MacDill AFB Moves

WASHINGTON – April 28, 2010 – Members of the military, foreign service and intelligence communities may have an additional year to buy a home and claim the homebuyer tax credit – up to $8,000 – that expires for most Americans on April 30.

To qualify for the extended tax credit deadline, service members must have served on official extended duty outside of the United States for 90 days or more at any time between Jan. 1, 2009, and April 30, 2010. If so, they have until April 30, 2011, to sign a sales contract, and until June 30, 2011, to settle and close on the home. The rule includes both the $8,000 first-time and $6,500 repeat homebuyer tax credit.

Under the law, “qualified service members” includes those serving in the uniformed services of the United States military, a member of the Foreign Service of the United States or an employee of the intelligence community.

The rule that requires buyers to repay the credit if they move out of their home within three years has also beMACDILen waived for qualified service members if they must sell their home after receiving government orders for extended duty service.

© 2010 Florida Realtors®

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Tax credit might be shot in the arm for first-time homebuyers

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – April 7, 2009 – A coalition of powerful groups, including the Orlando-based Florida Association of Realtors, is lobbying the state to find a way to advance first-time homebuyers a new, $8,000 federal tax credit designed to spur home sales.

Many first-time buyers have the income and credit to qualify for a home loan but need help with the downpayment, said Cynthia Shelton, an Orlando Realtor and current president of the statewide trade group. Fronting the money for the new tax credit could draw more qualified buyers into the slumping home market sooner, she said.

A study by Miami-based economist Antonio Villamil concluded last week that “front loading” the tax credit, part of the federal government’s stimulus package, would give Florida’s economy a significant boost – equivalent to creating 33,206 jobs and generating $514 million in federal, state and local tax revenue.

“I was in Tallahassee last week and I met with some senators. We’re pressing like mad to get this through,” Shelton said.

But with state lawmakers rushing to complete their annual session by May 1, the chances of passing any such bill are remote, so other avenues are being explored, said Walt Dartland, executive director of the Consumer Federation of the Southeast.

“The Legislature may or may not play a part,” Dartland said Monday from Tallahassee. “It’s true, we are out of time” for passing a new law from scratch. Other options being researched that might not require legislation, he said, include leveraging some of the resources of the Florida Housing Finance Corp., which already has a down-payment assistance program. Qualifying homebuyers would sign over their tax credits to repay the fund.

In addition to the Realtors and the consumer federation, the alliance now urging the Legislature to consider the home-financing proposal includes the Florida Home Builders Association, Florida Bankers Association, Florida Credit Union League, Florida Manufactured Housing Association and Florida Association of Mortgage Brokers.

Supporters of what the consumer federation is calling the “Florida formula” said the state has a short time in which to act because the tax credit is for homes purchased by the end of November. A tax credit is a dollar-for-dollar reduction in federal taxes owed.

Steve Auger, executive director of the Florida Housing Finance Corp., said the agency has provided $66 million in downpayment assistance since 2007, but its ability to continue doing that is jeopardized by the possibility that lawmakers may commit all of the housing agency’s trust fund to the general fund this year because of a record budget shortfall.

“I would hope the legislators would think long and hard about that,” Auger said.

Dartland said that another idea being discussed would involve the state issuing short-term notes that could be sold to participating banks. Those notes could then be repaid with the homebuyers’ tax credits.

Copyright © 2009 The Orlando Sentinel, Fla., Jerry W. Jackson. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Government considers propping up federal loan program

WASHINGTON – April 3, 2009 – The Obama administration soon may be forced to subsidize the government’s mortgage insurance program with taxpayer dollars as economic troubles cause defaults and foreclosures to surge.

No decision has been reached, officials said Thursday at a Senate subcommittee hearing focused on the fiscal health of the Federal Housing Administration. But if the agency’s losses grow too high, the FHA would be forced to raise money – either by increasing insurance premiums on new borrowers or seeking a subsidy from the federal budget.

President Barack Obama’s housing secretary, Shaun Donovan, told senators that officials are evaluating whether aid for FHA will be needed as part of the administration’s $3.6 trillion budget for next year.

However, Donovan said FHA is “unlikely to face the catastrophic losses borne in the subprime sector.” That’s partly because the agency has more conservative standards than the subprime lenders that fueled the housing boom. It also didn’t back loans for more expensive properties that have plummeted in value, particularly in places like California, he said.

As of February, 7.2 percent of loans backed by the FHA were either 90 days overdue or in foreclosure, up from 5.8 percent in August. “Based on the numbers we’re seeing, I think it’s going in the wrong direction,” said Kenneth M. Donohue, inspector general for the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Lawmakers, meanwhile, are worried taxpayers will be stuck with the final bill.

Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., called the FHA a “powder keg” waiting to explode, and said Congress and the Obama administration shouldn’t place a greater financial burden on the already strapped agency. “The taxpayer credit card is maxed out,” Bond said.

“My constituents have been clear that they don’t want to wake up to learn that Congress has taken steps that leave the taxpayer holding the bag,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. “That is exactly what could happen if the FHA is pushed to buy loans that could go bad soon or down the line.”

The FHA became the main source of home loans to borrowers with poor credit and low down payments after the subprime lending market’s collapse. It allows borrowers to take out home loans with down payments as low as 3.5 percent, compared with 20 percent for a typical loan that doesn’t require mortgage insurance.

FHA loans are made through by banks, insured by the government and sold as mortgage-backed securities by Ginnie Mae, the government’s mortgage finance agency. The FHA currently backs around a third of new home loans, up from about 3 percent in 2006.

To combat fears that shady mortgage lenders are feeding fraudulent loans into FHA, Donovan said the government has activated “SWAT teams” that will conduct unannounced inspections of lenders whose loans are showing unusually high default rates. The agency has the right to revoke lenders’ ability to do business with FHA.

Obama last month nominated real estate industry veteran David Stevens to head the FHA. Stevens is currently president and chief operating officer of Long and Foster Cos., a Chantilly, Va.-based real estate brokerage. The position requires Senate confirmation.

Meanwhile, a program launched by former President George W. Bush’s administration to assist troubled borrowers has been canceled. The “FHASecure” refinancing program announced with great fanfare in August 2007 produced disappointing results, aiding few delinquent borrowers, and was allowed to expire at the end of last year.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press, Alan Zibel (AP Real Estate Writer). All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

There are many good deals I’m seeing in the South Tampa market today that are foreclosures and short sales.  The short sales are a bit trickier to land, but I’ve experienced some recent success getting the lender to accept a low offer.  I just had one approved that was listed at $165K and we offered $135K.  The buyer thought I was crazy sending him that one because he was only approved at $135K.  I told him that you never know what they will take until you submit an offer.  To his delight, they accepted the $135K and he ended up getting the opportunity to own a much nicer home than he thought he would get.  It even had a very nice pool.  Foreclosures, REO’s (Real Estate Owned), and Bank Owned properties which are all the same thing, are a little easier to pick up.  Typically, we are seeing a 48 hour turn around on a response from the bank to an offer.  Unfortunately, you are up against cash buyers most of the time on the really good ones, but many will accept conventional financing and FHA.  Most are in an unacceptable condition for FHA, but not the FHA rehab loan which is becoming more and more popular.  I would be happy to go over any of the above information more in depth with you if you have interest in looking at your options.