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By Dale W Doughty
The Senate has approved and President Obama is expected to sign a new bill in to
law (Update - signed by President Obama into law Friday, November 6, 2009) that
extends the $8,000 First-time Homebuyer Tax Credit to next spring. Under the new
law, qualifying buyers would have until April 30, 2009 to go under contract on a
home and until June 30, 2010 to close on that home.
The new law also helps current or recent homeowners. Under the new law, any
qualifying buyer who has lived in their previous residence for at least the last 5 years
would have the opportunity to purchase a new home and receive up to $6,500 in tax
credit.
The expansion of the old law will hopefully help out one issue that this law has
caused in many areas of Maine and New Hampshire, a lack of “entry-level” priced
homes. For example, as the first deadline drew near, many prospective buyers who
did not act quickly were found with a very limited selection of homes in the $150,000
or less range in the Southern Maine area. Similar situations were reported in other
areas.
Another issue that came up beginning in mid-October was that so many buyers
came in to the market all at once to take advantage of the credit last minute that
many Realtors, Mortgage Brokers, Mortgage Underwriters, Appraisers and certain
government agencies, such as the Rural Housing Service found themselves
swamped causing major delays in the process. Many professionals involved in the
process wondered how so many deals would get closed on time, prior to the
November 30 deadline.
Luckily, this extension takes some of the pressure off and will allow everyone to get
caught up and get everything back to normal for a while.
If any lesson was learned from, it was this: Don’t wait until late winter or early spring
to start shopping if you think you might want to take advantage of this program
before it likely goes away once and for all. As this latest deadline neared inventories
got tight, the availability of professionals was stretched thin and the turn-around
times at all the lenders sky-rocketed.
Get in touch with a Mortgage Banker, get your pre-approval letter and start
shopping. Even if you don’t make contact with a Realtor right away a pre-approval
letter will at least open up your communications with a lender and will give you an
idea of how much home you can afford. With this information you can search listings
online and see what areas and types of homes you can likely afford. Once you get
an idea of where and what you want to “seriously” start viewing then it is time to call
a Realtor and start physically looking.
The other advantage of starting right away? If your credit needs a little
improvement, starting now will give your Mortgage Broker adequate time to advise
you on ways to boost your credit scores and get your report where it needs to be
before the next deadline looms.
For a free credit and mortgage analysis call our office today at (877) 440-2739 or in
Southern Maine at (207) 850-1007. To apply for pre-approval visit our website at
www.nemortgagemarketing.com or give us a call.
The Senate has approved and President Obama is expected to sign a new bill in to
law (Update - signed by President Obama into law Friday, November 6, 2009) that
extends the $8,000 First-time Homebuyer Tax Credit to next spring. Under the new
law, qualifying buyers would have until April 30, 2009 to go under contract on a
home and until June 30, 2010 to close on that home.
The new law also helps current or recent homeowners. Under the new law, any
qualifying buyer who has lived in their previous residence for at least the last 5 years
would have the opportunity to purchase a new home and receive up to $6,500 in tax
credit.
The expansion of the old law will hopefully help out one issue that this law has
caused in many areas of Maine and New Hampshire, a lack of “entry-level” priced
homes. For example, as the first deadline drew near, many prospective buyers who
did not act quickly were found with a very limited selection of homes in the $150,000
or less range in the Southern Maine area. Similar situations were reported in other
areas.
Another issue that came up beginning in mid-October was that so many buyers
came in to the market all at once to take advantage of the credit last minute that
many Realtors, Mortgage Brokers, Mortgage Underwriters, Appraisers and certain
government agencies, such as the Rural Housing Service found themselves
swamped causing major delays in the process. Many professionals involved in the
process wondered how so many deals would get closed on time, prior to the
November 30 deadline.
Luckily, this extension takes some of the pressure off and will allow everyone to get
caught up and get everything back to normal for a while.
If any lesson was learned from, it was this: Don’t wait until late winter or early spring
to start shopping if you think you might want to take advantage of this program
before it likely goes away once and for all. As this latest deadline neared inventories
got tight, the availability of professionals was stretched thin and the turn-around
times at all the lenders sky-rocketed.
Get in touch with a Mortgage Banker, get your pre-approval letter and start
shopping. Even if you don’t make contact with a Realtor right away a pre-approval
letter will at least open up your communications with a lender and will give you an
idea of how much home you can afford. With this information you can search listings
online and see what areas and types of homes you can likely afford. Once you get
an idea of where and what you want to “seriously” start viewing then it is time to call
a Realtor and start physically looking.
The other advantage of starting right away? If your credit needs a little
improvement, starting now will give your Mortgage Broker adequate time to advise
you on ways to boost your credit scores and get your report where it needs to be
before the next deadline looms.
For a free credit and mortgage analysis call our office today at (877) 440-2739 or in
Southern Maine at (207) 850-1007. To apply for pre-approval visit our website at
www.nemortgagemarketing.com or give us a call.
Sanford Branch
909B Main Street
Sanford, Maine 04073
(207) 850-1007
(877) 440-2739
909B Main Street
Sanford, Maine 04073
(207) 850-1007
(877) 440-2739