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Mike is a Real Estate Specialist for Firelight at Highlands Ranch
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Get your $8,000! Thursday, July 23, 2009
If you don't own a home and haven't owned a home in the past three years, you might be able to get a free $8,000 from the U.S. Government. It's getting to be old news but not everyone is taking advantage of it.
1) First-time home buyers who purchase a home in 2009 may qualify for a tax credit (not a loan, a true credit) of up to $8,000 or 10% of the purchase price, whichever is less.
2) The Tax Credit is for home buyers (either spouse if filing jointly) who have NOT owned a principle residence during the three-year period prior to the purchase. Ownership of vacation property or rental property does not disqualify home buyers from this program.
3) To qualify for the full tax credit, married couples modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) must be under $150,000. Single buyers MAGI must be less than $75,000. Partial tax credits may be available for married couples with MAGI incomes of over $150,000 but under $170,000 and single filers with incomes over $75,000 but under $95,000. If married couples who qualify for the first-time tax credit file separately, they would both claim 5% of the home purchase or $4,000 each (whichever is less) on their tax returns.
4) Home must be owned for at least 36 months (3 years) to avoid repayment penalties.
5) The full amount of the eligible tax credit is refunded to the buyer, regardless of whether the buyer has paid an equivalent amount in taxes.
There's some more rules and stuff about this credit, but this covers the essentials. Combine this with FHA loans going for around 5% interest and just 3.5% down payment required, it's no wonder first-time buyer's are out in force right now.
Take advantage of this opportunity now! Call me right now at 303-887-4275 to get started on the path to home ownership.
Should you buy a fixer-upper or a newly renovated home?
This is something buyers often don't put enough time into thinking about. One side of the debate is that if you can find a home in a good location and get it for a good price, then it'll be worth the time and money to improve the condition of the home. But doing so requires cash and unless you have spare money sitting around, it might make more sense to pay more for a home in a good location that already has the remodeling work done. Consider this example:
Home A: $300,000 built in 1973. Could use new carpet, wood floors need refurbished, interior and exterior paint need attention, appliances are on their last legs, windows are single-pane aluminum frame, wood shake roof is original and in need of repair or replacement. But it's a great location in a great neighborhood. Estimated cost for all of the above = $50,000.
Home B: $400,000 also built in 1973. Also a great location in the same great neighborhood as Home A but has been updated with new windows, carpet, appliances, refurbished wood floors, new roof and new paint with neutral colors. It's a fix & flip and the seller bought the home for $300,000 a few months ago, invested $50,000 into the remodel.
So here's the dilemma: if you buy Home A, you can do the remodel exactly how you want with exactly your choices for everything. If you do it correctly, then you might end up with a $400,000 home for a total of just $350,000. Sounds like a good way to go except...do you have $50,000 to complete the work? And can you live in the home in it's current condition while work is being done? The $400,000 home is ready to move in and your monthly mortgage payment (at today's 5% interest rate) would be about $650.00 more per month. Assuming the remodeled elements are to your liking, there's nothing more that you would need to do and you've basically financed the $50,000 you would have spent on Home A. That's like spending $50,000 over 6.4 years instead of all at once out of your pocket. Plus there's the tax advantages with the additional mortgage interest deductions.
If you can afford to buy a remodeled home rather than doing the work yourself, consider this example before you make any decisions.
Colorado recovery could begin this summer Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Colorado went through a bad economic year in 2008 and can expect more of the same this year, but there are signs that a recovery could start as soon as summer, a pair of Colorado’s top university business economists agreed Wednesday.
