See the rest here.

I just came across this article and while it all sounds wonderful (so did the loan mods) it will be interesting to see if these “give your house back nicely pilots” actually work...

-> Read the whole story here.

-> Continue reading this article here.

General Rules:

• A "first time home buyer" is defined as someone who has not owned a primary home in the last three years. If you are a "first-time home buyer", your tax credit will amount to 10% of the purchase price of your new home not to exceed $8,000.
• A "long-time resident" is defined as someone who has lived in the same primary home for 5 out of the past 8 years. If you are a "long-time resident", your tax credit will amount to 10% of the purchase price of your new home not to exceed $6,500.
• The tax credit does not need to be paid back if you continue living in the home as your primary residence for three years without selling it
• The home must be purchased for less than $800,000 before May 1, 2010. If you sign a binding contract to purchase a home before May 1st, you would need to close on the transaction before July 1, 2010.
• Single taxpayers with incomes up to $125,000 and married couples with incomes up to $225,000 qualify for the full tax credit
• You cannot purchase the home from a related party like a spouse, direct ancestor, or direct lineal descendent (child or grandchild); however, you can still qualify for the credit if you purchase a property from siblings, nephews, nieces, and others
• If you are married, both spouses must qualify for the credit
• If more than one unmarried individual is buying the property, the credit can be split up among all the individuals who qualify. However, the total credit taken cannot exceed $8,000 (or $6,500 for "long-time residents"). Alternatively, if only one of the unmarried buyers qualifies for the credit based on their income or past home ownership status, the individual who qualifies for the credit can claim the full credit.
• The credit applies even if you have co-signers on your mortgage loan
• The credit applies to 1-4 unit homes as long as you live in one of the units as your primary residence - you could live in one unit and rent out the others

How does the tax credit work? A tax credit is kind of like a gift certificate that you can use to pay your taxes - it reduces your income tax bill on a dollar for dollar basis. Imagine paying your bill at IRS Restaurant, and then later getting an IRS Restaurant gift certificate. Normally, you would need to go back to IRS Restaurant and buy more food in order to use your new gift certificate. But what if IRS Restaurant allowed you to just turn in your gift certificate for cash? That's how the home buyer tax credit works! All you need to do is file a form with the IRS after you buy your new home and they will send you a refund check for $8,000 (or $6,500) - just like the example of IRS Restaurant that allows you to exchange your gift certificate for cash! Remember though, you'll receive the $8,000 (or $6,500) from the IRS AFTER you purchase your new home, so you cannot use the funds to help with your down payment. For more information about the home buyer tax credit or other recent updates to the mortgage and real estate markets, just give me a call. I would be happy to assist you with your mortgage in the purchase of your new home!

* Home Buyer Tax Credit PDF

* First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit PDF

To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by the Internal Revenue Service, we inform you that any U.S. federal tax advice contained in this communication (including any attachments) was not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, by any person for the purpose of (i) avoiding tax-related penalties or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another person any transaction or matter addressed in this communication. I recommend that you consult with properly licensed legal, tax and investment advisors for specific advice pertaining to your individual situation.

• When: Thursday November 19th, 2009
• Time: 9:30-10:30am (optional networking after)
• Location: Fort Mason, Gatehouse, San Francisco, CA. (MAP)

Seating is limited so RSVP now to events@ownrealestateright.com or 415.425.0857.  You can also RSVP to me on Facebook, Linked In, or Twitter.

Bonus: Receive a $25.00 discount on NARs ePro Course and receive information on the all-new NAR Social Media course!

About the host:  Jana Lane is a Certified Mortgage Advisor. Her company is Own Real Estate Right in affiliation with O’Donnell Financial Group. 

Featuring: Jerry Kidd, GRI, CRS, CRB, etc. Jerry is a 23-year veteran of the real estate industry and author of the popular blog RealtyTechBytes which focuses on technology tools for real estate agents and how to use them.  Jerry is the owner of Jerry Kidd Training and Consulting Company specializing in training real estate agents and lenders how to use today’s technology tools to grow and sustain their businesses.

Read Bill Good's "Secret to Real Referrals" here.

Please let me know your thoughts.

-Jana

Even though the availability for jumbo loans isn't what it once was, the IRS has apparently decided to give a break to jumbo mortgage holders. More specifically, Forbes reports that the IRS has concluded that a taxpayer can deduct interest on the first $1.1 million of a home mortgage - which is $100k more than an earlier limit. Previously (or currently depending on when this goes into effect) interest on up to a 1m purchase, money borrowed, plus $100k equity borrowed, could be deducted. Either way you slice it, you can deduct interest on an extra $100k borrowed and that's not a bad thing - IF you qualify for the deduction.

On top of that, taxpayers can file amended returns for the past three years and claim thousands in refunds. Yippee! 

I think that's just mean... Oct 15th just passed (last date to file extended returns - I filed 10/13) and my tax preparer was just about to relax... Not so fast :-)

An adjustable loan may not be such a bad thing after all! As a Mortgage Advisor, I get calls from people all the time who are terrified that their current home mortgage is about to adjust, and when I say, “That may not be such a bad thing” – I often hear silence… Followed by, “What do you mean?” Or, “I don’t want to take that chance.” Fear of the unknown, combined with the media storm of bad news about evil adjustable loans, etc, and I can certainly understand why…

Now, this isn’t for everyone – but I say have your Mortgage Advisor look at the terms of your existing Note, when your loan is scheduled to adjust, and carefully analyze the parameters around how it adjusts and what index it’s tied to… Letting your loan adjust may possibly be the best option for the short term.

Here is a great example: A close friend of mine came to me earlier in the year asking about refinancing, and based on the current value of their home, the loan to value was too high. Long story short, they tried submitting a Loan Modification, but it appears to have been denied… I suggested contacting their current lender to see if they are participating in the “Making Home Affordable” program, also know as HARP, and they were told initially told that they did qualify, however; they were subsequently notified that they in fact did not qualify – and have since been given different reasons as to why not every time they speak to them. The last piece of information they provided was that jumbo loans (loans over $417K) are not owned by Freddie/Fannie and therefore do not qualify. They have toiled over getting out of this adjustable loan for fear that the payments were going to skyrocket.

Last week she came to my office and said, “You’ll never believe what I got in the mail…” I thought that she had been approved for  the HARP program, but no – they were notified that their loan was adjusting from 6.250% DOWN to 4.250%.

How is this possible you ask? Her loan is tied to the LIBOR and this particular index was at 5.271 three years when they purchased. Today that index is at 1.2693. Combine that index with the other terms of their loan and voila… Her rate is now dropping 2.00% and her payment is dropping $745.34/month. Their loan will not adjust for another 12 months, allowing them some time to save the $745/month (just shy of $9000 in one year), and who knows where values will be in October of 2010.

So, pull out that mortgage note and read it! If you don’t understand it – you should have a reputable Mortgage Advisor read it for you. Unfortunately, many folks think they have no options at all – but sometimes doing nothing is exactly what you should do!

- Jana M. Lane