Tax Credit Extended - and Expanded to Current Home Owners!

Home Buyer Tax Credit Extended to First-Time Buyers....
and Expanded to Current Home Owners!

As part of its plan to stimulate the U.S. housing market and address the economic challenges facing our nation, Congress has passed new legislation that:

• Extends the First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit of up to $8,000 to first-time home buyers until April 30, 2010.


• Expands the credit to grant a $6,500 credit to current home owners
  purchasing a new or existing home between the date the bill is signed by President Obama and April 30, 2010. (Update - President Obama signed the bill on November 6, 2009).
  

Here is more information about how the Extended Home Buyer Tax Credit can help prospective home buyers become part of the American dream.

Who Qualifies for the Extended Credit?

• First-time home buyers who purchase homes between the date the bill is signed by President Obama and April 30, 2010.
  
  


• Current home owners purchasing a home between the date the bill is signed by President Obama and April 30, 2010, who have used the home being sold or vacated as a principal residence for five consecutive years within the last eight.
  

To qualify as a “first-time home buyer” the purchaser or his/her spouse may not have owned a residence during the three years prior to the purchase.


If you purchased a home between January 1, 2009 and the date the bill is signed by President Obama, please see: 2009 First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit.

Which Properties Are Eligible?

The Extended Home Buyer Tax Credit may be applied to primary residences, including: single-family homes, condos, townhomes, and co-ops.

How Much Is Available?

The maximum allowable credit for first-time home buyers is $8,000.

The maximum credit allowed for current homeowners is $6,500.

How is a Buyer's Credit Amount Determined?

Each home buyer’s tax credit is determined by additional factors:

1. The price of the home.


2. The buyer's income.

Price

Under the Extended Home Buyer Tax Credit, credit may only be awarded on homes purchased for $800,000 or less.

Buyer Income

Under the Extended Home Buyer Tax Credit which is effective on the date the bill is signed by President Obama single buyers with incomes up to $125,000 and married couples with incomes up to $225,000—may receive the maximum tax credit.

These income limits have been increased from the 2009 First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit limits. If you purchased a home between January 1, 2009 and the date the bill is signed by President Obama, please see 2009 First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit.

If the Buyer(s)’ Income Exceeds These Limits, Can He/She Still Get a
Credit?

Yes, some buyers may still be eligible for the credit.

The credit decreases for buyers who earn between $125,000 and $145,000 for single buyers and between $225,000 and $245,000 for home buyers filing jointly. The amount of the tax credit decreases as his/her income approaches the maximum limit. Home buyers earning more than the maximum qualifying income—over $145,000 for singles and over $245,000 for couples are not eligible for the credit.

Can a Buyer Still Qualify If He/She Closes After April 30, 2010?

Under the Extended Home Buyer Tax Credit, as long as a written binding contract to purchase is in effect on April 30, 2010, the purchaser will have until July 1, 2010 to close.

Will the Tax Credit Need to Be Repaid?

No. The buyer does not need to repay the tax credit, if he/she occupies the home for three years or more. However, if the property is sold during this three-year period, the full amount credit will be recouped on the sale.

Frequently Asked Questions about the new 2009/2010 Tax Credit

See the comparison between the current 2009 Tax Credit and the new 2009/2010 Tax Credit

For more information, Please contact me at
jim@witchcityhomes.com or
978-364-6736.

Jim Armstrong

Big Rebound in Existing-Home Sales

Big Rebound in Existing-Home Sales Shows First-Time Buyer Momentum
October 23, 2009 - Existing-home sales bounced back strongly in September with first-time buyers driving much of the activity, marking five gains in the past six months.

Read the entire release here.

Video Eplains the $8000 Home Buyer Tax Credit

Here is a video that explains the 2009 $8000 Home Buyer Tax Credit

Office Space in Salem MA from $350/month - Salem - Office - Commercial Space - multiple commercial spaces in one suite

Office Space in Salem MA from $350/month - Salem - Office - Commercial Space - multiple commercial spaces in one suite

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Armstrong Field Real Estate Anniversary Party

Armstrong Field Real Estate Celebrates 4.5 years in business!

Salem, MA - Almost 5 years after starting a business at the beginning of one of the worst economic downturns in recent history, Jim Armstrong and his staff of 15 agents are celebrating another banner year in real estate. They are inviting all their clients (past, present and future), business associates, city officials and friends to join them in this celebration on Friday, September 18, 2009 between 5:00pm and 8:30pm at their office located at One Salem Green in Salem Massachusetts.

As in previous years, there will be live music by Loudmouth Soup, plenty of food, and lots of networking & socializing. For more information, go to: http://www.armstrongfield.com/party

Home Buyer Seminar in Salem Massachusetts

Time is Running Out to Qualify for the $8,000 Tax Credit!

November 30th is approaching quickly, and that is the deadline to close on a home in order to qualify for the $8,000 first time home buyer tax credit. If the average timeline from the time you your offer on a home is accepted and the time you close is 5 weeks, that means you have less than 30 days to find a home that meets your needs and get it under contract.

We will be holding a seminar/workshop on buying a home on Wednesday, September 16th at the Seaport Credit Union in Salem MA and will be discussing the credit and how you can receive it. We will bring you right through the home buying process up to the closing. You will also hear from an attorney and a mortgage officer who will explain the legal and financial aspects of buying a home.

For more information, go to: Home Buyer Workshop

Homes still affordable - really affordable

Homes still affordable - really affordable

The bright side of the housing bust: Homebuying has not been this affordable in a generation.NEW YORK

(CNNMoney.com) -- Homes continue to be more affordable than they have been in nearly two decades. The typical American family, making the nation's median income of $64,000 a year, could afford to buy 72.3% of all homes sold in the United States during the second quarter, according a quarterly report from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and Wells Fargo (WFC, Fortune 500). That's off just a tad from the record 72.5% reached during the first three months of 2009, but up substantially from the second quarter of 2008 when only 55% of homes sold were affordable. "The increase in affordability -- along with the $8,000 federal tax credit for home buyers -- is stimulating demand, particularly among young, first-time buyers," said NAHB Chairman Joe Robson, a homebuilder from Tulsa, Okla., in a prepared statement. The NAHB judges a home to be affordable if a family making the metro area's median income could devote no more than 28% of their take-home pay toward housing costs. The vast improvement this year is due to plunging prices and rock-bottom interest rates. The average U.S. home price has dropped more than 32% from its peak, which was set during the summer of 2006, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price index. And, for most of the three months mortgage rates were historically low, under 5% for a 30-year fixed-rate loan. Long suffering sellers The improved affordability comes, of course, at the expense of sellers. Real estate Web site Zillow reported that more than 30% of all homes sold during the three months ended June 30 went for less than what the sellers originally paid. The longer they owned the home, the more likely they were to profit from the resale, but virtually anyone who bought within the past five years and sold during the quarter lost money on the deal, according to Stan Humphries, Zillow's vice president in charge of data and analytics. Foreclosure factor The heartbreak among home sellers is compounded by the foreclosure problem. Many of the homes on the market got there because families lost their homes to foreclosure. Part of the reason that home prices have become so reasonable is the volume of REOs -- real estate speak for homes repossessed by banks -- has spiked. There were more than 87,000 repossessions in July, about triple the number of July 2007. Foreclosed homes are often listed and sold at steep discounts to produce quick sales, according to Brad Geisen, founder of Foreclosure.com, which markets such properties. "The big banks are finally pricing their properties to what people will pay for them," he said. "Foreclosure inventory is now selling at about the same rate it's coming in." Most affordable cities The older, industrial Midwest cities generally offer the best bargains. Indianapolis has led the NAHB's Housing Opportunity Index for 16 straight quarters. Nearly 95% of all homes sold there were affordable to those earning the area's median income of $68,100. Other leaders were the Youngstown, Ohio, metro area, Detroit, Dayton, Ohio, and Grand Rapids, Mich. The least affordable large metro areas were New York, where only 21% of homes sold were affordable, Honolulu, San Francisco,Los Angeles and Santa Ana, Calif. By Les Christie, CNNMoney.com staff writer

Pending Home Sales Are The Best Since 2003

Pending Home Sale Up Again!

The National Association of REALTORS has announced that pending homes sales are up again in June. This is the 5th month in a row that these anticipated real estate sales have been up - something that hasn't happened in six years since July of 2003.

From a Pending Homes Sales Index (PHSI) of 80.4 in January 2009, activity has grown to 94.6 as of June. That is an increase of over 17% since the beginning of the year. An index of 100 is based on 2001 sales and coincides with a historically high level of home sales activity. The index measures housing contract activity. It is based on signed real estate contracts for existing single-family homes, condos and co-ops. A signed contract is not counted as a sale until the transaction closes. Modeling for the PHSI looks at the monthly relationship between existing-home sale contracts and transaction closings over the last four years.

For a video of the announcement, go to:

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid31285236001?bctid=30945467001

Jim Armstrong