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.

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

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

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

Copyright © 2009 The Seattle Times Company

The number of closed sales of single-family homes in King County in June was up 4 percent over June 2008 — the first year-over-year increase since the market peaked nearly two years ago, the Northwest Multiple Listing Service said Monday.

The county hasn’t recorded that many sales in a month since October 2007.

The statistics also suggest — and agents in the field confirm — that the new buyers aren’t just first-timers searching for homes at the lowest end of the price spectrum.

Total sales in Southwest and Southeast King County — the most affordable areas — were actually down from a year ago. Sales in Seattle, in contrast, rose nearly 11 percent, with neighborhoods north of the Ship Canal leading the way.

On the Eastside, sales were up almost 4 percent overall. In the Juanita-Woodinville-Duvall area, they surged nearly 31 percent.

By Eric Pryne

Seattle Times business reporter

The most bearish of Wall Street economic analysts have made the same point for the past 18 months. There’s no recovery or rebound in the housing market, they said, until home builders start building again.

“Show us positive numbers on new home starts for a few months,” they say, “and then we will we agree that the housing market has finally turned around.”

Hey there bears, here are the numbers you asked for: Last week the Commerce Department reported an unexpectedly large increase in new single family home starts during May – up by seven and a half percent.

That was the THIRD consecutive monthly gain in single family starts. Total starts, including multifamily apartment starts and condos, were up by 17 and a half percent!!

Not only were starts up a lot, but so were other key indicators of future home building activity: single family permits, which surged by about 8 percent. That was the second straight monthly gain in permits – and points to at least moderately higher starts in the coming six months to a year.

On top of the good news about new construction, which has clearly been the weakest segment of the housing market since 2007, we also got some other positive reports last week:

Consumer confidence, which is extremely important for home buying, was up again for the fourth consecutive month, according to the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment survey.

Even retail sales were up slightly — and that’s an important sign that people are slowly coming out of the shell they’ve been in since last Fall, and are now starting to spend money again.

The latest inflation readings — both the Consumer Price Index and the Producer Price Index — were down slightly in May. Despite rising gas price, a dollar bought a little more in goods and services last month than the month before. That’s good.

The National Association of Home Builders now projects that the current recession will end in the second half of 2009, with a one point five percent growth rate in the overall economy between July and December.

Finally, mortgage rates took a slight dip last week after several weeks of increases. Fixed thirty year rates averaged about 5.5 percent last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, after climbing to 5.6 percent the previous week.

Many lenders had actually been quoting much higher rates – all the way to 6 percent – because of inflation fears in the bond market.

We’ve definitely got to keep our eye on mortgage rates, but otherwise the rebound appears to be underway.

Realtytimes Kenneth R. Harney

If the Seattle residential real-estate market is coming back to life — and that’s still a big if, despite a relatively upbeat monthly report Tuesday — it’s because of people like Lori Gifford. She and her fiancé, Scott Brush Goodwin, bought their first house last month. It’s a two-bedroom, one-bath former rental in the Arbor Heights neighborhood that the previous owner lost last year through foreclosure. Goodwin and Gifford paid Washington Federal Savings $249,000 for it. “I’ve been living in Seattle for 14 years, and I never really thought I could afford to buy a house,” Gifford says. But when they started looking this spring, “it all kind of came together,” she says. The key elements: Lower prices. Lower mortgage-interest rates. And new incentives for first-time buyers. The Northwest Multiple Listing Service reported Tuesday that pending single-family home sales in King County topped 2,000 in April, the first month that level has been reached since August 2007. Pending sales — offers that have been accepted, but haven’t yet closed — were up 25 percent from March, and up nearly 15 percent from April 2008. Sales numbers were even stronger in Snohomish County, up 28 percent year over year. Brokers said homes at the lower end of the price spectrum accounted for a disproportionate share of the surge, as did sales to first-time buyers. “Right now it’s a lot busier than it was last spring,” said Desiree Loughlin, associate broker at Windermere Real Estate’s West Seattle office, who represented Gifford and Goodwin. Mike Skahen, broker with Lake & Co. in Seattle, agreed. “This is the most positive market we’ve had in almost two years,” he said. “It’s been so bad.” The median price of a house sold in King County in April was $380,000, down 15 percent from April 2008. Still, that number was higher than the median price in February or March, and some brokers said it could be a sign that prices are stabilizing as demand picks up. But sales of higher-priced homes remained sluggish, they agreed. The median price of a condo that sold in King County in April was $250,000, down 11 percent year over year. Pending condo sales were up 42 percent from March, but down 8 percent from last April. Pending sales usually close a month or so after offers are accepted. But the number of closed single-family home sales in King County in April — 1,004 — represented just 60 percent of the pending sales reported in March, an unusually low share. Skahen and Matt Deasy, general manager of Windermere’s Eastside operations, said that’s probably because of the large number of “short sales” — sales for less than the amount the owner owes to lenders — now in the works. They can take three to four months to close, the brokers said. Loughlin estimates short sales and bank-owned homes account for 20 percent of all sales in West Seattle. She met Gifford and Goodwin at a seminar she hosted in January for prospective first-time buyers. The couple had looked at houses in the fall, but couldn’t find anything they liked in their price range. When they started looking again this spring, the difference in prices was “jaw-dropping,” says Goodwin, who works for a travel company. Their new house is small — 820 square feet atop an 820-square-foot unfinished basement. But it sits on a huge lot, nearly half an acre, with a peekaboo view of Puget Sound. The land was a big part of the property’s appeal, Gifford says. There’s room for a workshop, maybe a greenhouse, maybe a deck someday. The house itself has a new roof and recently remodeled kitchen, but “it looked as if people had trashed the place,” Gifford says. To qualify for the Federal Housing Administration financing they wanted, Gifford and Goodwin had to patch some walls, install gutters and make electrical repairs. But they recouped much of that expense from the bank at closing. And, according to county records, the price they paid is just $14,000 more than what the owner who lost the house to foreclosure paid for it — in 2002. Gifford and Goodwin closed and moved in several weeks ago — just in time to welcome their first child. Haven Goodwin was born last Tuesday. Eric Pryne: 206-464-2231 or epryne@seattletimes.com

February 17,2009 2pm

The $790 billion stimulus package signed by President Obama today increases the home buyer tax credit to $8,000, drops the repayment feature, reinstates last year’s 2008 loan limits for FHA, Freddie Mac, and Fannie Mae loans, and provides $2 billion in additional funding for states and localities to be used to purchase, manage, repair and resell foreclosed and abandoned properties.

Homebuyer Tax Credit.

The bill provides for a $8,000 tax credit that would be available to first-time home buyers (those who haven’t owned in at least three years) for the purchase of a principal residence on or after January 1, 2009 and before December 1, 2009. The credit does not require repayment for buyers who hold onto their property for at least three years. Most of the mechanics of the credit will be the same as under the 2008 rules: the credit will be claimed on a tax return to reduce the purchaser’s income tax liability. If any credit amount remains unused, then the unused amount will be refunded as a check to the purchaser.

Washington REALTORS®

Looking for accessibility, affordability and diversity? That defines the sometimes-overlooked, historically blue-collar South Beacon Hill neighborhood, where buyers can find a home in good condition for $350,000-$450,000, minutes from downtown Seattle. “We don’t have to listen to the traffic reports on the radio, since we can get downtown without using the freeway” says local resident David Nicholson, who also is a John L. Scott Real Estate agent. It’s a short trip by car or bus now and will be even faster when the new Sound Transit Light Rail opens next year, with its main route along Beacon Hill’s eastern edge and a station on North Beacon Hill. The resurgence of North Beacon Hill, home to Amazon.com’s headquarters, the Veterans Affairs Medical Center and bordering the Chinatown International District, started in the early 1990s.

South Beacon Hill has taken longer to catch on, but with housing prices out of reach of middle-income buyers in much of Seattle, more people are taking a look. The revival of Columbia City to the east and the hip Georgetown to the west are an asset to South Beacon Hill, providing nearby nightlife, dining and shopping options. South Beacon Hill is mostly residential with few commercial businesses; locals take it as a sign of originality and independence that it’s the largest neighborhood in Seattle without a Starbucks. MacPherson’s produce stand near the Veterans hospital is a shopping hot spot, usually crowded with bargain-hunters stocking up on an array of fresh fruits and vegetables. Beacon Hill has a rich history. Local pioneers Henry Van Asselt, Jacob Maple and John Holgate settled in the area in the 1850s, harvesting timber near the Duwamish Tribe’s village of Tal-tal-jus, according to HistoryLink.org. The Seattle Indian Wars of 1854-56 drove away settlers until Union Army veteran M. Harwood Young moved to area to start a real-estate development in 1889 and named it after the historic Beacon Hill neighborhood in his hometown, Boston. Development of Jefferson Park Municipal Golf Course began in 1915 and Cleveland High School opened in 1927. Most homes in the area were built from the late 1940s through the 1970s, with a few older homes including Craftsman-style and brick classics from the 1920s and ’30s. Always an area of affordable housing, most houses are of modest size and design. An exception is Lockmore, a pocket of large, upscale homes along an eastern-view bluff just south of Columbian Way and east of Beacon Avenue that looks more like Laurelhurst or North Admiral in West Seattle than Beacon Hill. The neighborhood also is spelled Lochmoor by some, said Nicholson who said he relies on the Lockmore spelling taken from the plat name and legal descriptions. Historically, South Beacon Hill is a stable neighborhood, with many families occupying their homes through generations. There are several areas of new homes, most notably the NewHolly community, a 1,400-home Seattle Housing Authority redevelopment that mixes market-priced and subsidized homes and condos in a totally new neighborhood with parks, green spaces and a community center/library/family center complex. “This is the first neighborhood I’ve lived in where I’ve hung out with my neighbors,” says NewHolly resident Edward Bartholomew, as he watches his 10-month-old daughter, Ella, toddle around the tidy New Holly campus lawn. “We have progressive dinners, spontaneous block parties, all kinds of activities. Five babies were born on our block the past year!” Bartholomew says. “There’s so much diversity and such a sense of community here. It takes an effort to bring all the cultures together, but there’s willingness on all sides, and lots of hope for the future.”

By Madeline McKenzie

Special to The Seattle Times