Who Qualifies for the Extended Credit? •• First-time home buyers who purchase homes between November 7, 2009 and April 30, 2010. •• Current home owners purchasing a home between November 7, 2009 and April 30, 2010, who have used the home being sold or vacated as a principal residence for five consecutive years within the last eight. To qualify as a “first-time home buyer” the purchaser or his/her spouse may not have owned a residence during the three years prior to the purchase. If you or your client purchased a home between January 1, 2009 and November 6, 2009.

Which Properties Are Eligible? The Extended Home Buyer Tax Credit may be applied to primary residences, including: single-family homes, condos, townhomes, and co-ops.

How Much Is Available? The maximum allowable credit for first-time home buyers is $8,000. The maximum allowable credit for current homeowners is $6,500.

How is a Buyer's Credit Amount Determined? Each home buyer’s tax credit is determined by two additional factors: 1.The price of the home. 2.The buyer's income. Price Under the Extended Home Buyer Tax Credit, credit may only be awarded on homes purchased for $800,000 or less. Buyer Income Under the Extended Home Buyer Tax Credit, which is effective on November 7, 2009, single buyers with incomes up to $125,000 and married couples with incomes up to $225,000—may receive the maximum tax credit. These income limits have changed from the 2009 First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit limits. If you or your client purchased a home between January 1, 2009 and November 6, 2009.

If the Buyer(s)’ Income Exceeds These Limits, Can He/She Still Get a Credit? Yes, some buyers may still be eligible for the credit. The credit decreases for buyers who earn between $125,000 and $145,000 for single buyers and between $225,000 and $245,000 for home buyers filing jointly. The amount of the tax credit decreases as his/her income approaches the maximum limit. Home buyers earning more than the maximum qualifying income—over $145,000 for singles and over $245,000 for couples are not eligible for the credit.

Can a Buyer Still Qualify If He/She Closes After April 30, 2010? Under the Extended Home Buyer Tax Credit, as long as a written binding contract to purchase is in effect on April 30, 2010, the purchaser will have until July 1, 2010 to close.

 Will the Tax Credit Need to Be Repaid? No. The buyer does not need to repay the tax credit, if he/she occupies the home for three years or more. However, if the property is sold during this three-year period, the full amount credit will be recouped on the sale.

This is information came from the National Association of REALTORS®.  Also on our website we have informative video with additional information.  If you have any questions please let us know.  We are here to help!

Len & Carol

This is a question that we get asked a lot! J Let us see if we can help clear this up J

It starts with Lake Roosevelt is a reservoir.  When full its elevation is 1285 feet or so above sea level.  To protect the reservoir the Federal Government bought a strip of land around Lake Roosevelt.  This strip of land is 1310 feet above sea level, hence the 1310 line.

The Park Service manages this strip of land as if it were a National Park.  This strip of land would be better called the Government line as it is not always 1310 feet about sea level. 

If you have additional questions on the 1310 line and property that’s available please let us know.

Len & Carol

We get the question a lot about Owner Financing  " How does it work?" Well let's give you an example.

Say you want to retire in Colville in 5 years, but don't want to buy a house. A lot of buyers try to find the perfect piece of property and build a home when they retire. Unless they can pay cash for the property this can be a problem, as banks do not like to lend money for raw land. This is where Owner Financing comes into play, the seller plays the bank. Say the buyer and seller have agreed on a 100K sale price. The seller asks for 35% down ($35,000) with an interest rate of 8% amortized over 30 years. This would make the buyers payments about $477.000 per month.

The seller not being a true bank is not wanting to carry the loan for 30 years, so he asks for a 5 year balloon payment or cash out. This means the buyer will have to refinance the property with another lender or pay the balance off after 5 years.

If you have additional questions on Owner Financing please let us know. We would happy to answer them for you!

  Len & Carol

The bank repo’s a home and does not record the deed. The bank then lists the home for sale with a realtor. While showing the home another realtor or their client has a bad accident.

Who then is responsible?

Would it be the bank, the lawyer at the trustee’s sale, the listing agent or the showing agent? This is currently the case with many large banks across the Country; they are not transferring the deed into their name. We were just wondering why the banks are doing this and to see if anybody has any answers.

Comments are always welcome!

• You should avoid using credit cards it will hurt your credit: FALSE
• As long as you pay off your credit card each month your credit score will go up: FALSE

It’s best to keep your credit cards at less than 30% of available credit and to pay at least the minimum amount each month.  Do not pay your credit card bill on the day it is due, it can take up to 3 to 4 days to process the payment making it look as if your were late with your payment.

More Myths:

• Closing credit cards will help your credit score: FALSE
• Consolidating all your credit cards will increase your credit score: FALSE
• Your divorce decree protects your credit score: FALSE
• Your income makes a difference to your credit score: FALSE

- Len Hoare

WOW!  Talk about your slow market (LOL).  That was the increase in the number of homes put under contract from February 2009 to March 2009 in the Spokane Market.

The National Association of Realtors reported that February existing home sales rose 5.1% over January 2009.  This is the largest sales jump since July of 2003.

The median is the lowest since September 2002.

After a dramatic down fall of the the Dow it has rebounded to 7,886.83 as of today.

Interest rates are at or below 5%

These numbers are certianly very encouraging and we will take them.

Len

What a great time to be a first time home buyer! 

As an agent that specialized in serving first time home buyer, I'm here to tell you that this may be one of the best times to buy.  A lot of real estate markets have had drastic price adjustments over the last couple of years and are at or close to the bottom in price and no where to go but up.

The mortgage rates and lender programs are great.  We work with a mortgage broker that still offers a zero down mortgage, no this is not from some third world bank it is a USDA backed loan.  This mortgage officers company also has a great program called the Rainy Day Foundation, this is a mortgage protection program.  It covers up to six months of your mortgage payments in the first 24 months of your mortgage should you become involuntarily unemployed.  This is FREE to you when you get a mortgage with this lender.  If you have any questions about this program or are looking for a loan officer and would like some assistance please feel free to contact me. 

Valentina Hendrickson