was that I would have been stretching myself too thin,” he said. “I didn’t want to be in a position of having no room for error.”
He’s already looking ahead even as he searches for a home in the $130,000 to $140,000 range in Carrollton and north Dallas. And flipping that first house isn’t part of the equation.
“I’m thinking about finding a couple of roommates, and that can pay my mortgage,” he said. “And whenever I get married, I can use this property as a rental property.”
The $8,000 tax credit - key elements of the 2009 First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit:
Who qualifies?
- First-time home buyers who have bought or will buy between Jan. 1 and Dec. 1. The IRS defines a first-time home buyer as someone who has not owned a principal residence during the last three years.
- The credit does not have to be repaid if the buyer occupies the home for at least three years.
- The credit is 10% of the home’s purchase price, up to $8,000.
- The credit may be applied to primary residences, including single-family homes, condos, town homes and co-ops.
Copyright © 2009, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
Read more: "Tax Credit, Low Interest, and Big Inventory Lure Rookies into Housing Market | RISMedia" - http://rismedia.com/2009-06-01/tax-credit-low-interest-and-big-inventory-lure-rookies-into-housing-market/#ixzz0HKE0GKNM&A
RISMEDIA, June 2, 2009-(MCT)-Even in a sputtering economy, one segment of the U.S. housing market is feeling a bounce. First-time home buyers-loaded for bear with a new $8,000 tax credit, historically low interest rates and a big inventory to choose from-are happily diving into domestic life, according to real estate agents, economists and mortgage lenders.
Craig Brown, a 26-year-old marketing developer for an online sales company, feels as if he were getting a free, federally funded fresh start.
“The tax credit was what brought me into the house hunt. I could pay off my debt and get an extremely low loan rate. I couldn’t pass it up,” he said.
The $8,000 tax credit for first-time buyers, passed by Congress as part of its plan to jump-start the slumping U.S. housing market, has new graduates, newlyweds and young professionals alike scrambling to get their financial houses in order-sometimes with the help of their parents-to purchase a home by the program’s Dec. 1 deadline.
The tax credit does not have to be repaid by buyers who live in the home for at least three years.
The tax credit got even more attractive Friday, when Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan announced that the Federal Housing Administration will allow first-time buyers to apply the credit toward the purchase costs of an FHA-insured home.
That move allows state housing finance agencies and some nonprofits to “monetize” the tax credit so buyers can apply it toward their down payments, according to a HUD news release.
The National Association of Home Builders estimates that the tax credit will stimulate 160,000 home sales nationwide-101,000 of which will be by first-time buyers. Fifty-nine thousand homeowners will then be able to buy another house because a first-time buyer purchased theirs.
“It’s really a big deal,” said Linda Davidson of Service First Mortgage Co. in Garland, Texas. “The $8,000 tax credit is making things crazy. In almost every conversation we have with borrowers, it comes up. Even if they are not first-time buyers, they ask about it. Everybody wants it.”
But not everyone can get it.
The program is open only to people who have not owned a principal residence for three years before the purchase, Davidson said.
There are also income limitations, but they are fairly generous: Single taxpayers with incomes of up to $75,000 and married couples with incomes of up to $150,000 qualify for the full tax credit. Singles with incomes below $95,000 and married couples with incomes below $170,000 can be eligible for a partial credit.
‘Surgical impact’
The tax credit is “driving interest” nationwide, said Lawrence Yun, senior economist for the National Association of Realtors.
“In our most recent data from a month ago, we found that roughly half of all home buyers were first-time buyers. That is much higher than the usual one-third to 40% of first-time buyers in a normal market,” Yun said.
He said qualitative data suggest that the tax credit is also increasing foot traffic at open houses and phone inquiries to brokerage agencies.
“This is one program coming out of Washington that is apparently having a surgical impact on getting first-time buyers back in the market,” he said.
“That’s definitely one factor that has improved our market,” said Ruth Story, a broker associate at Keller Williams Realty. “This is the busiest second quarter I’ve seen in 25 years. It’s a combination of things: The low interest rates are very attractive, the tax credit combined with that and the fact that buyers still view our market as being affordable.”
Peer demographic
It’s a nice niche market for a young real estate agent like Grace Taylor, a 26-year-old agent at Helen Painter Group Realtors who is working with four first-time buyers ages 25 to 30.
“They all know it’s a great time to buy and that interest rates are low. But when someone is giving you free money, it pushes them over the edge,” Taylor said.
Nathan McDaniel, a 23-year-old loan officer at Cendera Funding, is also tapping his peer demographic. He says his age helps him connect with younger buyers, who make up a large part of his business. And all of them are interested in snagging the tax credit, he said.
“It really seems anyone who was thinking about getting a place is moving up their timetable so they can get it,” McDaniel said. “Even people who don’t have the down payment, they are getting gift funds from relatives so they can take advantage of it.”
He has made several loans to recent college graduates who were initially holding off “to see if they were going to get married.” Two of them bought a home, McDaniel said. “The tax credit has speeded up the timeline of age and lifestyle,” he said.
Prabhath Boya, a 28-year-old Fort Worth attorney, shopped for a house last year but didn’t find what he wanted. After a “hard” 3 1/2 -week hunt, however, he now has a house near TCU under contract.
“I’ve been living in an apartment for almost two years and looking at interest rates and opportunities,” Boya said. “This is as good a time as anyone can imagine, rates-wise and pricing-wise.”
‘Weeded out’
The national housing meltdown has spurred tougher lending restrictions, culling the herd of would-be first-timers with less-than-stellar credit.
When the tax credit was announced in February, Davidson said her office was flooded with people who wanted to pre-qualify for loans. Unfortunately, most of them are still renters.
“It was overwhelming. Our pre-qualifies were double what we see in a normal month-but 70% of them didn’t qualify,” she said.
Now that the bad applicants have been “weeded out,” Davidson said she’s qualifying people who have done their homework and have their finances in order.
Story is seeing the same thing.
“It’s a different kind of first-time buyer,” she said. “The credit restrictions are so tight, so we are seeing real quality buyers. The profile of the first-time buyers has changed. They have been waiting, watching and saving. And they are ready when the right house comes along.”
Michael and Ambra Cole fit that profile. After living in Switzerland for five years, they moved to Fort Worth in July 2007 when Michael, 36, went to work as a management professor at the Neeley School of Business at TCU. Ambra, 34, works as an account manager for an employment agency.
The couple spent nearly two years saving, watching the market and scouting locations. They scoured Internet listings and then viewed about 25 houses over four months before the right home popped up in the Berkeley Place neighborhood near TCU.
They were the first house hunters to see the home, and they quickly cut a deal. Location and resale value were the prime attractions, Michael Cole said.
“We really tried to do our homework in advance rather than falling in love with the first house we saw,” he said. “The low interest rates, the right house in the right neighborhood — it all came together.”
Within budget
Yun says first-time buyers nationwide seem to have adapted to a more realistic view of real estate.
“We are seeing more lower-price home transactions,” he said. “The lower price point sales indicate to me that many homeowners are trying to stay within their budgets.
“The old-fashioned American way was that one starts in a starter home and after a few years people build equity and trade up,” Yun said. “That is the old-fashioned way to accumulate wealth without stretching themselves. I think we are moving back into that stage, and that’s healthy.”
Craig Brown, the young house hunter, is a model for that new long-run reality.
“The reason that I didn’t buy before was that I would have been stretching myself too thin,” he said. “I didn’t want to be in a position of having no room for error.”
He’s already looking ahead even as he searches for a home in the $130,000 to $140,000 range in Carrollton and north Dallas. And flipping that first house isn’t part of the equation.
“I’m thinking about finding a couple of roommates, and that can pay my mortgage,” he said. “And whenever I get married, I can use this property as a rental property.”
The $8,000 tax credit - key elements of the 2009 First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit:
Who qualifies?
- First-time home buyers who have bought or will buy between Jan. 1 and Dec. 1. The IRS defines a first-time home buyer as someone who has not owned a principal residence during the last three years.
- The credit does not have to be repaid if the buyer occupies the home for at least three years.
- The credit is 10% of the home’s purchase price, up to $8,000.
- The credit may be applied to primary residences, including single-family homes, condos, town homes and co-ops.
Copyright © 2009, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
Read more: "Tax Credit, Low Interest, and Big Inventory Lure Rookies into Housing Market | RISMedia" - http://rismedia.com/2009-06-01/tax-credit-low-interest-and-big-inventory-lure-rookies-into-housing-market/#ixzz0HKE0GKNM&A
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