In November, Congress extended and expanded the First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit program to include a subset of “move-up” buyers — homeowners that have owned and lived in their home for 5 of the last 8 years. The credit ranges up to $8,000 per buyer. There’s now just 7 weeks...

The mortgage lending landscape changes a lot.  Rates and guidelines are in constant flux, and it creates preparedness challenges for buyers that aren’t paying in cash. The loan you get today won’t always be the loan you get tomorrow. Because of how frequently bank rules are changing, it...

Obama signed the First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit today. Congress both extended and expanded the First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit program Thursday. The up-to-$8000 tax credit’s expiration date has been pushed forward to spring, requiring homebuyers to be under contract by April 30, 2010,...

Friday morning President Barack Obama will sign the new bill extending the First Time Home Buyer Credit. The bill also includes $6,500 credit for Buyers who are current Home Owners and have been in a principal residence for at least five of the last eight years.

What is a tax credit? A tax credit is a direct reduction in tax liability owed by an individual to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). In the event no taxes are owed, the IRS will issue a check for the amount of the tax credit an individual is owed. Unlike the tax credit that existed in 2008, this...

Unless you have either been under a rock for the past 12 months or you never work with first time homebuyers (FTHBs), you are no doubt aware the clock is ticking on the IRS tax credit for FTHBs. My purpose here is to give you some additional information on what you can do to move listings, motivate buyers,...

If you plan to use the First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit program, time is running out.  The program expires November 30, 2009 and closing on a home can take up to 60 days. That leaves you 6 weeks from today to find a home and go under contract. The First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit program was passed as...

Statistics show the National average of Owning vs. Renting will only cost consumers an additional $70 a month.

At least one thing is back to normal in the mortgage markets — it’s no longer cheaper to go with a fixed rate mortgage than an ARM. As reported by Freddie Mac, a conforming 5-year ARM is priced a half-percent lower than a comparable 30-year fixed. Earlier this year, the pricing was reversed. It’s...

The government’s First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit expires December 1, 2009. If you expect to use the program in conjunction with a home purchase, therefore, you may want to consider yourself officially “on the clock”. Assuming a 60-day window between contract and closing, there are...