Time's Short For The $8000 Tax Credit For San Antonio Home Buyers

Thanks to Melissa Kulikoff, Senior Loan Officer at Supreme Lending, San Antonio, for the following alert for buyers hoping to close their purchase in time to qualify for the up to $8000 first time home buyer Federal tax credit.

Quoting Melissa -

"Let’s take a look at our November time line for closings.

The tax credit expires the Monday after Thanksgiving. I’ve checked with several title companies and most of them are NOT open Friday.Therefore, your deal must be clear to close with docs drawn Wednesday 11/25 to close on 11/30.

Is your closer going to be able to get closing document approval that quickly and still close & fund on 11/30? Better ask now!

Are you a VA buyer? Please remember VA appraisers have 10 days to provide the appraisal report. That means if a VA appraisal is ordered for you on the 2nd, it might not arrive until the 16th……..not a lot of time for the lender to review the appraisal and issue a clear to close authorization to your title company.

If you have a real estate agent and aren’t sure where your closing stands, call your him or her right away. A $8000 federal tax credit is a lot of money. Make sure everything’s being done to insure you close on your purchase by midnight 30 November.

Please contact me right away if you’re a buyer who is still “shopping” for a lender.

Time is running out. Contracts I receive after 11/10 will likely create heartburn for all involved trying to close before the credit expires." ___________________________________________________________________________

You can contact Melissa at Melissa.Kulikoff@supremelending.com, telephone 210 807-6850 or 210 807-6851.

If you have realty questions or need realty advice or assistance, contact a member of the SanAntonioHomeQuest.com Realty Solutions Team at swkrealtor@aol.com or kelleybus@aol.com, telephone 210 863-2661 or 210 867-8743.

Buying A Newly Constructed San Antonio Home - Don't Get Mortgage Pre-Approval

At sanantoniohomequest.com, we believe an educated home buyer is a wise buyer. That's why we have compiled a series of easy to remember essential hints for our home buyer guests. Here's a popular one.
If you might buy a newly constructed San Antonio home, get loan pre-qualified, but not pre-approved.

Why?

Keep this in mind. As a marketing strategy, almost all production home builders offer significant buyer incentives tied to using a select lender and title company. That's because the builder either owns outright, partially owns, or otherwise receives financial benefits from the designated lender and title company. Consequently, if your plan is to buy a new home from a builder and, if you will need a mortgage loan to do so, it is better to get loan pre-qualification but not a loan pre-approval.

Here's the reason why.

You'll have to submit a lot of paperwork and pay for a credit check to get pre-approved for a mortgage loan of any type. Then, if you decide to buy a newly constructed home, in order to get the buyer incentives offered by the builder, you'll have to submit the same paperwork and pay for another credit check to obtain your mortgage loan from the builder's select lender. In essence, you'll double your effort and your credit check costs.

So, what should you do?

If you don't know the maximum loan you can obtain based on your income, credit history, and debt, you might still ask a lender to qualify you. Any lender will qualify you, usually over the telephone or on the Internet. Pre-qualification doesn't involve paying for a credit check. It's essentially an estimate. Lender's do pre-qualifications as a marketing technique, in hopes of establishing a relationship leading eventually to selling you a loan.

Or, you can go to sanantoniohomequest.com and use our mortgage calculators to do the pre-qualification calculations yourself, for many different loan types.

If you have questions, or need advice this, or other realty purchase issues, please call or send an E-mail.

I’m Stephanie Kelley, Accredited Buyer’s Representative (ABR®), Certified Residential Specialist (CRS®), Graduate Realty Institute (GRI ®). I’m a Realtor ® at Keller Williams Legacy, San Antonio. You can visit me at sanantoniohomequest.com, call me at (210) 867-8743 or (210) 863-2661, or E-mail me at swkrealtor@aol.com.

Buying A San Antonio Home - Get Loan Prequalified

At sanantoniohomequest.com, we believe an educated home buyer is a wise buyer. That’s why we’ve compiled a series of easy to remember essential hints for our home buyer guests.

Here’s one of our most popular hints:

To know how much home you can afford, get loan pre-qualified; and, if you plan to buy a resale property, get loan pre-approved.

On the other hand, if you might buy a new construction property, get loan pre-qualified, but not pre-approved. Why? Because you’ll duplicate your loan pre-approval time and expense if the new home builder attaches your buyer incentives to using his preferred lender.

So, for now, let’s concentrate on the loan pre-qualification issue.

The wise buyer knows his or her home affordability range and a mortgage lender can help with that decision.

So, what should you do?

I recommend that you start by qualifying with more than one lender. Ask each lender for a good faith estimate (GFE) of costs associated with the loan or loans (like a VA vs FHA vs conventional) you might procure. Select the lender that offers to give you the best deal.

When you’re ready to buy a resale property, ask your most promising lender for a loan pre-approval letter. At that time, your selected lender will run a credit check on you, which you will either pay for up front or be charged for at closing.

Your Realtor® should send along your loan pre-approval letter with your resale property purchase offer. Just having your loan pre-approval might make you the winning bidder in a bidding war.

Call me or send an E-mail if you have questions.


I’m Stephanie Kelley, Accredited Buyer’s Representative (ABR®), Certified Residential Specialist (CRS®), Graduate Realty Institute (GRI ®). I’m a Realtor ® at Keller Williams Legacy, San Antonio. You can visit me at sanantoniohomequest.com, call me at (210) 867-8743 or (210) 863-2661, or E-mail me at swkrealtor@aol.com.

To Buy Or Lease A San Antonio Home - That Is The Question

So, you're new in town and planning on eventually buying a San Antonio home; but you're considering renting an apartment or house while you scout out the area.

Temporarily renting might be a reasonable course, but, before you leap into a lease, first do some homework. Remember, while renting, you run the risk of missing your best buying opportunities while tied down by a lease. Consequently, renting at the wrong time can cost you money for a long time. 

So, here’s what you need to know.

First, is it a buyer’s market or a seller’s market? If it’s a buyer’s market, think twice about renting.

Second, are the mortgage interest rates very favorable and what are the projections? If the rates are low, but projected to increase, think twice about renting.

Third, are home values appreciating or depreciating? If the values are depreciating and projected to go lower, then renting and waiting for the market to reach bottom might work well.

Fourth, are the prices for homes for sale going up or down. If they’re going up, then consider buying a home right away before prices go higher. If prices are going down, you should either buy now or wait for the market to reach bottom.

Fifth, keep in mind that all realty markets have fairly predictable seasonal activity cycles. Find out the best months to purchase a San Antonio home. If you’re in a low sales month, you should forget renting and take advantage of your stronger position as a buyer by capitalizing on a weak market.

Here’s where you can go to get information to help you make your rent vs. buy decision.

If you have time, use the Internet to search for local realty news at sites like mysa.com or Realty Times. Use sites like Trulia.com to ask questions of local realty experts and visit their blogs .

Ask a trusted friend or business associate to refer you to their favorite realty agent or mortgage lender. Don’t hesitate to call for advice. A Realtor® and a lender should always be willing to help, hoping someday you’ll use their services. In the unlikely event that someone gets pushy or uses a hard sell technique, you can always say “no thanks” and go away.

I’m available to help you make your rent vs. buy decision. I’m Stephanie Kelley, Accredited Buyer’s Representative (ABR®), Certified Residential Specialist (CRS®), Graduate Realty Institute (GRI ®). I’m a Realtor ® at Keller Williams Legacy, San Antonio. You can visit me at sanantoniohomequest.com, call me at (210) 867-8743 or (210) 863-2661, or E-mail me at swkrealtor@aol.com.

$8000 First Time Home Buyer Extension Possible For San Antonio Texas Servicemembers

This article is thanks to Shannon Collier, Senior Loan Officer, WR Starkey, Mortgage, San Antonio. Shannon's contact information follows the article.

A slew of professionals tied to the housing sector made eager pleas to Congress last week requesting the $8000 first time homebuyer tax credit be extended. The benefit was part of the stimulus plan and is set to expire the end of November. The White House indicated the program “helped the economy” and led to “quite a bit of success” and noted consideration of extending the program. There are additional proposals in the Senate to not only extend the program but also to increase the tax credit and remove the first time homebuyer qualification. Unfortunately the cost to extend the credit is around $1 billion per month. This has politicians from both sides of the isle concerned. The House voted Thursday to extend the credit for American service members another 12 months. Both parties have members pushing for the extension to apply to all purchasers. Analysts indicate some sort of extension is very likely.

Shannon Collier
Senior Loan Officer
12500 San Pedro Ave., Suite 100
San Antonio, TX 78216
Work: 210-545-9300
Fax: 866-703-8734
Cell: 210-725-8470
scollier@wrstarkey.com
http://www.shannoncollier.com/

San Antonio BRAC Relocation Home Search

In the coming months, thousands of military and civilian personnel and their families will relocate to the San Antonio area in conjunction with Base Realignment and Closing (BRAC) initiatives.  Well qualified San Antonio real estate specialists are prepared to service the realty needs of our new BRAC neighbors.

My San Antonio Home Quest Realty Solutions Team is leading the way.

Contact me if you have questions or need advice about San Antonio's realty market.  Ask me about the latest San Antonio BRAC developments.  Describe your homeownership wants and needs and I'll send you the most current matching listings directly from the San Antonio Multiple Listings Service (MLS).

I'm Stephanie Kelley, Accredited Buyer's Representative (ABR®), Certified Residential Specialist (CRS®), Graduate of the Real Estate Institute (GRI®).  Visit me at SanAntonioHomeQuest.com, call me at (210) 863-2661 or (800) 201-9145, E-mail me at swkrealtor@aol.com or kelleybus@aol.com.

$8,000 Federal Tax Credit Hammer Coming Down for San Antonio Home Buyers

Rapid Read Summary:

The tax credit deadline is November 30, 2009.
There’s no time left to build a new home.
There’s very little time left to contract to purchase a home using a mortgage loan.
There’s still time to purchase a home with cash.
An experienced Realtor® might be able to help beat the deadline.

For most first time San Antonio home buyers (and for those not owning a home in the last 3 years), the hammer is coming down too soon on the opportunity to take advantage of the $8,000 Federal First Time Home Buyer Income Tax Credit Program.

The program’s deadline for closing on a home purchase is November 30, 2009.

As of 10 October 2009, with only 51 days left, there’s no chance for a home buyer to have a new home constructed and completed by 30 November.

Using a mortgage loan, it takes an average of 45 days to do everything needed to close on the purchase of a resale home. Consequently, some lenders and title companies are already telling home buyers that it’s unlikely they can successfully close their purchase by November 30 unless the’ve already filed an executed purchase contract at the title company and are well into the loan approval process.

A cash buyer can usually expect to close much sooner than 45 days after executing a home purchase contract; however, every day that goes by without having a purchase contract in hand lessens the chance of closing the sale by 30 November.

If you are eligible for the $8,000 tax credit, but haven’t started your home search, contact us right away. We’ll do everything we can help you beat the November 30 deadline.

We are Stephanie and Randy Kelley, Realtors(R), Keller Williams Legacy, San Antonio. Visit us at sanantoniohomequest.com , phone us at (210) 863-2661 or (210) 867-8743, and E-mail us at swkrealtor@aol.com or kelleybus@aol.com.

Home Buyer's Tax Credit Changes Possible For San Antonio Buyers

Home Buyer’s Tax Credit Changes Possible

The first major change to the $8,000 home buyer’s tax credit began moving through Congress the last week of September, giving hope to real estate and building groups pushing for extension of the entire program before it expires November 30, 2009.

House Ways and Means Committee chairman, Congressman Charles Rangel, a New York Democrat, combined several smaller bills into the “Service Members Home Ownership Act of 2009″, with a floor vote expected soon.

The bill is intended to correct a flaw in the original tax credit legislation: By requiring buyers to occupy and own their first home for 36 months to fully qualify for the credit, the program creates serious problems when military, Foreign Service and intelligence agency personnel are transferred overseas.

During their absence, they are not occupants of their houses, and sometimes have to rent them out or sell. Any of these events make them ineligible to retain the $8,000 credit under current law. Ineligible buyers must then repay the credit to the IRS.

Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer, sponsor of one of the bills consolidated into Rangel’s, said “it is absurd that thousands of Americans serving our country, away from friends and family … must choose between their service work and home ownership.”

The Ways and Means committee’s bill would waive the repayment requirement when a service member must sell a home within the 36 month period because of a transfer to a new duty station or overseas, and would count service-related absences toward the 36 month requirement.

Another provision in the bill would extend the $8,000 credit for another year for personnel who may have missed out on claiming the credit because they thought they wouldn’t qualify due to an overseas posting.

The credit for these individuals would be extended to November 30, 2010 from November 30, 2009, provided the served outside the U.S. for at least 90 days during calendar year 2009.

The bill, which has bipartisan support, could be sent to the Senate for action as early as next week, Congressional sources told Realty Times.

More important for the housing market overall, however, is the precedent set by the bill’s extension of the credit for an extra year. It’s not a far leap from that position to a general extension of the entire $8,000 credit program to the same date.

The National Association of Realtors, National Association of Home Builders and the Mortgage Bankers Association jointly sponsored an ad campaign aimed at convincing Congress to give the credit program another year.

Extracted From Realty Times and Written by Kenneth R. Harney


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Clean Windows Sell San Antonio Homes

Hey, home seller!  Here's an essential marketing tip for you. 

Always remember that the prospective home buyer's first view of your house can make or break a sales opportunity, so always make sure your home's windows give an enticing wink.

Here's how to make sure your home has welcoming, glittering windows.

Read this article from the San Antonio Express News, Sunday, December 9, 2001, written by Maribel Zimmerman. I dug it out of my archives, because so many of my home selling clients have asked for it and found it really works!

Cleaning windows: Simple Steps To A Clearer Outlook by Maribel Zimmerman

Some windows look like they were cleaned with a good amount of spit and an oily mechanics rag. Sticky fingers and wet noses pressed to the glass can wreak havoc on your view, too. But some windows look worse after they've been cleaned. Why? What could possibly have gone wrong? Plenty.

Hastily pursuing the perfect view can mean forgetting the most important credos of crystal-clear windows: clean water and the right tools. So, how do you get windows to sparkle the first time? It's really not that hard.

There are several ways to do the job right. Commercial cleaning solutions can work well, but are not necessary for the job. Old fashioned household cleaners are plentiful in most homes - and expensive.

Experts at Anderson-Windows suggest beginning with the right stuff: rubber gloves; two buckets or one bucket with two wells; sudsy ammonia; white vinegar; rubbing alcohol; several clean, dry rags; a squeegee; and a ladder, if necessary.

Now follow these steps to the best view you've ever enjoyed:

1. First, read and follow manufacturer's instructions on each cleaning agent and all tools before beginning. In addition, use extreme caution when using ladders and working around open windows to maintain safe operation and avoid injury. If elevation devices are required, do not use furniture, only equipment intended for that purpose, including ladders, scaffolding, and step stools. And, follow all manufacturers' instructions for safe operation.

2. Fill both buckets with 1 to 2 gallons of the hottest water your gloved hands can stand. Use caution in handling hot water to avoid burns and scalding.

3. In one of the two buckets, add one cup each of ammonia,and vinegar, plus two tablespoons of rubbing alcohol and stir. The latter will help water evaporate faster and add that twinkle factor.

4. Begin at the top of the house, at the top of the window.

5. Wipe the entire surface with the solution. If necessary, bugs, stickers and stubborn marks can be removed using a new straightedge blade, being careful to avoid personal injury or damage to the window. Once the dirt is removed, wipe the window a second time with the clear water.

6. Immediately squeegee the window, using a rag to wipe the squeegee dry after each swipe. This will limit the streaks caused by wet lines of water at the squeegee's edge and eliminate dripping onto your sparkling windows with wet tools.

7. Use a clean cloth to wipe only the wet corners and the sill.

Some extra tips

Again use extreme caution when working around open window openings. Never leave a window unattended, especially when children are present. Falls may result in serious injury or death.

Try swiping in only one direction - horizontal or vertical on the inside of the house, and the other direction on the outside. If you do find streaks, you'll know which side needs to be redone.

Change the water often to eliminate streaks.

Tie a rope to the squeegee and secure it to the ladder or your belt in case you drop it. Letting the solution dry onto the window while you climb down to retrieve your tools could be the difference in sparkle and debacle.

Try cleaning the windows on cloudy, but dry days. Sunlight dries the solution too fast and makes streaks more likely.

Really dirty windows may need to be rinsed with the garden hose, but be prepared to clean them immediately. Hard water stains can be stubborn.

For more information about windows, including maintenance, repair and replacement, contact the Greater San Antonio Builders Association at (210) 696-3800 for a free copy of the Remodelors Council directory.

The Greater San Antonio Builders Association is a local trade association that offers opportunities to its members to display their products and services.

It makes no representations expressed or implied, regarding the qualifications of its members or the quality of their products and services, but invites you to examine them for yourself at www.sabuilders.com

Maribel Zimmerman is an architectural representative for Black Millwork Co, Inc., a member of the Greater San Antonio Builder Association Remodelors Council

This is the recipe for sparkly windows - Read the article, too!
1 cup ammonia (sudsy)

1 cup vinegar (white)

2 Tablespoons Rubbing Alcohol

plus 1 to 2 gallons hot water ( stir it all together)

After removing the dirt, wipe with clear water only, then squeegee.

End of Article

I'm Stephanie Kelley, Realtor ©, ABR, CRS, GRI, at SanAntonioHomeQuest.com, Keller Williams Legacy, San Antonio, Texas.  I'm here to help you with all your realty needs.  You can contact me at
(800) 201-9145 or (210) 863-2661 and at swkrealtor@aol.com.

55 Days Left For San Antonio Home Purchase $8000 Tax Credit

Oh, no!  There are only 55 days left  to qualify for the $8000 IRS tax credit for first time home buyers (and for home buyers not owning a home in the last 3 years).

If you can take advantage of this fabulous benefit and you’re not already under a San Antonio home purchase contract, then you’re seriously running out of time to do all the stuff you need to do in order to close on your purchase by the 30 November deadline.

Don’t delay, start your home search today.

We’ll help make your home purchase as quick and trouble free as possible. We’re Stephanie and Randy Kelley, Realtors ©, at SanAntonioHomeQuest.com, Keller Williams Legacy, San Antonio, Texas. Contact us at (800) 201-9145 or (210) 863-2661 or (210) 867-8743 or at kelleybus@aol.com or swkrealtor@aol.com .

San Antonio Texas Homes, Values, and Stats

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San Antonio Home Values By ZIP Code

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