Tax Credit Can Be Used for Down Payment

Shaun Donovan, secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, on Tuesday said that the Federal Housing Administration is going to permit its lenders to allow home buyers to use the $8,000 tax credit as a down payment.

Previously, most buyers wouldn't receive the funds until after they filed their tax return, and that deterred some people from using the credit. The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® has been calling for the 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. His remarks came in an address to several thousand REALTORS® gathered Tuesday morning at "The Real Estate Summit: Advancing the U.S. Economy," at the 2009 REALTORS® Midyear Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo in Washington, D.C. (More)

Source: Realtor.org

Facing the Reality of Realty in 2009

As buyers are slowly coming back into the housing market, they already know this isn't the market of five years ago. It's not the market of even a year ago, either.

The low interest rates, the tax benefits and the more reasonable prices have all been reported. If that combination has you itching to take action, here are the things to keep in mind before you mentally start picturing yourself in a new home by Christmas.

No paperwork, no showing. Don't fall in love with that house online and expect to get a real peek at it the next day. Increasingly, real estate agents won't take clients out to a listing unless they are pre-qualified, or even better, pre-approved for a mortgage.

"If you're not pre-qualified, you're wasting everybody's time, including your own," said Gerald Knight, a real estate agent and mortgage originator at Century 21 Galaxy in Oak Lawn. "And [people] need to know that being pre-qualified is not being pre-approved." (More)

Source: Chicago Tribune

Spring Into Home Maintenance

Spring is always an ideal time to be checking the exterior of your home and catching up on any maintenance items that have come to light since last summer. As always, maintenance begins with a stroll around the house and a careful examination of its condition. Take a tablet with you, make some notes as you go, and then sit down and work up a list of things to take care of -- sort the list in order of the most pressing items first -- and then list the tools and materials you'll need for each task. By sorting and organizing your list in this manner, you can take what may sometimes be a long list of projects and make it a lot easier to undertake. (More)

Source: Yahoo Real Estate

Reverse Mortgages Good Option for Some Seniors

That Ralph and Plum Smith bought a house last month in Brookings, Ore., is not terribly remarkable, at least not until you learn that he's 84 and she's 77. But what is even more noteworthy is that the couple didn't pay cash for their new $240,000 home, yet they will have no mortgage payments.

The Smiths are among the first seniors in the country to close on a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) for purchase, a form of federally insured reverse mortgage authorized by Congress in the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. The law took effect Jan. 1. The program is aimed largely at people 62 years or older who want to move down the housing ladder. The idea is to allow them to sell their current residence and use a reverse mortgage to buy a new one, all in a single transaction. (More)

Source: Chicago Tribune

Putting the Cozy Back in Late 20th Century Homes

Latest book from 'Not So Big' priestess lays out steps to take the expense, disruption out of remodeling

Soft-spoken Sarah Susanka wouldn't seem to be the "I told you so" type, but ... well, she told you so.

For more than a decade, the architect has campaigned for houses to be built smaller but better. Her basic message: Figure out how big a house you need, and then subtract about a third of the square footage. Good design will make up the difference.

Lots of people caught on right away: Her wildly popular series of "Not So Big" home-design books earned her practically a cult following, and her publisher says she has sold more than 1 million books. (More)

Source: Chicago Tribune

The Pitfalls of Reverse Mortgages

For years, reverse mortgages have been sold as a way for cash-strapped seniors to get some extra cash. But falling home prices, lending rules and growing instances of fraud could make these loans an incredibly risky proposition for some borrowers.

With a reverse mortgage, homeowners 62 years of age or older can convert the equity in their home into a loan that they won't have to pay back until they either die or move out. If they move out, the borrower either has to cough up the cash or sell the home, a move so difficult in today's housing market that they could end up facing foreclosure. (More)

Source: Smart Money

Choosing Right Flooring for Your Home

Now is not the time to build a floor from exotic woods shipped from afar. Instead, experts say homeowners want attractive flooring that is durable, affordable, low maintenance, sustainable — and when possible, locally sourced.

Interest in eco-friendly products such as bamboo and cork flooring is on the rise. So is tried-and-true hardwood flooring — especially that which has been repurposed from deconstructed buildings. Concrete — acid-washed, color-stained and highly polished — is another long-lasting and inexpensive option. Advances with ceramic tile make it increasingly versatile. And although carpeting is used less often, when it is, low-VOC and stylish commercial-grade carpeting is the way to go. (More)

Source: Chicago Tribune

When April Showers Bring Drainage Problems

Houses are designed to shed water, one surface onto another past flashing and caulking, and finally into drainage systems that carry it away from the building. But many homes have a few problems, and spring a few leaks, along the way.

It's not just leaves in the fall, but twigs and other debris that can pile up over the winter, particularly in valleys where roofs intersect, and sometimes around chimneys and vent pipes that protrude through the roof. Winter ice dams can also cause pileups of debris that won't wash away on their own in the spring. Simply sweeping debris off the roof prevents more blockages and possible leaks. The caveat, of course, is to work safely, and if not with special rigging equipment, only on walkable (low-slope) roofs. (More)

Source: Chicago Tribune

Washington Report: Mortgage Reform Bill

A massive new mortgage reform bill has Washington real estate and banking groups buzzing, both critically and in favor.

The bill was introduced last week by House financial services committee chairman Barney Frank -- who's arguably the most influential legislator on housing issues on Capitol Hill.

Supporters say the 151-page bill would have gone a long way to preventing mortgage lending excesses during the housing boom, especially no-documentation, negative amortization and zero downpayment deals, had it been federal law before the boom started in 2002 or 2003.

The bill, which is expected to pass the House easily this month and go to the Senate in May, would change home mortgage lending fundamentally. (More)

Source: Yahoo Real Estate

Sunrooms Add Light, Space and Value

The idea is nothing new. Thomas Jefferson's house had one. President Taft added one to the White House. Many of the early 20th Century catalog houses featured one. But for a variety of reasons, the sunroom is enjoying a renaissance today.

"It's a relatively inexpensive addition to a house," says Paul Bishop, managing director of research for the National Association of Realtors (NAR). "It adds square footage and it sets apart the house at resale."

Asked which rooms are "very important," respondents to the NAR's most recent "Profile of Buyers' Home Feature Preferences" ranked a sunroom higher than a media room, exercise room and in-law suite.

Buyers in the Northeast and Midwest are warmer to the notion than are buyers in the South and West. (More)

Source: Chicago Tribune