tips, news, and information about or pertaining to first-time homebuyers


Lake & City Homes Realty is proud to announce a new page called All Today's New Listings designed to help you quickly focus in on the newest listings to go on the South Central WI MLS during the previous 24 hours. Simply go to the Listings tab (or the Buyers tab) at the top of the home page and choose "All Today's New Listings" from the drop-down menu or choose the link entitled "ALL Today's New Listings" under Popular Searches on the right-hand side of the home page.

Be sure to check this new listings page frequently - that way you'll be one of the first to know about the latest property listings (homes, condos, and other real estate for sale) to go on the South Central WI MLS and you'll be seeing those listings before they hit the national listings…

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OK - follow the bouncing ball....
 
The FHA initially indicated they would allow the $8K tax credit to be used towards a down payment.
 
Then they reversed that decision and decided to NOT allow it.....
 
But it appears they have now reversed their reversal and once again WILL allow it......at least for today!

Below is a copy of the Mortgagee Letter from FHA dated 5/29/09 which outlines how they will allow this to work, and if you ask me it is typical "government-ease" for language and the requirements to follow seem to me to very complicated to the point where I wonder how many lenders are going to want to meet those requirements, ie: validating all eligibility requirements for the tax credit are fulfilled and review previous tax returns and IRS tax…

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Federal officials on Monday reversed an earlier decision to allow first-time home buyers to use an $8,000 tax credit to borrow the down payment on a home.

A week earlier, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan had told the National Association of Home Builders that HUD would let banks and local governments offer short-term "bridge loans" to cover the down payment for first-time buyers eligible for the tax credit. The loans would have been available to applicants for federally insured mortgages such as Federal Housing Administration loans.

Lenders, home builders and real estate agents had reacted favorably to the bridge-loan proposal, saying it would open up the housing market to more first-time buyers, however it was…

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Yesterday the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Shaun Donovan, stated that the Federal Housing Administration is going to start permitting FHA lenders to allow home buyers to use the $8K tax credit as a down payment.

Most buyers don't receive the $8K until after they file their tax returns so that has reportedly discouraged some people from utilizing the credit. The NAR (National Association of Realtors) has been asking for this change.

“We all want to enable FHA consumers to access the home buyer tax credit funds when they close on their home loans so that the cash can be used as a down payment,” Donovan says. Donovan's remarks were made in an speech to several thousand Realtors gathered at "The Real Estate Summit:…

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The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act recently enacted by the United States Congress provides Dane County first-time home buyers with a $8,000 tax credit. The current legislation supercedes rules that were enacted back in the fall of 2008. Here are the top ten facts to know about the free $8,000 credit:

1. Available to Dane County first-time home buyers (a first-time home buyer is someone who has not owned real estate in the last three years).

2. Available for all principle residences including single family homes, condominiums, townhouses, and owner-occupied residential income property.

3. Home must be purchased between January 1st, 2009 and December 1st, 2009 inclusive.

4. The credit does NOT require repayment.

5. The full amount of the credit is…

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A survey of agents in the HouseHunt network shows that first-time home buyers accounted for 65 percent of all buyers, up from 46 percent in the first quarter of 2008. 

HouseHunt CEO Michael Bearden said he believed the trend would continue for the remainder of the year. Typically, first-time buyers account for about 40 percent of the market.

“Our latest national survey tells us that qualified first-time buyers are taking advantage of home prices not seen in five to seven years in many areas,” he said. “Affordability is no longer a major issue in many areas across the country – especially in those metro areas where prices spiked dramatically between 2003 and 2006.”

Please visit our Madison homes under $200K page to see daily updated prices and…

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