Buying in East Baltimore? Want $3000 towards closing? The Live Baltimore Trolley Tour is coming up 9/12/09! August 17, 2009
Posted by Patti Shawgo in Events, First Time Home Buyers, Local News, Real Estate, down payment assistance.add a comment
It’s already almost time for the Fall Live Baltimore Trolley Tour. This is a fantastic program for those first time buyers looking to buy in Baltimore City. That’s because this is one of the few programs that has no income limit! and can be used with 203k loans! and the $3000 counts as the buyer’s own funds for FHA!
What do you need to do to get this $3000?
- Attend the Live Baltimore “Buying into Baltimore” tour on Saturday, Sept. 12 (register for it only at www.livebaltimore.com) and go on their trolley tour
- Take a home buyer education class from a city-approved source before going under contract, sign up NOW! You can take the class before going on the trolley tour (see city approved class providers here: http://mmprogram.com/counseling.aspx)
- Get under contract within 90 days of the tour and before 50 other people get a contract (there is a max of 50 of these $3000 grants that get given away
- Call Patti and get pre-approved, so you know what price range you should be looking at
- Start looking at houses in the East half of Baltimore City, basically anything east of Charles St. Fed Hill is west, Canton, Fells Point, most of Charles Village, Hamilton, Lauraville are all East side and eligible areas with this program!
Follow the above 5 steps and this $3000 could be yours!
Multiple Offers becoming the New Norm August 17, 2009
Posted by Patti Shawgo in First Time Home Buyers, Real Estate.1 comment so far
Check out this article:
http://www.inman.com/news/2009/08/17/multiple-offers-new-norm
I have noticed this same trend with my own buyers in the Washington DC and Baltimore area. Bank owned properties that are priced well and in decent shape are moving fast, within a few days of being listed, and with multiple offers. I have had many a home buyer tell me they are putting in an offer at less than the asking price, and then are sad to learn that there for 3-4 offers on the property, some at over the asking price.
Well, this is good news in that there are definitely buyers out there in the market. Banks too are starting to wise up that they need to price agressively in order to get these liabilities off of their balance sheet. But what does this teach the home buyer out there trying to find their first home? Though you may want to offer less than what the house is listed for, don’t count on getting that house, especially if you are asking for help from the seller for closing costs and the property is in good shape.
Summertime Hiatus August 17, 2009
Posted by Patti Shawgo in First Time Home Buyers, Optimizing Your Credit.add a comment
Hey there blog reader! I hope you’ve been having a great summer! As you can see, I have taken a break from posting so that I can keep up with my real-life borrowers. But I do miss posting, and so I will be starting up again soon!
and Don’t Forget! That $8000 first time home buyer tax credit is done if you don’t close before December 1st. So if you think you are going to be buying, you need to start the process now. Call me and get pre-approved, it’s your first step!
