$8000 Tax Credit

Time is running out for First time buyers who want to take advantage of the tax credit being offered by the Federal Government. The deadline remains December 1st. This credit is for first time buyers or buyers who have not owned a home within the last 3 years. The property must be closed prior to December 1st, 2009. The credit is 1% of the purchase price of the home (up to $8000). Call or email me with any questions!

Spring is here!

It seems Spring is finally here! House sales continue to be active and low interest rates as well as an $8000 first time buyer tax credit seem to be bringing people out and about to look at homes. I always feel homes show better in the spring as we see the lawns green up and the flowers pop up. Now is a great time to sell! There are even a few price ranges where we are short on listings. If you have been considering a move there is no better time. You may be surprsed how much house you can buy with these low rates!

CURRENT MARKET CONDITIONS

Things continue to be busy in our local market. I had an hour long open house this weekend and 6 groups came through. Many first time buyers are looking to take advantage of the tax break recently offered to them from the federal government. And many others are looking to take advantage of low interest rates. We are not seeing a large number of repossessions that many areas of the country are seeing, so we are not seeing prices drop or desperation either. Things could change in a moments notice in this economy, but for now I am glad we were not involved in the rapid rise of prices that much of the nation was 2 and 3 years ago. We seem to be in a better place than they are now.
Some ranges are experiencing a longer marketing time than they were a year ago. This is due to mortgage qualification tightening back to what it was 10 years ago making the pool of buyers a bit smaller in that $60,000-$90,000 range. This doesn't mean things are not selling at all in this range, it just means they are only selling to qualified buyers.

In respose to the Hastings Tribune article (quoting a local lender) stating that 20% down payment is needed to obtain a home loan

The Hastings, NE real estate market continues to be steady. While marketing time has slightly increased, we are not seeing a real "drop" in prices like much of the country. I read a article in the Hastings Tribune on Sat., February 7, 2009 where a lender stated that without perfect credit Buyer's were going to need 20% down. I can only this came from a lender who does not do FHA Loans (which is for a broad range of buyers, i.e. not just first time buyers or ones who haven't had a FHA loan before. You can obtain an FHA loan on an owner occupied property an unlimited number of times!) . There are many people out there getting loans with as little as 3% down. Now with this said, those with horrible credit are not able to get financing these days. Nor are people whose debt is so high that a lender deems (after factoring in their income) their ability to afford the house payment on top of their existing debt is unlikely. These are the biggest changes I have seen in home loans in our area. That and the fact that rates have dropped!
So if you have been thinking about buying a home it is a great time! Not because the market has dropped, but because rates are low and Hastings, NE has a steady market. Feel free to contact me anytime with questions.