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By Dennis Norman, on August 26th, 2010
Dennis Norman
Before you decide on a mortgage make sure you fully understand all the terms of the loan and make sure you know what you are getting yourself in for. Some home mortgages have features that may be risky and make it difficult for you to make your payments in the future. [...]
By Dennis Norman, on August 24th, 2010
Dennis Norman
Beginning last November I have written several articles about the “sugar-rush” effect of tax credits and other stimulus on the housing market and voicing my concern that these things are short lived (like a sugar rush on a child) and after the sugar wears off there is a crash….Well, as expected, here it [...]
By Dennis Norman, on June 17th, 2010
UPDATE-July 1- GOOD NEWS! I Stand Corrected! Yesterday, before ending session, the Senate did PASS H.R. 5623 by Unanimous Consent…the bill now goes to the President for his signature and then will extend the closing date until September 30th…
UPDATE-June 30th-As the Willie Nelson song goes. “Turn out the lights, [...]
By Dennis Norman, on June 15th, 2010
Dennis Norman
The deadline to purchase a home to qualify for the extended home-buyer tax credit was April 30th with a deadline of June 30, 2010 to close the sale. Since the deadline to purchase I have heard from many buyers with questions and concerns as they realize that, while they made the April [...]
By Dennis Norman, on June 3rd, 2010
Dennis Norman
Last month I did an article, “Should You Rent Or Buy A Home?“, in which I discussed a survey that was done by the National Apartment Association which indicated 76 percent of consumers surveyed believed renting to be a better option than home ownership. Well, today Trulia released it’s new “Rent vs. Buy [...]
By Dennis Norman, on May 24th, 2010
New Survey Finds 76 Percent of Consumers now Believe Renting to Be a Better Option Over Homeownership
Advantages Cited Include Flexibility to Move to a Different Location with New Job Opportunities
Dennis Norman
Last month I did a post addressing housing affordability, the cost of renting versus owning a home, and whether the real [...]
By Dennis Norman, on May 13th, 2010
Dennis Norman
In an effort to “support overall market stability and reinforce the importance of borrowers working with their lenders when they have difficulty paying their mortgages”, Fannie Mae has eased their policies with regard to the eligibility of borrowers to obtain a new mortgage loan after having a short-sale or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure. [...]
By Dennis Norman, on April 25th, 2010
Dennis Norman
Century 21 Real Estate LLC announced the results of its First-Time Home Buyers and Sellers Survey, which captured and compared the opinions of prospective home buyers and sellers who either purchased or sold their first home within the past year or are planning to buy or sell their first home within the next [...]
By Dennis Norman, on March 29th, 2010
Dennis Norman
Relocation.Comconducted a survey in February which shows California, Florida, Texas, Georgia, Arizona, Illinois and North Carolina are the top five destinations where people are moving this year (Illinois and North Carolina tied for 5th).
One in five respondents said they moved to a new location with a lower cost of living and, not surprisingly, [...]
By Dennis Norman, on March 18th, 2010
Dennis Norman
According to the Economics and Mortgage Market Analysis report just published by Fannie Mae, the weather was the culprit for the slow-down in home sales at the beginning of this year however, we did not get the boost they were anticipating from the extension of the tax credits. “Unfortunately, despite the high hopes [...]
By Dennis Norman, on March 15th, 2010
Dennis Norman
The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have published a report about common real estate scams and rental scams they are finding and how to avoid them. Like most scams there are warning signs and red flags that can help you avoid falling victim; knowing what to look [...]
By Dennis Norman, on February 8th, 2010
Dennis Norman
Fannie Mae is offering 3.5 percent in closing cost assistance or an equivalaent amount in appliances for people purchasing a Fannie Mae-owned HomePath® property.
Fannie Mae is trying to entice buyers to buy one of their HomePath® homes by offering to pay up to 3.5 percent in closing cost assistance or an equal amount [...]
By Dennis Norman, on January 15th, 2010
Dennis Norman
If you are one of the million-plus homebuyers that was fortunate enough to qualify for the Home Buyer tax credit, read on for information on how to claim your credit.
Today the Internal Revenue Service released a new form that eligible homebuyers must need to use to claim the first-time homebuyer credit this tax season, [...]
By Dennis Norman, on January 6th, 2010
Dennis Norman
In the past I think closing costs associated with the purchase of a home were pretty much a mystery to many, if not most, home buyers with many not even being sure what they were paying for. Most buyers simply went through the process, paying for closing fees, notary fees, title examination, title insurance, survey, flood letters, courier [...]
By Dennis Norman, on December 22nd, 2009
According to NAR 51 percent of recent homebuyers are first-time buyers and 39 percent of recent home sales have relied on an FHA loan
Dennis Norman
The National Association of REALTORS just released a report showing that 51 percent of the homes sold recently have been to first-time home buyers and that 39 percent of all recent buyers have turned to an [...]
By Dennis Norman, on December 1st, 2009
Dennis Norman
I have done several posts on the homebuyer tax credit and received and answered hundreds of questions about the tax credits on the various blogs I write for. There appears to be a lot of demand for the credits by homebuyers but also appears to be many questions. If you have questions about [...]
By admin, on November 25th, 2009
First-Time Homebuyer Credit Extended to April 30, 2010; Some Current Homeowners Now Also Qualify
WASHINGTON — A new law that went into effect Nov. 6 extends the first-time homebuyer credit five months and expands the eligibility requirements for purchasers.
The Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009 extends the deadline for [...]
By admin, on November 19th, 2009
New Site Aimed at Helping More Hispanics Buy Homes
FannieMae announced the company launched a Spanish version of its HomePath.com website designed to help more potential homeowners who speak Spanish purchase Fannie Mae-owned properties.
The new website in Spanish mirrors the English version of HomePath.com featuring an interactive search tool of Fannie Mae-owned properties nationwide, details [...]
By Dennis Norman, on October 8th, 2009
Dennis Norman
The best available tool for sustaining the still-fragile housing market is the $8,000 homebuyer tax credit, (expires November 30) and it is essential that Congress extend the credit into 2010, the National Association of Realtors® testified at a hearing of the U.S. House Small Business Committee yesterday.
NAR Regional Vice President Joseph L. Canfora, a [...]
By Dennis Norman, on October 7th, 2009
Dennis Norman
Today, testifying before The US House of Representatives Small Business Committee, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) told the committee that the current credit cycle and recession began in the U.S. housing market, and recovery will not be complete until the current oversupply of house on the market has dramatically decreased.
The MBA then cited [...]
By Dennis Norman, on October 5th, 2009
Dennis Norman
Results have just been released of a study conducted by Rosen Consulting Group as to the effectiveness of the 2009 first-time-homebuyer tax credit and the potential need for an extension of the credits.
The Rosen Consulting Group was retained by Fix Housing First, a coalition that was originally working to convince Congress for a housing [...]
By Dennis Norman, on October 3rd, 2009
Back in July I did a post about Freddie Macs “Smartbuy” sales promotion for owner-occupants buying Freddie Mac Homesteps(R) Homes. The special offer began July 17, 2009 and ends October 30, 2009 so there is less than a month to take advantage of it.
Under this promotion people buying a Freddie Mac home for their personal residence will [...]
By Dennis Norman, on September 25th, 2009
Nearly one in five (18 percent) prospective first-time homebuyers said extending the $8,000 tax credit would be the primary influence on their decision to buy a home before the end of 2010, according to a Zillow survey. That would equate to 334,000 buyers from Dec. 1, 2009 to Nov. 30, 2010 – a likely time [...]
By Dennis Norman, on September 19th, 2009
Dennis Norman
“I’m from the IRS and I’m here to help you.”
Yeah, sure.
Actually, in this case the IRS is trying to help. The IRS has a website and has even published a video on YouTube to help first-time buyers and potential buyers understand the first-time home buyer tax credit as well as how to claim [...]
By Dennis Norman, on August 4th, 2009
Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist, NAR
The real estate market continues to show signs of life and continues to point to the possibility that we have hit bottom. Today the National Association of REALTORS(R) issued their Pending Home Sales Index Report for June which showed pending sales were up for the fifth consecutive month, the first [...]
By Dennis Norman, on July 20th, 2009
Freddie Mac just announced their“Smartbuy” sales promotion for owner-occupants buying Freddie Mac Homesteps(R) Homes. Under this promotion people buying a Freddie Mac home for their personal residence will receive at no cost:
A comprehensive two-year HomeProtect(R) Home Warranty
Up to 3.5% payment by Freddie Mac towards buyers closing costs
Homeprotect(R) Appliance discount (up to 30% savings on name [...]
By Dennis Norman, on July 9th, 2009
Dennis Norman
By: Dennis Norman
Realtor.Com and the National Association of REALTORS(R) released the results of it’s National Home Ownership Survey today.
The survey, which focused on affordability, foreclosures and refinancing showed:
Employment concerns and the ability to make mortgage payments are the greatest barriers to home ownership today. This is particularly true for those people 25-49 years of age.
More [...]
By Dennis Norman, on June 24th, 2009
Dennis Norman
By: Dennis Norman
This morning the U.S. Department of Commerce released a report showing the sale of New Homes in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 342,000. this represents a 0.6% drop from Aprils rate of 344,000 and is almost 33% down from a year ago.
Three of the four regions in the [...]
By Dennis Norman, on June 23rd, 2009
Dennis Norman
By: Dennis Norman
Today the National Association of REALTORS(R) released its existing home sales report for May showing an increase in sales for the 2nd month in a row. This is the first time we’ve seen two consecutive months of sales increases in almost 4 years.
Sales for May were at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 4,770,000 homes which [...]
By Dennis Norman, on June 4th, 2009
Dennis Norman
By: Dennis Norman
According to a report issued by IHS Global Insight, house prices in the first quarter of 2009 declined in 199 of the 330 metro markets they monitor. At just over 60% of the metros this represents a huge decrease from 4th quarter 2008 when 312, or almost 95% of the metros, showed declining prices.
For [...]
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