Raleigh,Garner, Clayton, RTP area Homes, Land and Rentals

The best personal service

B.J. Deal,ABR, CRS, e-PRO, GRI

HUD Approved Broker for Government Owned Homes

Call us about buying , selling or renting your home. You are our top priority. Homes, land and commercial properties are our business. As the real estate professionals in our community, we are dedicated to providing the finest service available.
Home foreclosures in the Triangle are very inviting to the buyer looking for a bargain. Unfortunately, if you are wanting to close before May1, 2010 to take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit, the banks are taking as long as 4-6 months to respond to an offer on these homes. If they need work to make them livable, your lender will not finance them until that work is completed. You can't do the work because the house is not yours. It is now time to start looking at the resale homes in the area that do not need major work. Many fair priced homes await your offer.

Short Sales mean that the bank is getting less than the seller owes on the mortgage. Some of the banks take as long as 6 months to answer an offer. They are "As Is' sales, meaning that the bank nor the seller will be able to do any repairs to the home before closing. These homes may also have second mortgages or Equity lines on them which is not included in the negotiation with the primary mortgage lender. Make sure your Realtor asks about these other mortgages and liens against the property you want.

News You can Use:

On April 5th, the cost of required up-front mortgage insurance for loans guaranteed by the FHA will increase from 1.75% to 2.25%. For a borrower purchasing a $200,000 home with a $7,000 down payment, the up-front mortgage insurance will increase by $965. Up-front mortgage insurance is typically financed in the final loan amount so the impact to a monthly payment will be minimal but overall, the increase is still borne by the borrower both upfront and monthly.

Later this spring, the amount of money that a seller can return to the buyer from their sale proceeds will be reduced from 6% to 3%. The reduction in these "seller concessions" can increase the amount of cash a buyer will be required to pay at closing by $6,000 for a home purchase of $200,000.

There is only one way to avoid being affected by all of these costly changes that lie ahead – submit all FHA mortgage applications by the last week of March.

1. IRS Clarifies Home Buyer Tax Credit Ambiguities

The IRS has clarified its position on two scenarios that have arisen with the extension of

the first-time home buyer tax credit and creation of the new repeat home buyer tax credit.

With the addition of the second tax credit, there may now be a situation in which two unmarried buyers purchase a residence together where one qualifies for the $6,500 repeat buyer credit and the other qualifies for the $8,000 first-time home buyer credit.

According to the IRS, they must allocate the tax credit in a meaningful manner. The repeat buyer cannot receive a tax credit higher than $6,500 and the total amount claimed by both buyers cannot exceed $8,000.
For example, the repeat home buyer could claim $6,500 and the first-time home buyer could claim $1,500. Alternatively, both buyers could claim a $4,000 tax credit.

The second scenario involves the qualification status of married purchasers as repeat home buyers.

In order to qualify for the repeat buyer tax credit, both individuals must have lived in the same residence for five consecutive years out of the last eight.

If one spouse has lived in the house for five years and the other moved in later, after they were married, then they are both excluded from the repeat buyer tax credit

2. The tax credit expiration dates are as follows – contracts for new home purchases must be signed before May 1, 2010 – with the closing of that transaction to be completed no later than July 1, 2010.

3. Income limits have changed for eligibility –the new limit for single filers is $125,000 – that’s up from $75,000. For married or joint filers, the new cap is $225,000 – that’s up from the previous figure of $150,000

4. There is also a Purchase limit for eligible homes – the tax credit only applies to homes valued at or below $800,000.

B.J. Deal, ABR, CRS. e-PRO, GRI, Broker-in-Charge

Beverly Vought

Pam Beacham-Karch

Lanny Deal

Shannon Mitten