Stimulus Bill Housing Provisions in Addition to Home Buyer Tax Credit February 18, 2009
Posted by Patti Shawgo in First Time Home Buyers, Interesting Stuff, Mortgage News, Real Estate, Rehabbing, down payment assistance.add a comment
So by now, we’ve all heard about the $8,000 tax credit for first time home buyers, but there is more in the hefty stimulus package that effects housing and here are some of the highlights:
Tax Incentives to Spur Energy Savings and Green Jobs — This provision is designed to help promote energy-efficient investments in homes by extending and expanding tax credits through 2010 for purchases such as new furnaces, energy-efficient windows and doors, or insulation.
Landmark Energy Savings — This provision provides $5 Billion for energy efficient improvements for more than one million modest-income homes through weatherization. According to some estimates, this can help modest-income families save an average of $350 a year on heating and air conditioning bills. Repairing Public Housing and Making Key Energy Efficiency Retrofits To HUD-Assisted Housing—This provision provides a total of $6.3 Billion for increasing energy efficiency in federally supported housing programs.Specifically, it establishes a new program to upgrade HUD-sponsored low-income housing (for elderly, disabled, and Section 
to increase energy efficiency, including new insulation, windows, and frames.
Expanding Housing Assistance—This provision increases support for several critical housing programs. It includes $2 Billion for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program to help communities purchase and rehabilitate foreclosed, vacant properties. I will have more info on this one in particular soon….yep, there are new grant programs coming to help people purchase vacant, foreclosed homes.
Changes to the Home Buyer Tax Credit: It’s Forgivable! February 16, 2009
Posted by Patti Shawgo in First Time Home Buyers, Mortgage News.add a comment
So Congress passed the new stimulus legislation on Friday and part of that was changes to the home buyer tax credit. Initially, the bill had changed the tax credit to $15,000 and made it forgivable. Then late last week part of the concessions that were made were making the bill $8000 (or 10% of the purchase price).
The great news is that now that tax credit is forgivable! Plus, the date has been extended through December 2009. So if you purchase between now and then, when you file your 2009 tax returns, whatever you would normally be getting as a refund, add $8000 to. The best news is that you will never have to pay that money back (unlike the $7500 tax credit that was passed in July 2008).
The bad thing about it is that you can’t get this money until after you buy, but it’s still a pretty sweet deal.
Check out CNBC’s House of Cards look at the Housing Crisis February 16, 2009
Posted by Patti Shawgo in Interesting Stuff, Mortgage News.add a comment
By chance this past weekend I came across a show on CNBC about the housing crisis. Now, a lot of times I cringe when I see these kinds of shows as they seem to try to point blame in once direction or another for the current housing crisis. I thought this show did an excellent job of showing how so many different elements went in to what happened, including the great demand from the stock market for more and more mortgage backed securities which fueled lenders becoming more and more lax on their guidelines.
You can check out a preview of “House of Cards” below or watch the whole thing on CNBC at:
- Monday, February 16, 2009 at 6a/8p/12a ET
- Saturday, March 1, 2009 at 12a ET
- Sunday, March 15, 2009 at 9p ET
Join me at the Baltimore Bridal Show Feb 7-8, 2009 January 29, 2009
Posted by Patti Shawgo in Events, First Time Home Buyers, Interesting Stuff, Local News.2 comments
Are you engaged and thinking about buying a house? Stop by my booth at the Baltimore Bridal Showcase on Feb 7-8th. It’s taking place at the Baltimore Convention Center and I’m in booth 211. If you would like free tickets, just send me an email, I have a few!
I will have lots of great info about first time buyer programs and also some good giveaways.
How Compound Interest Works fo You! January 15, 2009
Posted by Patti Shawgo in First Time Home Buyers, Interesting Stuff.add a comment
I saw this cute little video on compound interest and thought I’d share. In the same way that compound interest works for you when saving, remember that that’s how it works against you when you have debt too. (and on a side note, you shouldn’t need to save for 20 years before you can buy a house!)
Patti’s Grant Workshops are Revamped for 2009! January 7, 2009
Posted by Patti Shawgo in Events, First Time Home Buyers, Local News, Mortgage News, Optimizing Your Credit, Real Estate, down payment assistance.add a comment
Join me January 10th and then one Saturday of each month and learn about first time home buyer grant programs. New for 2009 we are also going to cover the home buying/financing process, changes in the market, and the always popular credit optimization.
Learn about the differnet types of sources for down payment assistance, why you need down payment assistance, understanding the different types of foreclosures, and ask the questions you want answers to! It’s a crazy market out there, but with rates at historic lows, it can be a great time to buy! But you need to be informed!
Where: Turf Village 2300 York Road, Suite 213, Timonium, MD 21093, there is an office building directly behind the restaurant Hightopps, right by the Maryland State Fairgrounds. CLICK FOR MAP
RSVP’s and Questions: Email me at patriciacshawgo@gmail.com or call 443-802-6864
Changes to FHA Jumbo Loan Limits in Maryland and Pennsylvania for 2009 December 17, 2008
Posted by Patti Shawgo in Local News, Mortgage News.add a comment
The “temporary” loan limit increases for FHA jumbo loans expires at the end of 2008 (that’s loans that are above the “regular” FHA loan limits, which vary from area to area). So what’s that mean for 2009? Well, regular FHA loan limits have increased permanently *in some areas*, but they are a little lower than before (at least in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, DC). While there is no specific FHA Jumbo program and all loan amounts now fall under regular FHA, don’t expect the rate to be exactly the same. FHA sees more risk in the higher loan limits, and the rate will be just a little higher to compensate for the risk.
Here are the new FHA loan limits for single family homes for the areas I typically serve:
Baltimore Metro Area: $494,500
Washington DC Metro including Metro Virginia, Maryland: $625,500
Wilmington Deleware including Cecil Co. MD: $379,500
Western Maryland/Eastern Shore: $271,050
York/Adams Counties, Pennsylvania: $271,050
You can look up limits at this site: https://entp.hud.gov/idapp/html/hicostlook.cfm (just be sure to change limit year to 2009)
What the Latest Fed Cut means for Mortgage Interest Rates December 16, 2008
Posted by Patti Shawgo in Interesting Stuff, Mortgage News.1 comment so far
You know, the Fed Funds rate does not directly correlate to mortgage interest rates. In fact, oftentimes mortage interest rates rise when the Fed cuts the Fed Funds rates (which does directly correlate to “prime” rate and your interest rate on credit cards and home equity loans).
But, today, something happened that was a little bit different, as we are in quite a different than “normal” environment. The Fed cut rates to a target rate of 0-.25%, that means when the Fed is loan money to banks, they are pretty much doing it for free. But what is more interesting and what is going to effect mortgage interest rates is what the Fed said in their statement (you can read the whole statement HERE).
The Fed has re-committed to buy Mortgage Backed Securities, and in their statement has said they plan to do so in large quantities. That’s big news! That’s great news for interest rates going forward, for purchasing and refinancing alike. The hope is that the lure of historic lows will bring more buyers into the marketplace. At the same time, it will allow borrowers to refinance out of subprime mortgages and ARMs. The only qualm you will hear from me is this: FHA needs to allow people with negative equity that want to keep their home to refinance to a lower rate.
Have Negative Equity and an FHA loan? You Can Refinance! December 16, 2008
Posted by Patti Shawgo in Local News, Mortgage News.add a comment
This is one of the those little known facts that makes perfect sense when you think about it. The other day I wrote THIS POST about FHA Streamline refinances. If you have a current FHA loan and the payments have been on time, you can refi with little to no documentation and fees. Well, if you don’t need an appraisal, it doesn’t matter what the appraised value is!
If you have an FHA ARM or higher rate but have been worried that you can’t refinance because of your equity position, you don’t need to worry. I’ve found that many people want to keep their house, even if you are a little upside down, and this might be a great tool to help make your payment a little more affordable, being that 30 year fixed rate FHA interest rates are at historic lows.
While this is of little comfort to those with subprime or conventional ARM’s with negative equity. If you are in that position, there are loan programs from the State of Maryland, like the Lifeline and Homesaver that may be able to help. I happen to work for a bank that is signed up with this program, and would love to help you find a way to refinance. If you are not in Maryland, check out the website of your state’s local housing authority, as many states have similar programs.
Maryland CDA aka More House 4 Less Lowers Rates, Gets New Domain December 16, 2008
Posted by Patti Shawgo in First Time Home Buyers, Local News, Mortgage News, down payment assistance.add a comment
Rates for CDA had been at 6.75% for a 30 year fixed! Way higher than market rates, they have now reduced their rates to 6% for a 30 year loan FHA/VA/Conventional with 0 points. While this might not seem like the most fantastic deal, if you are buying a house, say with FHA, and you need 3% (soon to be 3.5%) of the sales price from your own funds/gift funds, it’s important to remember that CDA will give buyers purchasing less a than $200,000 sales price home $2500 towards closing costs/down payment. This $2500 counts towards the buyer’s 3%.
So….let’s say you are looking at a $150,000 home, and you can get the seller to give you some money towards closing costs. You will still need your 3%, which comes to $4500. CDA will give you $2500 of that $4500, meaning you only need $2500 of your own funds (note the $2500 is a 0% interest 0 payment loan). So while you may be able to get a slightly lower interest rate outside of CDA right now, if you have $200 and can no way get $4500, CDA is still a very viable option.
Also, I guess www.morehouse4less.com seemed a little too commercial for the state department of housing and community development. They are now located at www.mmprogram.org (that’s for Maryland Mortgage Program). If you aren’t familiar with what the CDA loan program is, check these past posts:
CDA Income Limits
Baltimore City and CDA
