News About Properties

The Coming Home-Tax Credit: Worth the Wait?

In a bid to give another shot in the arm to the housing market, Senate Democrats reached an agreement on Wednesday that would extend the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit and introduce a new credit for existing homeowners. This is a tentative compromise worked out by some Senate members and the specifics could still change.

If the measure passes, homeowners would be eligible for a credit of up to $6,500 if they have lived in their prior residence for five years. The credit would apply to home purchases under contract by April 30, 2010 as long as they close by June 30. First-time buyers would continue to be eligible for up to $8,000.

As for income limits, the new credit would be available to individuals earning up to $125,000 or couples earning $250,000. That’s up from $75,000 and $150,000, respectively, for the current tax credit, which is set to expire on Nov. 30.

Foreclosure properties worth a look [Florida]

People wanting to buy homes in Charlotte County are looking in all the usual places — and then some.

Many of the county’s foreclosure properties on the Multiple Listing Service have become places where home seekers turn. There are certainly enough of them to see. As of Monday, Port Charlotte had 442 bank-owned properties, North Port 321 and Punta Gorda had 172, according to RealtyTrac.com.

The listings are not discriminatory: beautiful spreads at exclusive locations, higher-end homes in gated communities and middle- to lower-end places in single-family neighborhoods. No demographic has been unaffected.

“The foreclosure market has spawned a whole market of new buyers,” said Jim Thiel, a Realtor at Century 21 Sunbelt Realty in Punta Gorda. “It seems like I have a lot of customers interested in the foreclosure properties. A lot of them when they come in, they specifically indicate that is the type of property they want to buy. They know there is some obvious value.”

Buy a house, get a check

If you’re thinking of buying a house, run, don’t walk, to the nearest real estate office. Time is running out for first-time homebuyers to get an $8,000 tax credit.

“We’re seeing closings take 30 to 45 days, so they’d better do it right now,” advised EiIeen Mikulecky, a Keller Williams Realty broker associate. Her latest customer will use the money to fix up his new home.

The credit is available to anyone who hasn’t owned a home in the last three years. Unlike Cash for Clunkers, the $8,000 can’t be used in the closing.

Most homebuyers will declare the credit on their 2009 tax return. If they don’t owe that much, they’ll get a tax rebate check.

New wave of commercial foreclosures looms

Banks have foreclosed on more than 400,000 square feet of office space, more than 400 hotel rooms, more than 1,250 condominum units, more than 100,000 square feet of warehouse space and more than 150 acres of raw commercial land in Sarasota and Manatee counties since November.

This is prime commercial real estate that about 80 investors bought and developed during the real estate boom with loans totaling nearly $300 million.

With those investors unable to make interest payments, the properties will soon be taken over by banks — a prospect that few in the financial community look forward to.

South Florida homeowners walking away from underwater mortgages

Many South Florida homeowners who can afford to make their mortgage payments are choosing not to, forcing the lender to foreclose. It’s called strategic default.

Andres Duque thought he got a real steal when he paid $125,000 for his Little Haiti condo. But four years later, similar units are selling for $35,000 and even less.

And so, faced with the prospect of being underwater on his mortgage — owing more than the unit is worth — for the next 20 years, Duque, 33, made what seemed to him like a rational choice: to cut and run.

He stopped paying the mortgage, basically forcing the lender to take the condo off his hands through foreclosure.

Personal finance: What if you don’t pay the mortgage?

We all talk about what ifs.

One big what if that many South Florida homeowners have today has to do with mortgages.

About one-third of South Florida mortgages are underwater, meaning the homeowners owe more than the home is worth at today’s depressed prices, according to First American CoreLogic. Some homeowners are certainly wondering why they’re sending in the payment on, say, a $300,000 mortgage, when the house today would only sell for $210,000.

Your options: Keep paying or try to change your loan’s terms.