First time buyers could buy this 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath home in Old Towne East for around $250K

This afternoon President Obama signed the bill into law that will extend the $8,000 homebuyer tax credit to contracts signed by April 30 and closed by June 30.

I’m surprised that they left the two month window but I think it’s very smart. Still, even if it were this week, I would not try to buy a short sale property or a foreclosure that doesn’t have the deed in the bank’s name even with the 7.5 month leeway.

Here’s the best part–a tax credit for SELLERS. The bill creates a $6,500 credit for those who buy a home after living in their current house at least five years. That will apply to contracts signed by April 30 and closed by June 30. The current credit defines a first-time homebuyer as someone who has not owned a residence within the past three years.

The credit will be available only for the purchase of principal residences priced at $800,000 or less.

This is huge. If you have owned your Columbus area home for at least five years–and I believe you must have lived in the home for at least five of the last eight years–you too can receive a credit. I can’t envision a scenario where you could claim both sides of the tax credits unless it was something along the lines of you selling your home and then turning around and buying the next home in your new spouse or girl/boyfriend’s name who has not owned a home.

The bill will raise the adjusted gross income cap to $125,000 for single filers and $225,000 for joint filers. The amount of the credit currently begins to phase out for taxpayers whose adjusted gross income is more than $75,000, or $150,000 for joint filers.

This is important. It opens the tax credit up to a whole new set of first time buyers who were not previously eligible and who could, conceivably, purchase a home with a little higher price tag that this year’s crop of first time home buyers weren’t even looking at.

Clintonville

Greater Short North including Harrison West, Italian Village and Victorian Village

German Village and Brewery District

Schumacher Place and Merion Village

Greater Olde Towne East

Grandview Hieghts and Marblecliff

Why not start with this bank owned 1488 s.f. condo in Victorian Village w/ 2 car garage, 3 beds, 2 baths for only $210,000? Yes, it needs some updating.

I had someone ask me this question yesterday…..“Hey Joe, Can I qualify for an FHA loan if my parents co-sign since I have no income? Do I personally NEED to have income?”

The short answer is yes they can, even if the child has no income or assets to speak of.  And, the adult child should be able to receive the $8,000 tax credit for first time home owners.*

I turned to Brian Connor with Huntington Bank for the definitive answer and other issues to consider. Here is what he had to say….

“The answer is “Yes”… a child can purchase a home without any income or assets, as long as an immediate family member can qualify for the new payment… along with the son or daughter’s debts, and their own respective mortgages and debts. The transaction is referred to as a “Non-Occupant Co-Borrower” – the Non-Occupant(s) being the parent or parents, and is treated as “Owner Occupied” – with the son or daughter being the Occupant; this is a better option than a parent having to purchase the home as investment property and put 20% down and be subject to higher rates.

This situation was often referred to as a “Kiddie Condo”, where a parent bought a condo or a less expensive home for a child in college who had no current income or assets to qualify on their own. They, the parent or child, could benefit from tax write-offs and appreciation of the home rather than pay $ for campus housing or rent.“

Thanks Brian, this is great information for anyone looking to help out their kids as they look for their first place or an Ohio  State University area home for sale, or Ohio Wesleyan, or Ohio Dominican, or Capitol University, or…..

*Of course, seek the advice of a certified tax professional for verification.

Wait a minute. All I have to do is pick a house and HUD will give me an $8,000 down payment?

Although nobody called me for the panel of distinguished guests at the mid-year meeting of the National Association of Realtors today in Washington D.C., I have found out that Shaun Donovan, secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, decreed today that the Federal Housing Administration is going to permit its lenders to allow homeowners to use the $8,000 tax credit as a downpayment.

Secretary Donovan went on to say, “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 downpayment,”  According to Donovan, the FHA’s approved lenders will be permitted to “monetize” the tax credit through short-term bridge loans. This will allow eligible home buyers to access the funds immediately at the closing table.

Is this great for Columbus area first time home buyers? You bet! You can read more about it here.

On the flip side, It seems to me that this is typical of the American ‘gotta-have-it-now’ mindset and all too reminiscent of the sort of ‘lend to anyone with a home buying twinkle in their eye’ mentality that got us into this mess.  Don’t have enough money for a down payment? No problem, here’s $8,000.

And, since you’re wondering anyway, that means that you could purchase about a $228,000 Columbus area home with no out of pocket down payment if you’re going with an FHA loan product and their 3.5% minimum down.

All BUT 3 of the 2 bedroom Townhomes are sold in the middle section on Gay street with the park and fountain setting in the courtyard.

4 Townhomes and 1 flat are ALREADY sold on the contemporary condos facing 5th Street.

In a time when nothing else seems to be selling, Neighborhood Launch isn’t doing too bad. It’s tough to keep track of because I tend to follow units via the MLS and not Builder Sites but I really love this project.
If not for Would-Be buyers who can’t sell their suburban homes, probably 10 more would have been sold by now.

Let’s face it, Jeff Edwards is literally launching a neighborhood in Downtown Columbus. I, for one, applaud this project. Interested? Call me to go take a look.

Yesterday I parked over at the new Ball Park and walked around it. I love it. I  am baseball fan and an Indians fan and the idea that this new Park is about 2 miles from my house makes very excited. I have tickets to the second game in the new stadium, a Sunday Afternoon game for our whole family.

But will it increase the value of surrounding homes in the Arena District, the Short North, Downtown and near Downtown neighborhoods? I believe it will help homes in the immediate vicinity retain their already solid value and become a calling card for homes like mine that can tout a “twelve minute bike ride to Huntington Park”.  They aren’t making any more land near the Arena District, as they saying goes, so homes within a couple miles, ie walking distance for the not-too-lazy, should see at least a continued extra added value that may sway a home buyer to their home.

If you live at Buggyworks or the North Bank or Burnham Square, life outside your front door just got a lot more active – and congestion filled 365 days of the year with Hockey and Baseball schedules.  Of course you walk to most of what you need and the lots aroud Nationwide Arena tend to empty out relatively smoothly.

Here is a quick re-cap on the Stimulus Plan and how it relates to Central Ohio home buyers in comparison to last Summer’s Plan:

Here is the link to the form used to dispute your Franklin County Taxes -property-value-dispute-form

And here are some of the highlights from the Instructions. If you live outside of Franklin County, look for the corresponding form on your Tax Auditor’s site.

FILING DEADLINE: A COMPLAINT FOR THE CURRENT TAX YEAR MUST BE RECEIVED BY THE COUNTY AUDITOR ON OR BEFORE MARCH 31 OF THE FOLLOWING TAX YEAR. A COUNTER-COMPLAINT MUST BE FILED WITHIN 30 DAYS AFTER RECEIPT OF NOTICE FROM THE AUDITOR THAT AN ORIGINAL COMPLAINT HAS BEEN FILED.
WHO MAY FILE: Any person owning taxable real property in the county, the board of county commissioners, the county prosecutor, the county treasurer, the board of township trustees of any township with territory in the county, the board of education of any school district with territory in the county, or the mayor or legislative authority of any municipal corporation with territory in the county may file a valuation complaint.
TENDER PAY: If the owner of a property files a complaint against the valuation of that property, then, while such complaint is pending, the owner is entitled to tender to the county treasurer an amount of taxes based on the valuation claimed for such property in the complaint.
NOTE: If the amount tendered is less than the amount finally determined, interest will be charged on the difference. In addition, if the amount finally determined equals or exceeds the amount originally billed, a penalty will be charged on the difference between the amount tendered and the final amount.
MULTIPLE PARCELS: Only parcels that (1) are in the same taxing district and (2) have identical ownership may be included in one complaint. Otherwise, separate complaints must be used. However, for ease of administration, parcels that (1) are in the same taxing district, (2) have identical ownership, and (3) form a single economic unit should be included in one complaint. The increase or decrease in valuation may be separately stated for each parcel or listed as an aggregate sum for the economic unit. If more than three parcels are included in one complaint, use additional sheets of paper.
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS: Valuation complaints must relate to the total value of both land and buildings. The Board of Revision may increase or decrease the total value of any parcel included in a complaint. The Board will notify all parties not less than ten days prior to the hearing of the time and place the complaint will be heard. The complainant should submit any documents supporting the claimed valuation to the Board prior to the hearing. The Board may also require the complainant and/or owner to provide the Board additional information with the complaint and may request additional information at the hearing, including purchase and lease agreements, closing statements, appraisal
reports, construction costs, rent rolls, and detailed income and expense statements for the property.

"In an urban setting, it's important to establish your street grid and establish your public spaces." - Georgetown Vice Chairman Edgar Lampert

Ding, Dong, the Mall is dead. So sang the Lollipop Guild Powers-That-Be from the Mayor’s Office to Capitol South Urban Redevelopment Corp. this afternoon. After years of full scale retail exodus, a not-too-hostile takeover by the City and an enormous amount of speculation, City Center isn’t getting a Target, a Grocery Store or becoming a Casino. City Center will be demolished to make room for a city park, Columbus Commons.

Eventually that park will see residential, office and retail around the edges as the market dictates. 

I’m mixed on the news which has been all  over the place today. It’s been a long time since the mall had any relevance to my life — probably not since Macy’s took off.  Though not much of a shopper, I miss what City Center used to be and I miss what it stood for — bustling commerce in the core of the City.  I want that back. In the red brick district, in the Gay Street corridor for sure but also all over downtown from the warehouse district to the Market Exchange District to the Arena District.

The uncertainty regarding the future of City Center was never good for Selling Condos in Downtown Columbus but it never really was too big a part of that equation. Its demise and subsequent greening with the carrot-on-a-stick called condos/retail/offices around it’s edges won’t be a difference maker for years to come in the sale of Downtown condos.

Just yesterday my wife and I were talking about how much it must cost to heat the mall and insure water isn’t intruding. We wondered why it wasn’t just shut and boarded. Was it simply to keep the walk-through open to the Ohio Theater from the underground parking?

This whole Urban Renewal thing is sooo slow. When the park exists, if it’s done nicely and the whole River South theme blends beautifully and effortlessly together with Columbus Commons, then it will make a difference.  The end of indecision regarding the future of the site, however, can’t hurt.

related:  Goodbye Macy’s, Hello . . .         Macy’s to Pull out of Downtown Columbus’ City Center

In September, TEN properties sold.  When you think about this, it makes Grandview a pretty active and healthy market with an absorption rate of somewhere between 5 and 6 months or about 170 days — a long time if you’re selling your Grandview home but considerably better than some other local markets. Better yet, the average last month was only 95 days on market.

The ten Grandview homes that sold last month ranged from a 2 bedroom Grandview Commons condo that went at list price of $134,900 after 143 days on market to a nicely updated 3000 sf, 4 bedroom home on Glenn that sold for $480,000 in less than two weeks on the market.

How many Grandview or Marble Cliff homes are currently in contract you ask Well, 14 all total including a whopping TWELVE condos from Jamestown of Grandview to Cottswold Condos to Grandview Commons to Grandview Passage.  That means only 2 Single Family Homes are currently in contract in Grandview and I often say that the best barometer of where this market is are the contingent homes. These two homes aren’t really able to be lumped together though, one is listed at $256/sf on Cambridge and the other at $184/sf on Lincoln.

If you’re interested in a home for sale in Grandview or a home for sale in Marble Cliff, give me a jingle.