Extending the First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit, due to expire at the end of November, is high on the Democratic Congressional to-do list, legislative aides said.

After last Wednesday’s meeting with President Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) released a statement that the government should, "continue efforts to strengthen the housing market by extending the home buyer tax credit."

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com, who is a consultant to Democrats in the administration and Congress, is advocating extending the credit through August and making it available to all home buyers. He said failure to extend the credit just as more foreclosures enter the market will push housing prices down.

Also, the House is expected to pass legislation to extend the credit through 2010 for people who have been out of the country in the military, intelligence, or foreign services.

Source: The New York Times

HVCC: Home Valuation Code of Conduct
HVCC was designed to ensure that appraisals are conducted objectively and without pressure from parties with an interest in the transaction. Under HVCC:

• The appraisal and selection of the appraiser will be ordered by someone not directly involved in the origination of the mortgage. This could be either someone else within the mortgage company or a third-party appraisal management company.
• A copy of the appraisal must be provided to the homebuyer/borrower no less than three days before closing.
• The minimum time expectations for receipt of the appraisal should be a few weeks and not days. (While receipt of the appraisal may be received in shorter timeframes, conservative expectations are warranted.)
• Communication between the appraiser and the originating mortgage professional is prohibited. It is imperative that the agents involved in the transaction be prepared at the time of inspection to offer supporting value information if warranted.

HERA: Housing and Economic Recovery Act
HERA was designed to ensure that the borrower(s) involved in the transaction are given accurate disclosure information (Truth in Lending Statement pertaining to Annual Percentage Rate or APR) regarding the loan they are applying for and adequate time to re-evaluate their decision to proceed in the event of any changes that would impact their costs to finance. Under HERA:

• No fees may be collected for the transaction other than those for running a credit report at the initial time of application. Additional fees may be collected only after four business days.
• Should the APR change by more than .125% on a fixed rate loan or .250% on an adjustable rate loan, the lender must disclose the new APR and the borrower must have a minimum of three business days to review the information before the transaction may proceed.
• Items that can trigger re-disclosure requirements include a change(s) in the loan amount, closing date, loan program, any fees that impact the APR or interest rate from the rate indicated on the original loan application.
• In cases where documents are sent by mail to the borrower related to re-disclosure of APR and/or providing a copy of the appraisal, anticipate six business days (three to allow for mailing and three to allow adequate time to review them) before a closing can occur.

Recession will fade by year’s end, experts say

Wednesday,  March 25, 2009 3:04 AM

By David Pitt

ASSOCIATED PRESS

A group of financial wizards looked into their crystal ball yesterday and saw some good news.

The recession will ease by the end of this year and companies will begin adding workers, signaling the end of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

It was the 64th day of the Obama administration, and Chicago-based Dow Jones Indexes assembled a group of financial experts to assess the effect of government actions — whether they will work to stem the recession and what opportunities that might present investors.

The recession has affected every region of the country and sector of the economy, said Gus Faucher, director of macroeconomics at Moody’s Economy.com, which conducts independent research and provides economic forecasts.

The good news is that there’s an end in sight. The economy will pull out of the recession at the end of this year, marking a duration of 24 months, about twice as long as the average post-World War II recession, Faucher said.

The unemployment rate is expected to peak at nearly 10 percent in the first half of 2010. Without the $787 billion government stimulus package, he estimated job losses would have continued into the second half of the year and peaked at about 12 percent.

"That would take what is now a severe recession and actually turn it into a deep depression," he said. "We think the fiscal stimulus package is vital in turning around attitudes toward the economy."

Home sales will turn around by midyear, and home prices will begin recovering by the end of this year after bottoming out at 35 percent of their value from peak to trough. Home prices won’t return to their values of a few years ago during the boom but will recover from current lows, he said.

Banks likely will begin seeing improvement in capital as the government program to remove bad assets kicks in. Faucher predicted that major bank and financial services company failures will abate in the second half of this year and credit will begin to move again.

The stimulus package will spend $50 billion on roads, bridges, utilities and other infrastructure, said Craig Noble, portfolio manager, for Brookfield Redding, a Chicago-based investment manager of global real-estate and infrastructure securities.

He sees a potential sweet spot for investors in companies that own the assets that will benefit from the needed spending.

Qualified first time buyers who close prior to July 1, 2008 can claim their deduction on their 2008 Income Tax Return!

Click HERE to get the IRS form. Read the instructions, consult your tax preparer, and see if you qualify!  Free money for buying your first home!

Need some help finding the perfect home? I’m happy to assist in any way that I can, call 614.442.6595 to set up an initial consultation.