Do you have to repay your homebuyer tax credit?

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Nearly half of all Americans who claimed the first-time homebuyer tax credit on their 2009 tax returns will have to repay the government. According to a report from the Inspector General for Tax Administration, released to the public Thursday, about 950,000 of the nearly 1.8 million Americans who claimed the tax credit on their 2009 tax returns will have to return the money. The confusion comes because homebuyers were eligible for two different credits, depending on when their homes were purchased.

Slowly but Surely Recovering

Median home price: $371,000

Value lost since 2006: 15.2%

Seattle has become a world-class city with a diverse, vibrant economy. As a home to manufacturers such as Boeing and software providers such as Microsoft, the job market has held up better than average, with a current unemployment rate of 8.8%.

Home prices had a softer landing as well, dropping just 15.2% over the past three years, about half the national average.

Rent vs. Buy?

The big question for home buyers and sellers today is: “Where are home prices headed?” People want to know if now is a good time to buy or sell, or if they should wait. We all need to stay on top of trends in real estate values — so what’s a good way to analyze the situation?

Yale economist Robert Shiller states it bluntly: ”If you look at the trend in rents to see where housing prices are headed, you’re looking at the right measure.” Shiller is the co-developer of the S&P Case/Shiller Home Price Indices that monthly track residential real estate values nationally and in 20 metro areas.

Traditionally, people have been willing to pay a modest premium to own a home rather than rent it. Recent studies report that in 1999 rents averaged 87% of the after-tax mortgage payment for houses and condos of similar size in the same neighborhood.

Median price of homes rises in Seattle!

Home prices in the city of Seattle rose in January for the first time in nearly two years while they continued to fall in the rest of King County, according to one closely watched measure. The median price of a house that sold in Seattle last month was $415,000, up from $400,000 in January 2009, the Northwest Multiple Listing Service said Thursday. The last time Seattle — or any other area in King County — saw a year-over-year increase was in February 2008. While prices rose 3.8 percent in the city in January, they fell 6.5 percent on the Eastside, 8.5 percent in Southeast King County, 11.1 percent in North King County and 11.2 percent in Southwest King County. The suburban declines pulled the county’s overall median price into the red, down 2 percent from January 2009.

Places to give…

World Concern
World Vision
One Days Wages

President Obama signed the tax credit extension!!

First Time Homebuyers

The current law is extended until April 30, 2010. Buyers have until that date to have a signed purchase agreement. There is an additional 60 day grace period to complete the financing. More first time homebuyers are eligible because the new law raises the annual income limits from $75,000 to $125,000 for singles and from $150,000 to $225,000 for married couples.

Current Home Owners

Over 60 percent of current home owners will be eligible for a tax credit of up to $6,500 if they purchase a home by April 30, 2010. These homebuyers must have lived in their home for five consecutive years over the previous eight years to qualify. Qualified homebuyers can get the credit if they purchase a home for $800,000 or less as their primary residence between November 7, 2009 and April 30, 2010. The income limits are the same as the First Time Homebuyer listed above.

FAQ

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — President Obama signed an extension and expansion of the first-time homebuyers tax credit on Friday. The $8,000 credit was scheduled to lapse on Dec. 1 but will now be in effect through the end of June.

The $8000 tax credit video

Here is a short video explaining the federal $8,000 tax credit for first time home buyers.

Dec. 1 is coming up!

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Use any metaphor you want: the ticking clock, sands running through the hourglass or pages falling away from the calendar. The fact is, time is running out to claim the $8,000 first-time homebuyers tax credit.

Passed earlier this year as part of the economic stimulus package, the credit is good for up to $8,000, or 10% of the purchase price, and applies to people who have not owned a home in the previous three years. (There are some income restrictions.) The best part: Unlike a similar program from 2008, the credit does not have to be repaid.

The bad part: It ends on Dec. 1.

Because it usually takes around 90 days to close on a house after a contract is signed, buyers have very little time left to act. As of Thurs., Aug. 27, there were only 96 days left before the credit ends.

“Buyers have to get a home under contract very, very soon,” said Tom Kunz, CEO of Century 21. “They probably should get out looking.”
Sense of urgency

What they will find may surprise them: Many of the prime properties have already been snapped up. Home sales have been on the upswing, and inventories are so depleted in hot markets that first-time buyers are struggling to find homes in their price range. (Check prices in your city.)

In Whittier, Calif., for example, there are few repossessed homes for sale. Those are easy to buy because there isn’t a lot of red tape and the bank wants to get rid of them as quickly as possible. Instead, most of the properties are short sales, where the sellers have to convince their lender to let them sell the house for less than they owe.

“That’s why there’s such a sense of urgency now,” said Irma Tapper, a Century 21 real estate agent in Whittier. “The banks have to approve short sales, and they’re taking three to six months to do that.”

That means a first timer putting a bid on a short-sale might not get an answer form the bank until well after the Dec. 1 deadline for the tax credit. So when an actual repossession listing hits the markets, it creates a feeding frenzy.

Chuck Whitehead, who runs the Coldwell Banker agency in Temecula, Calif., said one recent listing hit the market on a Friday and by Monday there were 57 bids.

The National Association of Realtors attributes much of this activity to the first-time buyer tax credit. It estimates that 1.8 million buyers will file for the credit, and 350,000 of them wouldn’t have been able to buy without it.

“It makes a big difference because most of these clients are in a lower price range,” said Michelle Edmunds, an agent with Coldwell Banker in Temecula, Calf., who has closed sales for six first-time buyers. “The houses they buy need work and normally they wouldn’t want to move in because of the [less than perfect] conditions the homes are in.”

That is true for Wesley Forsythe. This June, the 30-year-old computer consultant and his girlfriend bought a row house in the Fishtown section of Philadelphia. Since he paid just $80,000 for the three-bedroom, two-bath place, the credit acted like a 10% discount.

“It allowed us to expand our price range and plan additional renovations,” he said. “My mortgage is several hundred dollars less than what my new rent would have been.”

Forsythe applied for the credit immediately after closing, filing an amended 2008 tax return. The IRS cut him a check in less than seven weeks. He’s spending it now on new hardwood floors, repainting most of the interior and renovating a bathroom. He’s stretching the cash by doing much of the work himself.
Cash for Clunkers effect

Of course, analysts worry that this frenzy will dry up once the tax credit expires. They argue that without the incentive, much of the pressure on homebuyers to act quickly will vanish, and the nascent housing recovery could slump.

In many ways the tax credit is similar to the Cash for Clunkers program that ended this week. Already, auto dealers are anticipating that car sales will evaporate after accelerating during the program.

“It’s just like Cash for Clunkers,” said Robert Dye, a senior economist for PNC Financial Services Group. “It runs the risk of a let-down as the program runs its course.”

Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., who is a former real estate broker, is pushing legislation to extend the tax credit through next year, increase it to $15,000, include non-first-time homebuyers, and remove income restrictions.

The effort has drawn strong industry support.

“We need to stimulate the move-up buyer,” said Century 21′s Kunz, “so it works its way up the pricing food chain. That’s what we need to get inventory moving again.”
By Les Christie, CNNMoney.com

Gallery & Brix Condo Auctions

The auctions for both properties will be held on Sunday, September 27th at the Grand Hyatt Seattle (721 Pine Street). Brix goes first starting at 1:00 PM with Gallery starting later at 6:00 PM.

http://seattlecondosandlofts.com/images/Brix_Gallery_release.pdf

Do you know what you are buying?

Real-estate contracts have grown lengthier. And new potential problems — such as your home turning out to be a former meth lab — have emerged. As a result, many home buyers and sellers may not have all the information they need to make sure their rights are protected, says Adam Morrow, a lawyer and real-estate agent with Sound Counsel Realty in Seattle.

“Basically, people get into trouble because they rely on real-estate agents for legal advice, which they’re not qualified to give,” he says.

These are some of the most common legal snarls that entangle home buyers and sellers.

The liability box. Home-sale contracts have a form called the Real Estate Transfer Disclosure Statement. Otherwise known as Form 17, this page has a very important little box. If a seller checks the box, they agree the buyer can sue them if they later discover a problem. If they leave it unchecked, the buyer can’t.

It’s a critical item that sellers and buyers should negotiate on, says Marc Holmes, a broker and a lawyer at Craig Blackmon in Seattle. When he’s advising buyers, he tells them to make sure it’s checked; sellers, he advises to leave it unchecked.

“No” vs “don’t know.” Seller-disclosure forms list possible house problems, from rats to septic trouble. The choices are to say “yes,” “don’t know” or “no,” meaning the seller knows the problem doesn’t exist. Many sellers check “no” as it seems more reassuring to buyers, even if they don’t really know. But the “no” answer opens the door to future lawsuits if a problem is found later.