Time Dwindling Away for Down Payment Assistance in Austin

In less than 37 days FHA down payment assistance will be a thing of the past. If you are a buyer looking to buy a home in Austin and are seeking “gift” money in order to buy your home, you’d better act fast.  I thought I would give you a friendly reminder.

To recap, on July 30th the President signed a new into law a bill known as the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008.  The purpose of that act was to restore confidence in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, provide taxbreaks for first time home buyers, and to help homeowners who are facing forclosure. The debate is still out whether it truly helps consumers or not however change is here to stay.

What happens after October 1st for FHA loans?

• Down Payment Assitance programs such as Nehemiah, Genesis, Ameridream and others will no longer be able to process gift funds. As an alternative you may be able to seek out state and federal downpayment assistance programs which are not affected by the law at this point, otherwise you will have to pony up the downpayment in full.

• Downpayment requirement will increase from 3% to 3.5%

• Increased counseling education for homebuyers to provide stable ownership

You must have your loan in underwriting prior to October 1st in order to still be able to use downpayment assistance. This includes new home builders as well!

Instead of using your money as a downpayment, why not keep the liquid cash for personalizing your new home? This would be a good strategy for aquiring a HUD home!!

So if you are sitting on the fence, you may want to jump down and get in while you can. From what I have experienced with clients and talking with colleagues, there has been a spike on buyers rushing to beat the gun. Will you be one of them?

Would you like to beat the gun? Simply contact me to get started or search Austin Properties now!

Christopher

RE/MAX Capital City

Hey Austin Homeowners, Upgrade to Green to Save Some Green!

Energy Star Sales Tax Holiday Memorial Day Weekend May 24 – 26, 2008

Most consumers know tax free weekend mostly for clothing items which usually comes in August right before the school year. This year however, The Comptroller’s office is offering a tax break for Energy Star Rated items this coming Memorial Day weekend. This is a great opportunity to upgrade to greener energy efficient products which will save you more green in the future.

For more information please visit the link below for details.

http://www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/taxpubs/tx98_836/

Don’t miss out on this opportunity

Christopher

REMAX Capital City

Credit Reporting Kiss and Tell

In our office we have an in house lender who shares trends on our change by the hour mortgage industry. Recently she mentioned how quickly news can get out about you applying for a mortgage and how it can end up costing you in the end if you act casually. I thought I’d share.

The story was regarding a client that she had who applied for a loan and was approved to buy a home. The buyers credit score was above 700 and was good to go. The buyer’s agent advised the buyer to shop around to have his buyer get the best rate. The buyer did shop around but ultimately allowed much time to pass by.  After analyzing the loan offers, the buyer found that the original approval had the best offer. Meanwhile,  the credit bureaus notified collections agencies that the buyer had applied for new credit, collections then reactivated claims to the agencies, and their credit scored plummeted to the 660’s. The buyer was then faced with a higher second lien rate which was originally at 7.5% to a disheartening 9.5% by the time he was in a contract to buy a home.

The impact could mean the difference between buying now or having to rent longer if the buyers credit was marginal.

This was a case that the buyer did take a long period of time. Typically if a buyer acts timely this may not be a factor.

The advice?

First and foremost monitor you credit and check your credit 6 months ahead of your plan to purchase.  There are a lot of changes and knowing where you stand ahead of time can make secure your stake in being able to buy or not. Here you can also make sure that those old collection demons can be taken care of once and for all.

If you are approved comparison shop for a lender quickly and do not let your credit report expire. If you do let the report expire, you could end up seeing a dip in your score and it could be the difference in rate or being able to buy. You have about 90 days to get a loan and buy a house until your report expires. Use that time wisely.

So if you are able to get a loan initially, remember the credit bureaus will and do kiss and tell. Act!

For more information regarding your credit simply e mail me or call me at 512-744-4553.

Christopher

RE/MAX Capital City