Time is running out for first-time buyers or anyone who hasn’t owned a home in the past three years to take advantage of the $8,000 federal tax credit. Considering the time it takes from the point of finding a home to closing, prospective buyers should act now, as there are only 75 days left to take advantage of the credit.
First-time buyers should act quickly in order to close by midnight on November 30 and qualify for the credit. The Get the REAL Story® campaign has made several resources for first-time buyers available on www.REALstoryNJ.com, including a frequently asked questions (FAQs) flyer on the tax credit. First thing to do is contact a REALTOR.
According to a report that was released this past Monday by HUD (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development), the sales of newly built single-family homes rose in June by 11%; this translates to an annualized rate of 384,000 homes.
Peter Morici, an economics professor at the University of Maryland, said “That is really good news, with all the foreclosure activity sending down home prices, for new homes to jump like that is a good indicator that the economy is bottoming out.”
A housing industry analyst for IHS Global Insight, Pat Newport, also commented about the report. “The tax credit is boosting demand, but what will happen when it goes away in December?” he asked. Excess inventory still exists in some key markets, such as:
California
Florida
Las Vegas
Arizona
Even with business getting better, the time for getting deals is going away fast.
Linda & Terry Iwaniw | Resales & Investment Realty | 609-417-1084
16 Adams Ave, Berlin, NJ
Fabulous 3 Bedroom Twin in Ready-To-Move-In Condition.
3BR/1BA Single Family House
offered at $162,000
Year Built
1992
Sq Footage
1,392
Bedrooms
3
Bathrooms
1 full, 0 partial
Floors
Unspecified
Parking
Unspecified
Lot Size
4,264 sqft
HOA/Maint
$0 per month
DESCRIPTION
A gorgeous HUD Owned 3 bedroom 1.5 bath twin home in Pine Valley Estates in move-in condition. The garage was converted to a large family room, and pergo flooring added in foyer and dining room. Includes gas heat and central air and no HOA (Home Owners Assoc) fees. Just a short distance from Pine Hill Middle School and Overbrook High School. All this can be yours for $1470/mo*.
For an appointment to see this property call 609-417-1084.
*(Principle,interest, taxes, and insurance payment based on a 30-year FHA fixed rate of 6.00% with 3.5% down to qualified buyers)…
There is another news announcement that “Buyers Being Lured to 100% Loan Program” that was in the recent issues of The Wall Street Journal. The article states that more buyers in search of home loans are turning to an obscure program operated by the United States Department of Agriculture.
Well, we wrote about this program a few months back. The blog entry detailed this little know mortgage loan program. The program allows no-money-down purchases. For those that qualify, a borrower can seek up to 102 percent, including a mortgage insurance policy. To quality, buyers can’t have income that exceeds 115 percent of the median county income. Additionally, the loans are restricted to low-density areas (usually towns of no more than 25,000 residents). The loans are made by private lenders, which are then insured by the government.
For more information, contact your personal mortgage representative. Or, if you don’t have one, we can highly recommend a few that we have done business with and have been completely satisfied with their service, as have our clients. Just contact us by calling 609-417-1084.
There a quite a few changes here at I Team. One change is that we now have access to the Jersey Shore MLS (Ocean County). So, if you want to know any information about any property being marketed in Ocean County, just let us know the MLS# or other information and we’ll be more then happy to send you the details on it.
Linda & Terry Iwaniw
REALTOR Associates
Resales & Investment Realty
In the last few weeks there’s been quite a bit written about the power of social networks that are online. I even posted a message previously asking the best way to use these social networks. The key questions is to let everyone know of any new networks that you joined or have created.
Specifically, I created a social network that deals with real estate issues in Southern NJ. The biggest challenge is to be able to get the word out about this new network. Additionally, I’d like to set the tone of the network group so that it is NOT just a forum for other agents to sign up and try to recruit other members as buyers. This, I think, would be the biggest turn-off for any real estate consumer that joined and would pretty much destroy the network.
I’m trying to establish a forum for consumers to join where they can feel comfortable and safe in discussing and asking questions about real estate issues. I’d like to see them do this without having to worry about being deluged with solicitations from other agents.
As I posted before, I am a member of so many different online social networking sites that I’m seriously thinking of putting a database together in order to be able to keep track of all of them. But most importantly, I’m beginning to see these social networks as the very same communities that were started during the MLM heydays of the mid 90’s, where members within the industry are trying to sell their product or service to each other and the few select people.
In that the vast majority of real estate consumers tend to register/join anywhere from 5-8 agent’s sites when they are looking for a home. They do this as if each agent has some special information or inside track on properties that no other agent does. But how can you educate the consumer? You need to start interacting with them. And you can’t interact with them if when they join any kind of community they are deluged with solicitations from every real estate agent that is registered with that community.
I, on the other hand, look forward to discussing in detail the specifics about any real estate issues as they pertain to the Southern NJ area. Be they foreclosures, home prices, or 1st Time Home Buyer issues, as a real estate professional I feel that it is my obligation to educate the consumer about all issues pertaining to real estate and not just try to sell them a house or my services.
So, in conslusion, I’d be interested to hear from others as to which online social networks that you belong to and your opinion of that network.
Central A/C
Stumble It!