Fannie Mae is trying to tighten up its initiative to facilitate the sale of REOs to owner-occupants with FIRST LOOK®. For the first 15 days the home is marketed, only offers from owner occupants are considerered or accepted. After those 15 days, if no offer has been accepted, the field is open to corporations and investor-owners as well (those that do not plan to live in the home).

Fannie Mae wants to encourage owner occupied purchases to stabilize hard hit neighborhoods. These properties can be found on www.HomePath.com. Fannie Mae says these buyers bring permanency and stability to tenuous markets where swollen inventories of foreclosures have taken their toll, and the GSE is making some changes to ensure owner-occupants and public entities have “first look” at its REO homes.

“While investors play an important role in the REO market, homebuyers who intend to occupy a home make an immediate and lasting commitment to the community and therefore merit priority consideration in the REO sales process,” said Jay Ryan, Vice President for Alternative REO Dispositions at Fannie Mae. “Public entities under the Neighborhood Stabilization Program also benefit from inspecting eligible properties and making offers to purchase without pressure from open market competition. These entities are making considerable investments in rehabilitation and stabilization.”

To get the process started to purchase your Fannie Mae owned home is easy. Visit http://www.garrick.biz/forms/purchaseAssistant.html to get the process started!

	Subscribe to The-Buzzz
	» JOIN NOW

Late Wednesday night the Senate followed the lead of the House of Representatives and voted to extend the closing deadline for the popular homebuyer tax credit that was scheduled to expire yesterday at midnight. Once President Obama signs the Homebuyer Assistance and Improvement Act of 2010, which he is expected to do next week, homebuyers will have until September 30 to close on their home purchase and still qualify for the tax credit (as long as they signed their sales contract by April 30, 2010).

The federal tax credit was part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act signed into law in February 2009. The $8,000 credit was available to first time buyers who purchased a house after January 1, 2009 and was originally scheduled to expire on November 30, 2009. The credit was seen to have stimulated home sales, especially in the lower price ranges, and in November Congress extended it through April 30 and added a $6,500 tax credit for non-first-time buyers.

http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/06292010_homebuyer_tax_credit_extension.asp

The number of contracts to buy existing homes rose as expected in April thanks to the tax credit ending on April 30th. Home sales are actually up 25% over April 2009 and reported a gain over March of 5.3%

Since then there has been a plunge of new mortgage applications. I like what Russell Price, a senior economist at Ameriprise Financial Inc. said, “This is the last hurrah for the housing market for a while…There will be a temporary hangover that will last a few months. The recovery will be a slow process that will take a few years.”

I can say that personally, I have seen a huge increase in refinance applications and a serious slow down in purchase applications over the past three weeks. I think it is silly to make a move simply because of a tax credit. While it is a great incentive, it should not be the only incentive to buy.

In April the 30 year fixed was at hanging around 5.25% today they are as low as 4.75% on a $500,000 home with 20% down that saves you $122 a month! Think about it, lower rates, less competition, you will have less competition writing offers right now and will most likely get a better deal than you would have in April. Not to mention the savings over thirty years vs. the actual “cash” one receives from an $8000 credit. Getting off the fence while it is slow is the best buying strategy there is. My clients who purchased in December 2008 through February 2009 received the best deals I have ever seen. Why? Because there was NO ONE in the market!

Getting Pre Approved is EASY!

My team has 46 years combined experience and we always place an emphasis on low market rates, education of the entire process, and availability in escrow. Check us out or apply online at www.garrick.biz.

Very Truly Yours,

Garrick

With the expiration of the government’s homebuyer tax credit, real estate firms, developers and home owners are already taking matters into their own hands—offering incentives or refunds to buyers after the credit expires.

Many real estate firms are pushing home sellers to offer incentives of their own, usually by agreeing to refund some of the purchase price to the buyer. Some developers are offering similar refunds to buyers of new homes or condos.

“In a way, it’s marketing the property,” says Gloria Marina, an agent at Florida-based real estate firm Esslinger Wooten Maxwell, who recently convinced a seller to offer an $8,000 refund on a $269,000 home in the Miami area. “The usual way you motivate people to buy is to drop prices, but this house is already well priced.”

One of the larger companies pushing the new incentives is Coldwell Banker, a subsidiary of the global real estate giant Realogy. It is asking sellers to participate in a program that will give buyers 3 percent off the agreed-to sale price, up to a maximum of $8,000. The program will run from May 1 through July 31. (from Coldwell Banker)

This is a strategy I as a lender have been preaching for years.  I take the 3% seller credit and apply it to rate. Today, on an FHA purchase of $500,000, the principal and interest payment is $2590 at 5% interest (5.23%apr). Using a seller buydown that payment is $2338 at a rate of 4.125% on a 30 year fixed. I just saved my client $251 a month because I know how to use the market to my client’s advantage.  I can produce quick and accurate scenarios for the seller buydown strategy to both buyers and seller looking to make a move in this HOT (YES HOT!) real estate market.

The strategies I offer ensure my clients actually never need me again because we get such low rates. For more information on or your scenario you can fill out my automated purchase assistant by clicking on this sentence.