Top 5 Tax Credit Tips for New Homeowners
‘Tis the season to file your taxes! It’s the gift that can keep on giving once we know how to do them. So here’s five quick and easy steps to a bountiful tax return: 1) Get professional help. You can miss so many extra deductions just because you didn’t know they existed. 2) Keep your [...]
MA Attorney General Martha Coakley to take on Bad Lenders
Martha Coakley is stepping into the mortgage mayhem on behalf of her constituents. On Oct. 18th, the Boston Globe reported that Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley will file a lawsuit against mortgage lenders who have abused their power. The lenders have not been named nor has their been a date set for the suit. There [...]
WSJ Calls for Focus on Housing
In the end, it all comes down to that new house. That’s what a recent blog post on the Wall Street Journal says, and adds that without a stronger focus on the housing sector, the United States may not move out of the recession so easily. The piece acknowledges the Fed’s recent rate change will [...]
Mortgage Rates Fall Below 4 Percent for the First Time
For the first time in America’s history, the average rate of a 30-year fixed mortgage dropped to just under 4 percent. The rate on 15-year fixed loans also dropped to a record 3.26 percent. These exceptionally low levels provide an excellent opportunity for consumers with previously high interest rates such as rates between five and eight [...]
MA mortgage balances among highest in U.S.
Massachusetts residents are among the most credit-worthy in the country, this despite the fact that the state’s average mortgage balance is a lofty $221,671. Local residents also have some of the largest student-loan balances nationally. The Bay State’s average home-loan balance ranked as the sixth-highest in the United States in May, behind only California ($318,731); [...]
Tax Credit Got Extended!
Congress has sent President Obama a plan to give homebuyers an additional three months to finish qualifying for federal tax incentives that boosted home sales this spring. The legislation would give buyers until Sept. 30 to complete their purchases and qualify for tax credits of up to $8,000. Under the current terms, buyers had until [...]
About FHA Loans
In 1934, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) was created by the National Housing Act for the primary purpose of insuring long-term residential mortgage loans and, thereby, promoting home ownership in the United States. Today, the FHA is the largest government insurer of mortgages in the world. FHA loans have surged in popularity. In 2005, government-backed [...]
Loft New Development, FP3 is Now Fannie Mae Approved
FP3, one of Boston’s hottest loft buildings, now passes the Fannie Mae standard for mortgage guidelines as the number of units sold is now more than 51 percent. In the past 6 months, FP3 gained great momentum and sold over 24 units! “This is a great opportunity for buyers to procure conventional financing, which is [...]
No RESPA Violation for Closing Discount
Many Boston Developments, such as The W, The Clarendon and Battery Wharf have their own preferred lenders, mostly to assure financing of a new construction development with less than 50% sold or under agreement condos. The buyer always get to choose who the lender will be and the developer may ask, just in case that the buyer’s lender cannot obtain the loan, to apply with the developer’s preferred lender. In my opinion, it is a win-win situation for both the buyer and the developer; the buyer gets the unit he wants (and sometime a discount) and the developer gets a peace of mind knowing that financing will go through with no problems.
MA Yearly Home Sales Rise First Time Since 2004
According to Warren Group, a Boston company that tracks local real estate data, sales of single-family homes in Massachusetts rose 3 percent in 2009 – the first year-over-year increase since 2004. Prices also showed signs of stabilization, with the median home price at $295,00 in December 2009, up 10.4 percent from December 2008. What savvy [...]
