Recovery Act Provides Addtional Funding for USDA Rural Development Home Loans.

Recovery Act Provides Additional Funding for USDA Rural Development Home Loan Programs in 2010
Home buyers may also qualify for tax credits that are available through June 30

USDA Rural Development will have about $42 million available through its direct home loan program targeted at low-income residents throughout rural Minnesota in 2010. Qualified first-time and repeat home buyers may also be eligible for tax credits made possible by the Worker, Homeownership and Business Assistance Act of 2009.

Qualified first-time home buyers may be eligible for up to an $8,000 tax credit and repeat buyers may qualify for up to $6,500. Both programs are scheduled to expire on June 30, 2010.

Rural Development’s direct home loan program is intended to help very low and low income residents living in rural areas achieve home ownership. Applicants must be unable to obtain credit elsewhere and demonstrate repayment ability. A payment subsidy is also available to applicants to enhance repayment ability.

Rural Development also has a guaranteed home loan program intended for moderate income rural residents. The program does not have a down payment requirement and loans are made to homeowners by an approved lender.

For both the direct and guaranteed program, applicants may purchase a new home, existing home or build a new home.

Low-interest loans are also available for low-income residents to make home repairs. Grants are available to home owners over the age of 62 and must be used to remove health and safety hazards.

For more information, including income limits and ineligible areas, contact your local Rural Development office at 320-763-3191, ext. 4. For more information on both tax credits, visit http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/home.html. For more information on Rural Development, visit www.rurdev.usda.gov/mn.

Ten Inexpensive Ways to Wow Buyers!

Now is the time for home owners contemplating a spring sale to spruce up their properties in anticipation of what Mike Larson of Weiss Research calls a potentially vibrant home-selling season. "If you have been beating your head against a wall, this is going to feel a lot better,” he jokes.Here are 10 cheap ways to make a property more attractive to shoppers.
1. Improve first impressions. Touch up the paint on the front door and other areas that buyers see first.
2. Clean up the landscaping. Trim the hedges and trees and plant some annuals in the flowerbeds.
3. Paint the interior. A coat of light yellow or cream with contrasting white woodwork looks fresh and clean.
4. Refurbish the floors. Buff the hardwoods. Install new carpets – or at least get them professionally cleaned.
5. Take care of the big problems. If the house needs a roof or the front stoop is crumbling, get them fixed.
6. Buy warranties. Putting appliances under warranty gives homebuyers a secure feeling.
7. Improve energy efficiency. New windows or improved insulation tell a potential buyer the seller is on top of things plus they come with tax benefits.
8. Replace light fixtures. Updated fixtures, especially at the entrance way and in the foyer, create a good first impression.
9. Buy a stove. Home owners whose kitchen isn’t top of the line can jazz it up for a few hundred dollars by buying a new stove, which gives the room a fresh feel.
10. Tidy up the bathrooms. Get rid of mildew, replace caulking and replace stained sinks.

30ear Mortgage Rates Slide Below 5%

30-Year Mortgage Rates Slide Below 5% Long-term mortgage rates fell for the third straight week, pushing the average rate on 30-year fixed home loans below 5 percent again, according to Freddie Mac. This week, average interest on 30-year mortgages was 4.99 percent, compared to 5.06 percent last week and 5.16 percent a year ago. Rates on 15-year fixed loans also followed bond yields lower, averaging 4.40 percent, compared to 4.45 percent last week; and adjustable-rate mortgages also fell this week.

Ask Your Lender for a Good Faith Estimate

Some Lenders Skirt GFE Requirements Some lenders are avoiding the requirement that they lock in the good faith estimate by providing something loan officers are calling "worksheets” or “loan scenario forms" that don’t have to meet a government accuracy standard.The worksheets contain some of the information provided by a good faith estimate. They are typically provided to shoppers who don’t provide – and often aren’t asked to provide – key information, such as the address of the property to be financed.Loan officers defend the worksheets, saying that it is impossible to provide completely accurate estimates. But Vicki Bott, a deputy assistant secretary for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, says if these worksheets turn out to be a way for lenders to avoid meeting their obligations, the department will respond by tightening the guidelines.Meanwhile, buyers should ask for the good-faith estimate by name, so they get an accurate estimate of costs.

Sellers should List Homes Early!

Selling a home in the dead of winter might seem ill-advised, particularly considering the state of the economy, but some experts think that making the decision to wait until spring to list the property could be a mistake.Government incentives will likely have a big impact in 2010, with many buyers determined to sign a contract before the April 30 tax credit deadline.“This year, we're anticipating sales will peak earlier,” says Nicole Hall, editor in chief of Lendingtree.com, an online mortgage comparison service. “The best time to get your house on the market will be February or early March, and maybe even earlier if you want to avoid competition.”

Pending Home Sales Down from Surge Contract

Activity for pending home sales fell after a surge of activity in preceding months to beat the original deadline for the first-time home buyer tax credit. However, it remains comfortably above the level from a year ago, according to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in November, fell 16 percent to 96.0 from an upwardly revised 114.3 in October, but is 15.5 percent higher than November 2008 when it was 83.1.Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said a drop was expected. “It will be at least early spring before we see notable gains in sales activity as home buyers respond to the recently extended and expanded tax credit,” he said. “The fact that pending home sales are comfortably above year-ago levels shows the market has gained sufficient momentum on its own. We expect another surge in the spring as more home buyers take advantage of affordable housing conditions before the tax credit expires.”
Buyers who have a contract in place to purchase a primary residence by April 30 have until June 30 to finalize the transaction to qualify for the tax credit of up to $8,000 for first-time buyers and $6,500 for repeat buyers.By Region
The PHSI in the Northeast dropped 25.7 percent to 74.4 in November but is 14.7 percent above a year ago.
In the Midwest the index fell 25.7 percent to 82.0 but is 9.2 percent higher than November 2008.
Pending home sales in the South fell 15.0 percent to 97.8, but are 14.7 percent higher than a year ago.
In the West the index declined 2.7 percent to 124.6 but is 21.4 percent above November 2008.Interest Rates Likely to Go HigherYun projects an additional 900,000 first-time buyers will qualify for the extended tax credit, in addition to about 2 million who have already purchased; 1.5 million repeat buyers also are expected to benefit from the credit.“Many trade-up buyers, who have historically timed their purchase based on school-year considerations, will have to accelerate their buying plans if they need the tax credit to make a trade,” Yun said. Repeat buyers do not have to sell their existing home to qualify for the credit, but they must occupy the home they buy as their primary residence.Yun added that mortgage interest rates cannot remain at rock-bottom levels for a sustained period and will likely inch higher in 2010. But the tax credit impact in the first half of the year and expected job-growth impact in the second half will support home buying activity and absorb enough inventory to bring a rough balance between buyers and sellers. Home prices are expected to stabilize or even modestly rise as a result in 2010.

Welcome 2010!

A new year is always a fresh start for all of us. It is so refreshing to see that when this is typically our slowest time of year, Alexandria real estate market has maintained a nice steady pace. Even with the sub zero temps, I believe buyers are realizing what a great opportunity the tax credit truly is! With short sales and foreclosures still looming in our market, buyers are getting some amazing deals! Please visit my website to see what is available on the market (www.suepalmquist.com).

Will Home Prices Go Down in 2010?

Will Home Prices Go Down in 2010? Some real estate researchers are forecasting that home prices will fall again in 2010.· Fiserv Lending Solutions, a financial analytics firm, predicts that prices will decline an average of 11.3 percent in 342 of the 381 markets it covers.· Moody’s Economy.com foresees another 8 percent drop, with Arizona, California, Florida, and Nevada feeling even more pain.· Shari Olefson, author of Foreclosure Nation: Mortgaging the American Dream, predicts a national average decline in prices of about 10 percent in 2010.· Peter Schiff, president of Euro Pacific Capital and the most bearish of the bears, says real estate prices could possibly fall another 30 percent before they hit bottom.NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® Chief Economist Lawrence Yun sees it all differently. He predicts home prices will rise more than 3 percent in 2010."The headwind we face is rising mortgage interest rates," Yun says, "but the compensating factors will be the home buyers tax credit in the first half of the year and increased job creation in the second half."