1st Time Buyers, Are You Ready To Jump Yet? You Should be!
Hello Everyone!
I just wanted to share with the you the latest information about the first-time homebuyer tax credit, the recent changes, and what it means to you.
First, there really has never been a better time to buy a home. You can qualify as a first-time buyer if you haven’t had a home in your name for the last 3 years. If that applies to you or anyone you know make sure that they know that the Federal Government is actually going to pay you to buy a home. That’s right, you will be able to get a tax credit when you file your income taxes for 2009 that will give you a possible $8000 extra in a refund. FHA insured loans are available in Will County for purchases of single family homes and go as high as $410,000 with 3.5% down. Obviously you have to have adequate income to qualify for that loan amount and have a credit score of 620 or higher. There are no loans for those who haven’t been employed for last 2 years also. It’s back to the basic qualifying criteria, and that we had before the sub-prime mortgage crashed. I think most of us are OK with that, aren’t we?
If you’ve been keeping up with what is happening in the market, you know that our inventory of homes is quite large. As of today in Will County we have an inventory of 12 months currently on the market. The bright side is that in December of 2008 that number was over 19 months. January sales are up over last year but prices are down 14% from Jan 08.
That may make some of you cringe when thinking about your home and the equity that has disappeared, but if you considering moving up to another home, it is actually a Great time to buy also. Remember, the 14% decrease in home values means more dollars in value to the move up buyer as well. 14% of $400,000 is a $56,000 decrease in value resulting in that home now selling for $344,000. But if you are a in a $200,000 home and have to take 14% less to get it sold then your selling price will be $28,000 less, or $172,000. I know that it’s a lot of money to those who don’t have much equity in their home but move up buyers who have been in their homes for more than 10 years should be in a position to lose on the sell side and make up the difference( and then some) on the buy side.
So if you are secure in your job, have equity in your home and are wondering if you could get that home that had been out of reach a couple of years ago, Maybe you should take a look at the bargains that are available. If you know someone who has talked about buying their first home and is still sitting on fence expecting the market to continue to go down more, I would advise them to stop waiting. Spring is coming and we will see buyers start to move with the Federal money that is being offered.
I am enclosing a file that explain the $8000 tax credit in more detail. Please take a look and Call me if you have any questions.
Click on the File to enlarge!
