ALTERNATIVES TO THE TAX CREDIT: How to Get Up to $7500 For Buying a Home in One of These Georgia Counties

The Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) has yet another new down payment assistance option to its Georgia Dream Homeownership Program to help revitalize and attract home buyers to the several counties affected by the 2009 Georgia floods.  The Georgia Dream Recovery Program offers down payment and closing cost assistance for all home buyers in the following Metro Atlanta counties: Carroll, Cherokee, Cobb, Dawson, Dekalb, Douglas, Fulton, Gwinnett, Heard, Newton, Paulding and Rockdale. For those desiring to purchase a home in these counties, the real estate qualifications to receiving the Recovery Program funds are that it maybe any home within one of these counties (it does not have to have been personally affected/damaged by the floods) with a purchase price of no more than $300,000.  The DCA’s recovery program is also available to counties in other parts of Georgia including: Catoosa, Chattooga, Crawford, Dooly, Houston, Peach, Stephens, Taylor and Walker.  For those desiring to purchase a home in these counties, the real estate qualifications to receiving the Recovery Program funds are that it maybe any home within one of these counties (it does not have to have been personally affected/damaged by the floods) with a purchase price of no more than $250,000.

AVOIDING BUYER HEADACHES: Lesson 1-”Yes, You’re Approved… Just Kidding”

Okay, you have done your homework by watching HGTV, reading various blogs and even consulting a real estate agent on what you need to do to purchase a home.  Among the prerequisites you were given, you were told to get a lender to pre-qualify you and you did.  Now you are excited and ready to look for some real estate.  But wait, not so fast!  To avoid any headaches after you have found the home of your dreams, you should help your lender examine if you are really ready to shop for a home.  “What are you talking about, Lee?” you maybe wondering.  Well, believe it or not, with the restrictions that have been placed now on the mortgage industry to curtail the number of future foreclosures and distressed homeowners, what you think is your income may not really be. 

What You Didn’t Know About the Homebuyer Tax Credit

So you have either purchased or are getting ready to purchase real estate before the tax credit deadline in April 2010 but the homebuyer tax credit is not as simple or straightforward as you might think.  Here are some nuances that will affect homebuyers who plan to use it.

Need New Appliances? Get Money Back in 2010

The 2010 plan to encourage energy efficiency is the government rebate for appliance buyers. The plan lets people swap their old appliances for new energy-efficient models at very low prices.
 
Here are some things to keep in mind:
·      State plans vary.  Whether you live in Sandy Springs, Atlanta, Lawrenceville, Marietta, Augusta or Macon, check her for the program for Georgia residents: http://energysavers.gov/financial/rebates/state_GA.cfm.

New Affordable Housing Options From Fannie Mae

Fannie Mae has launched several initiatives designed to stabilize neighborhoods and promote purchases by owner occupants and low-income buyers.

Fannie Mae’s “First Look” initiative offers buyers who intend to live in the home, particularly low-income buyers, an opportunity to make an offer during the first 15 days the property is on the market. Investors can only make an offer after the first 15 days have passed.

Buying Foreclosures: How to Avoid a Money Pit

Foreclosures can be good deals for homebuyers, but with 1.5 million of them on the market, shopping carefully is important to guard against walking into a money pit, where you end up paying more for the home do to repairs or other problems.

Here are some tips for anyone navigating the foreclosure market:

**UPDATE on $8,000 Tax Credit

As I have recently blogged about,  FHA-approved lenders can now provide short-term bridge loans to first-time borrowers eligible for the $8,000 home buyer tax credit, which allows buyers to use the tax credit at closing and then they just pay back the loan once the refund is received.  But under guidance issued by the Department of Housing and Urban Development late last week, the loans must be on top of — not instead of — the minimum 3.5% down payment normally required on FHA-insured loans.   So that means the $8,000 can go towards repairs required to close and other closing costs or can go towards your principal payment but you still have to come up with the down payment.