Monday, February 28th, 2011 at
9:40 am
Are you out for the first time hunting for a house? Finding a home is more complicated than it appears to first-time home buyers. There are a lot of things to be considered. Purchasing a home for the first time is a huge financial step for anyone. In this time of financial crisis, be true to yourself. Your financial capacity and readiness to buy a home are the two biggest problems that can pop up in your mind. Here are some helpful facts for first-time home buyers that can help you make a wise investment.
1. Your Finances. Unless you have all the money to buy a home, you have to go select a mortgage lender to help you financially. A mortgage lender will go through all the details with regards to your finances and you too should do the same assessment of the kind of mortgage lender to choose from. As a first-time home buyer, choose one that offers a fixed rate. A fixed rate maintains the same interest rate throughout the term of your loan. Be realistic of what you have and what you can afford. Never allow your mortgage lender to get you to agree on a term that is definitely heavy on your pocket.
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Sunday, February 27th, 2011 at
9:39 am
Friday, February 25th, 2011 at
9:35 am
Question by jennifer h: How to amend 2009 taxes to claim first time home buyer tax credit?
we filed 2009 taxes already. we closed on our house 4/20/10. to claim the first time home buyers credit, do i just amend the 2009 using a 1040X and fill out home buyer form 5405? and mail this with a copy of our HUD? it just seems like i am missing something?
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Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011 at
9:29 am
Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011 at
9:30 am
Question by Candace L: are there still government first time home buyer mortgage programs?
Best answer:
Answer by jelinek121
Yes. Talk to a mortgage broker in your area to find out which programs you may qualify for. Some of the programs will require you to take a home owner’s class to get a reduction in interest rate.
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
Saturday, February 19th, 2011 at
10:01 am
Wednesday, February 16th, 2011 at
10:09 am
First time home buyers who want to take advantage of this perfect storm of affordable prices, low interest rates and unprecedented home ownership incentives have almost unlimited resources to help them make that RENT or BUY decision.
THE GOOD NEWS: There is a ton of information available to help you make the right decision!
THE BAD NEWS: There is a ton of information available to help you make the wrong decision!
The real problem is sorting the good information from the irrelevant.
Many websites feature a Rent vs Buy calculator, if you have tried them you know by now that Buy wins every time.
Yes, there are a lot of good reasons to buy, but not all will apply to your life circumstances.
First time home buyers what is the real cost of waiting?
Regardless of where you rent, you’re helping pay someone’s mortgage and it isn’t yours.
Buying on the other hand, involves multiple expenses some of which aren’t so obvious. On top of closing costs, there are repairs, property taxes, mortgage principal and mortgage interest.
Of course owning also brings benefits that have nothing to do with money. You can settle into YOUR home, repaint the walls and redo the kitchen just the way you like it.
In short it’s YOURS!
Here’s a little tool I picked up from the New York Times that will help you compare the cost of buying a home to the cost of renting. It was written by David Leonhardt, a card carrying renter.
If you find two similar houses, one for sale and the other for rent and divide the sale price by the annual rent, you can call the result the Rent Ratio.
That concept probably sounds familiar to stock market investors. It’s the real estate market’s version of a price-earnings ratio – a measure of how expensive an asset is, relative to the underlying economic fundamentals. Like the P/E ratio, the rent ratio provides something of a reality check.
Historically the average rent ratio hovered between 10 and 14. In the last few years, though it broke through that historical range and hit almost 19 by the time the housing market peaked in 2006.
In concrete terms, a rent ratio above 20 means that the monthly costs of ownership will exceed the cost of renting. Anything less the pendulum starts to swing toward home ownership.
Most of the time the decision whether to rent or buy should be based above all on your life circumstances.
Do you expect to move again in a couple of years? or is there a good chance that you’re ready to settle in – and stop worrying about real estate for a while?
A new phenomenon is now occuring in many markets due to the high number of foreclosures. Prices of homes continue to decline while rents for single family homes are remaining constant (increasing in some areas). Many homes now rent for more than the monthly payment would be if you were to buy it.
So, in many markets the Rent Ratio is dropping, which makes buying a better decision for first time home buyers who are ready.
Pretty simple, you can now compare the cost of renting with the cost of owning without all the clutter.
By the way, David is now a card carrying homeowner.
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Tuesday, February 15th, 2011 at
9:30 am
Sunday, February 13th, 2011 at
9:38 am
It’s definitely financially difficult to begin a new family and purchase your very first home for your first time, especially if you are earning below the normal rate so you are one victims of the financial economic breakdown. For this reason the federal government is awarding first time home buyers grants to prospects the required assistance.
The federal government allotted vast amounts as awards to deserving citizens to aid them in buying their first house. First time home buyers grants don’t only come from the government. Accountant Los Angeles resources dedicated to helping the citizens especially the younger families and new couples to acquire their very first dwelling. The government’s first time home buyers grants are by means of money awards that are given to successful applicants within a case to case basis. But a lot of them will not require anything in return meaning that you may get financial assistance absolutely without cost. In some instances, first time home buyers grants don’t necessarily cover all the expenses in connection with getting a home. You will have times the fact that amount granted will pay for mortgage loans, down payments, so they can complete the payment. There are also some offers that aren’t actually suitable for investing in a very new house but renovating, repairing or modifying a previously existing one. Those who are less qualified with the full grant would take their chance in getting these since they have criteria and requirements that are less strict. There are no limits in looking for any type of grant in connection with hoe financing as long as you can prove yourself eligible with the grant. It really is because if you will examine the many grants and will be offering, in addition there are numerous sources to their rear and they’re not only from government entities side but through the private business sectors too.
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Friday, February 11th, 2011 at
10:07 am
Thursday, February 10th, 2011 at
9:33 am
First Time Home Buyers ,000.00 Tax Credit
Buy your first home before April 30, 2010, and you may be eligible for a tax credit of up to ,000. Think how handy that extra money will be as you settle into your first home. The pricing and availability of homes has never been better, and now with the government’s tax credit for first-time homebuyers, there’s no reason to delay. In today’s buyer’s market you can easily combine a 3.5% seller’s concession with the 10% tax credit making it a 13.5% discount. That’s ,500.00 on a 0,000.00 property. A seller’s concession is the percentage amount a seller is allowed to contribute to the buyer of their property. This can be used towards closing cost and or down payment.
Tax Credit Details
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Monday, February 7th, 2011 at
9:48 am