Archive for June, 2009
Don’t Wait for November 30th
November 30th will be a very pivotal day in America. This is the date that the $8,000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit will expire for the Obama Stimulus Bill in 2009.
Under the current plan, buyers must close (or “settle”) on their home on or before this date in order to be eligible for the $8,000 [...]
This is My House…
…Haha – Just Kidding! I wish it was my house, because this house was HUGE.
It may be hard to tell from the outside, but this house was in bad shape. Very bad shape, in fact. Toilets missing, lighting ripped out, missing appliances, poor paint jobs, and some bad water leaking in the halfway finished basement.
I [...]
Lots of BPO Requests Coming In
For a full explanation of what a BPO is, read my BPO Word of the Week Post.
I am signed up with a company to receive notices of when new BPO’s are being ordered by banks so they can determine the market value of a property. Most times, I will get an email request for one [...]
Is There a State Tax Credit?
Currently there is no MN State Tax Credit for First Time Home Buyers.
This is often confused with the Obama Federal Tax Credit for First Time Buyers under the 2009 Stimulus Act. I have gotten repeated phone calls and emails lately from people who want to know how much the state tax credit is.
The Federal Tax [...]
First Time Home Buying Class – June 18th 2009
[ June 18, 2009; 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm. ] *REGISTER HERE*
Buying a home is obviously a huge decision. Amazingly, most people don’t spend much time educating themselves on the home buying process. Instead, they rely on the advice from friends, family, co-workers, or the first Realtor they meet at an Open House.
That’s where we come in. This free and very informative 90 minutes will [...]
What Happened to this Short Sale House?
This was a Short Sale listing in Hopkins, MN. It’s clear that the owners have left this property behind and don’t care whatsoever if it actually gets sold.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the messiest house I’ve been in over the past month, but it still makes me sad a little bit to see the disrespect that people [...]
Word of The Week: BPO
Oh, the wacky world of real estate always love to confuse people with acronyms anonymous.
However, that’s why I’m here to help clear the confusion for you.
BPO simply stands for Broker’s Price Opinion.
This is when a Real Estate Broker (or agent) analyzes the neighborhood and give a price opinion on a particular house’s value. This is slightly different [...]
$8,000 Buyer Tax Credit for Down Payment?
There have been some rumblings about being able to use the Obama Stimulus $8,000 Tax Credit for First Time Home Buyers as a down payment for a mortgage. When the Tax Credit first came out in the giant Stimulus Package, it was only available after the buyers closed on the property and then filed for [...]
Foreclosures Not Closing
I’ve written before about the Foreclosure vs. Short Sale battle, and that I will always recommend my buyers to go after a bank-owned property rather than a short sale property. The simple reason for this is time spent waiting for the sale to be accepted, approved, and closed.
Well, lately I’ve had First Time Buyer Clients [...]
First Time Home Buyers as Investors
This week I wrote a guest blog post for fellow Real Estate Blogger Scott Ficek at his MN Investment Property blog.
One thing I often get asked is “can I be a first time buyer and an investor all at once?” Normally, I don’t advise this strategy, since owning and buying real estate is much different [...]
