Fannie Mae has several current foreclosure listings in Franklin County including this fabulously unique 3 silo home in Dublin with an indoor pool and close to 4,000 sf for $200,000

(Click Here to check out more on this unique round house in Dublin once featured on HGTV’s Extreme Home’s)

Closing Cost Assistance and Appliance Incentive for Fannie Mae Homes

Fannie Mae is offering a 3.5% incentive* for buyers who purchase and close on a Fannie Mae-owned home between January 28 and April 30, 2010. Buyers purchasing properties listed through the Homepath Program that are closed within this period may receive up to 3.5% of the final sales price for:

• Closing costs;
• The purchase of new Whirlpool® appliances by Fannie Mae; or
• A mix of closing costs and appliances, at the buyer’s discretion, up to the maximum 3.5%.

To be eligible for this incentive:

• Offers must be accepted on or after January 28, 2010
• Property sales must close before May 1, 2010
• Buyers must be owner-occupants, investors are excluded

Contact a Fannie Mae listing broker for more information.

*Lenders may impose their own limitations on the use of the 3.5% incentive, so buyers should consult their lenders for guidance.

Is downsizing to a Downtown Columbus Condo in your near future?

Let’s say that you’ve lived in your Columbus area home for some time now and somehow, someway, you’ve not refinanced your home to take advantage of the last couple years of incredible interest rates.  Even if you have, consider the logic here.

First, you may want to consider refinancing now, right now. Second, you may want to consider going into an ARM instead of a thirty year fixed if you plan on selling your Columbus Area home in 3-5 years.  You could potentially save up to 40%.

This works best if you already have considerable equity in your home, are a good candidate for an interest-only loan and you are certain you’ll be leaving the home (Relocating from Columbus, kids are out college and you’re moving or kids are that age and you’re moving From German Village to Bexley or Clintonville to Worthington for perceived better schools.)

I was just talking about this with a client last week. Thousands of people in Columbus would benefit from this move, though it isn’t for everyone. Just this morning I saw, and was inspired by, a well written post on the subject here from Dan Green, a lender based in Cincinnati, including caveats and best bets. As Mr Green Says, “When your life changes, your mortgage should, too.”

PS – There are also 7-year and 10-year ARMs so possibilities exist no matter your time frame.

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.

I really do feel bad for 2nd, 3rd and 4th time homebuyers.

Not the money itself, just the concept. I’m amazed by how many Listing Signs, Agent MLS remarks and Brokerage Office Signs are screaming out $8,000 Tax Credit!! If I didn’t know better, I would think it was the National Association of Realtors, not the United States Congress, that came up with this idea and told all of its member lackeys to shout it from the rooftops.

Prior to the tax credit, Realtors appropriated, and then seemed to take credit for, interest rates . “Why wait, rates area great” signs were everywhere.

It’s all too true though, isn’t it? Rates are great and the Tax Credit is an incredible deal that expires soon. Look over there < on the left and you’ll see I added a countdown timer.  Now you Know exactly how much time you have until the tax credit expires (You must have closed on your house By end of day on November 30, 2009)

Congress, however, is considering an extension and even as you read this bills to extend the maximum $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers are pending in both the U.S. House and the Senate. Sen. Christopher Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, is co-sponsor of a bill with Georgia Sen. Johnny Isakson that would raise the credit amount to a maximum of $15,000.

I DO think it will be extended, maybe through next year from what I’m hearing but I don’t think it will be increased.

On the Boulevard to Jumbo Home Loans, Cash is King

Columbus Houses that cost more than $730,000–the cap for conforming jumbo loans–can be extremely tough to buy, sell, or refinance these days, freezing the high-end Central Ohio market and holding down activity in lower-priced markets, real estate practitioners say or so I’ve read.

The slowdown results from lenders’ reluctance to offer mortgages above the amount Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will insure–amounts that have steadily increased over the years.

The Obama administration program to refinance underwater (those who owe more money on the house than it is worth) mortgages doesn’t offer help to holders of jumbo mortgages, so Columbus area borrowers who can’t refinance are defaulting in increasing numbers. According to First American CoreLogic, jumbos that are 90 days or more delinquent reached 4.83 percent Nationally in March 2009, up from 1.68 percent in March 2008.

Just as first time buyers getting into the marketplace helps the upward tumbling of higher end homes in the domino chain, so too does the trickle down from higher end home sales.

I’d rather see each city choose a representative non profit that helps put people on the road to home ownership and give them the first crack because this is what they do. For example, Ohio Housing Finance Authority or Columbus Housing Partnership, educate people on home ownership and then help them along the process with everything from grants to actual homes.

Compounding the situation, is the BOA assimiliation of Countrywide and the vast foreclosure inventories therein. Here is the original article…

Bank of America is making it easier for states and cities to buy foreclosures before investors purchase them.

The program is a result of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which aims to encourage redevelopment of neighborhoods hit hardest by foreclosure and the resale of properties to home owners.

Bank of America will notify participating cities that properties are available before they are listed on multiple listing services. The company will set the prices with no haggling allowed.

“We’re balancing our desire to work with communities that are struggling to stabilize with our fiduciary duty to the investors that hold the paper on all these properties,” says Rob Grossman, senior vice president of community affairs for Bank of America. “We will offer them the best price.”

Source: Chicago Tribune, Mary Ellen Podmolik (06/19/2009)

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.

You found the house, you want a deal, but what now?

It’s supposed to be a new day at FHA. Loans are supposed to be obtainable without jumping through too many hoops.

Foreclosures, in Columbus or wherever, present a problem. They need work, the bank says the work must be done before they lend on the property, they don’t belong to the buyer and yet the bank is selling them as-is.

What can be done? read more HERE….

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.

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.