Creig’s picks for the nineth week of NFL games.

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*UPDATE: President Obama has signed the bill into law*

First Time Home Buyers now have until April 30, 2010 to purchase a new home to be eligible for the $8,000 credit.

Great news from Capitol Hill today as Congress has just passed legislation to extend the $8,000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit until April 30, 2010! The bill also provides new legislation for a $6,500 tax credit for Move-up or Trade-down buyers that have currently owned a home for at least five years. The legislation was added to an extension of unemployment benefits and was passed by the Senate on Wednesday night. President Obama is expected to sign the legislation into law Friday morning.

View a brief summary of the tax credit extension and expansion legislation.

Start your home search now!

Legislation is currently pending to extend the First Time Home Buyer $8000 Tax Credit, as well as provide a new tax credit for Move Up Buyers (those that currently own a home and are looking to move up to a new home).

See below for a brief overview of the new legislation:

• The tax credit would be $8,000 for first-time home buyers and $6,500 for move-up buyers (from December 1, 2009 to April 30, 2010).
• Move-up buyers will be eligible, so long as the home they are leaving has been used as their principal residence for 5 years or more.
• The tax credit would sunset on April 30, 2010. However, there would a binding contract rule that will permit those with contracts as of April 30th to qualify for the credit so long as they complete the transaction within 60 days.
• The income limits for both first-time home buyers and move-up buyers would be $125,000 for single return and $225,000 joint return.
• Cost of the home may not exceed $800,000 to be eligible.
• For purchases made in 2010, taxpayers would be able to claim the credit on their 2009 income tax return.
• Home buyers would not have to repay the credit, provided the home remains their principal residence for 36 months after the purchase date.
• The amendment includes a military waiver provision, meaning the recapture provision would not apply in the case of a member of the Armed Forces, military intelligence or Foreign Service who is on qualified official extended duty. In addition, members of the military who have been deployed overseas for 90 days or more in 2008 or 2009 would have until April 30, 2011, to claim the home buyer tax credit.
• The amendment also includes anti-fraud language that provides math authority to the IRS to do greater oversight during the processing of the return rather than waiting for an audit situation. The amendment requires the taxpayer claiming the credit to be 18 or older as well as requiring a HUD-1 settlement statement to be attached when claiming the credit.

While the new legislation has not yet passed, it is a good sign for those first time buyers who have not yet purchased a home, or for those buyers who are looking to move up or down.

Start your home search now.

Ready to move up? Request a no-obligation market analysis.

Source: Diana Olick (CNBC, 10/29/2009)

Creig’s picks for the eighth week of NFL games.

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ATTENTION FIRST TIME BUYERS:

Time is running out to take advantage of the $8,000 First Time Home Buyers tax credit, which expires on December 1, 2009. While there has been talk of the government extending or broadening the current program, at this time no such legislation has been passed. What does this mean to you?

Remember, the home buying process takes time. This means that in the next 35 days you must:

1. Listen to our step-by-step guide for First Time Home Buyers
2. Find a REALTOR to help you in the home buying process
3. Get pre-approved for a mortgage with a reputable lender
4. Find a home
5. Write, negotiate and ratify an offer on the home
6. Conduct inspections on the property – Appraisal, Termite, Home Inspection, Radon, Well/Septic, etc
7. Settle on or before November 30, 2009

For more information, visit our First Time Home Buyer Resource Center, or contact us now for more last minute tips to make sure you meet the deadline!

Creig’s picks for the seventh week of NFL games.

Have you entered the Creig Northrop Team & BaltimoreSun.com Office Football Pool Challenge? You could win up to $25,000 each week! View the details, and enter to win now!

Creig’s picks for the sixth week of NFL games.

Have you entered the Creig Northrop Team & BaltimoreSun.com Office Football Pool Challenge? You could win up to $25,000 each week! View the details, and enter to win now!

Buyers who are in the market to “move-up” may not realize now is a great time to sell your “starter” home and buy up. You may think it’s a complicated situation to sell your first home because the market is not as strong as when you first bought. You are probably thinking you can’t afford to buy a new house before selling the old one.

Quality of life is hard to quantify monetarily, but is a major factor in most moves. The truth is – homeowners who want to trade up in a down market can benefit financially. You may sell your current home for less than what it might have sold for a few years ago, but you could also pay a lot less for the next home.

Let’s say your current home that was worth $500,000 two years ago is now worth $400,000, or 20 percent less. Even though you would sell for $100,000 less today, if you buy a $1 million house that two years ago was worth $1.25 million, or 20 percent more, you come out $150,000 ahead.

There is more to consider than just how much profit you might realize in deciding to move up. The first step is to make a list of all the reasons why you want to move. Common reasons are that the house is too small; it doesn’t fit your family’s growing needs; it’s in an inconvenient location; or it’s not located close to family or the schools you want. Then make a list of all of the reasons it would make sense to stay. Weigh the pros and cons.

We are here to help you evaluate the pros and cons and can even work up a Seller’s Estimated Net Sheet outlining the potential profit and any fees associated with the sale of your current home and purchase of you next home. Plus, there’s no obligation.

Contact us today and we will work up the numbers. We’ll prepare a no obligation market analysis of your current home, meet with you in person at your house, review the numbers and provide all the information you need to move forward!

Want more information? Find out all the details at one of our FREE upcoming real estate workshops.

The county’s Department of Housing and Community Development will accept applications for its moderate income housing unit program through the end of October.

The program offers reduced sale and rent prices to families who qualify based on income standards.

To be eligible, potential home buyers must have an income that does not exceed $81,338 for a family of four.

Base prices range from $121,000 for condominiums to $229,000 for townhouses.

Potential renters must earn no more than $61,003 for a family of four and rents range from $1,144 to $1,769 monthly.

Since 2007, 65 new townhouses and condos have been released to the home ownership program.

“We are extremely excited to see that the goals of the MIHU program are being realized,” County Executive Kenneth Ulman said in a statement. “This program is helping to bridge the affordability gap by offering housing opportunities to those working families that want to be a part of our community.”

Open enrollment for the program is held quarterly.

Lottery drawings for units in Belmont Station, Village Towns and Gatherings at Jefferson Place are anticipated in November.

The housing department will also host a Buyers and Renters Workshop to explain the program’s eligibility and application process Oct. 8 from 6 to 8 p.m. at 6751 Columbia Gateway Drive, in Columbia.

For more information about moderate income housing, go to www.howardcountymd.gov or call 410-313-6318.

Source: Sarah Breitenbach, explorehoward.com (10/8/2009)

Creig’s picks for the fifth week of NFL games.

Have you entered the Creig Northrop Team & BaltimoreSun.com Office Football Pool Challenge? You could win up to $25,000 each week! View the details, and enter to win now!