Atlanta Real Estate Blog 
Details on New Tax Credit Extension
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009 at 10:41am. 616 Views, 0 Comments.
It’s official: the homebuyer tax credit has been extended through April 30th, 2010! Not only has it been extended, it’s been expanded upon and improved as well. Check out the details:
If you have a home that closes by April 30th, 2010, you are eligible for a hefty tax credit. First time homebuyers (those who have not owned a home in 3+ years) will qualify for an $8,000 tax credit. Newly added to the bill: repeat or “move-up” buyers could also qualify for a $6,500 tax credit. If you have owned your current home for 5 consecutive years out of the last 8 years, then you can get the $6,500 tax credit on the new purchase. That’s pretty cool!
Also, if you haven’t closed on something by April 30th, but you are at least under contract on something by April 30th,…
Act NOW if you are a FHA Buyer!!
Thursday, December 3rd, 2009 at 9:15pm. 577 Views, 0 Comments.
Changes to the widely popular FHA loan program are currently in legislation…two VERY major changes. The first one under consideration is changing the down payment amount from 3.5% to 5%. The second one is decreasing the amount of concessions allowed from 6% down to 3%.
These are MAJOR changes that will greatly affect a buyer’s cash-to-close if passed. Let’s look at some numbers. On a $150,000 purchase, the current down payment required by FHA would be $5,250, or 3.5%. If the new law changes, that down payment will increase to 5%, or $7,500. That’s a significant increase!
With the concessions, FHA currently allows up to 6% in concessions. This can be used for seller-paid closing costs, repair credits, allowances, etc. 6% of $150,000 is $9,000. Many buyers…
$8,000 Tax Credit...Time Has Been Extended!!
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009 at 8:51pm. 701 Views, 0 Comments.
Attention First-Time Home Buyers!!! Time is running out has been extended to claim your $8,000 tax credit…as of August 19th there are only 103 days left to close on a home . You now have until April 30th to be under contract on a home to receive the credit. That may seem like a long time…over 3 months! But in house-hunting time, that’s not very far away. Also, most people will wait until the last minute and find themselves in multiple offer situations as the deadline approaches. This happened last time to several of my clients and they lost out on the home they really wanted because they were unwilling to pay over list price. My advice...DON'T WAIT!!
Below was the old scenario for the tax credit expiration on November 30th.Let’s work backwards for a…
The Perfect Storm for Home-Buyers
Tuesday, April 14th, 2009 at 8:12am. 925 Views, 3 Comments.
The Perfect Storm for Home-Buyers
In my 8 years of selling Real Estate, never before have I seen a market like we are in. There are many things that you could call the market right now, but I like to believe that the current market is an opportunistic market. Rates are at historic lows, inventory is up, and with the new tax credit for first time home-buyers, it’s the perfect storm for buying a home.
Let’s look at this point by point...
First up: Interest rates are at historic lows. Interest rates have been hovering around 5% and sometimes even down into the 4’s for several months. The difference of even half a percent in your rate can save you not only substantial cash every month in your payment, but literally thousands of dollars over the life of your…
$8,000 Homebuyer Tax Credit – Claim Your Cash NOW!
Wednesday, April 1st, 2009 at 10:21am. 1324 Views, 7 Comments.
I’m sure you have heard in some way or another the buzz around the Real Estate industry in regards to the new Homebuyer Tax Credit. So what is it, and how does it work? Let me explain. It’s pretty cool if you ask me…
The tax credit is essentially cash-in-hand for first-time homebuyers who purchase a home before December 1st, 2009. The credit is applied when you file your tax returns for 2009 as a cash credit. (UPDATE: you can now admend your 2008 tax return to get your money this year!) For example, if you OWED the IRS $3,000, then you would actually get a check BACK for $5,000! Or, if you were already getting a return of $3,000, you would get a return of $11,000 after the $8,000 was applied!!! Sign me up!! I will take free money any day!
There are some…
Welcome to The New and Improved ThinkLouise Website!
Thursday, March 12th, 2009 at 10:02am. 555 Views, 0 Comments.
Welcome to our newly updated and improved, Atlanta Real Estate website site! We have some awesome new features designed to help you even more in your new home search. Check out our new and improved Atlanta MLS search and Blog! We have also added Google Streetview and Birdseye View features...I absolutely love this technology. It allows you to check out the area and neighborhood before even turning the car on. In addition to our new features, we have some other great pages to check out, including help for First Time Homebuyers, Home Value Requests for sellers, information about the new home buying tax credit, advanced MLS searches to help you narrow your home search down to your specific needs, and lots of other great things. So check out our new features,…