Cindy's Blog

Well, if you read the last post, you should have seen that not only is it a great time to buy, because of the amount of inventory on the market, how much more willing sellers are (most of the time) willing to negotiate, and because the scales have finally switched back to buying as being preferable financially (for most people) to buy rather than rent.

The tax credit is also a great motivating factor for many folks, since it really does come right off of your taxes. If you owe $8000, with the tax credit, you will owe $0. That's right- zero. Of course, this is all vague, general information, and the most important thing you can do if you have questions is call your tax preparer and/ or your loan officer. There are some caveats to the program, where the available funds for the credit scale down to phasing completely out as your income level increases.

Another thing to be aware of, if you find yourself in trouble, as many folks have, and feel in danger of losing your home, missing payments, etc. is the HOMEOWNER AFFORDABILITY AND STABILITY PLAN.

There are two key parts of the plan- the first applies to people whose equity is less than 20% in their home, and the second attempts to lower the mortgage payments of those at risk of possibly losing their homes.

There are some tricky things about both of these, and I am by no means an expert- it's my business to know something about them, and to advise my clients to go speak to their lender. The best thing you can do if you even so much as think that either of these might apply to you, call your lender right away. All of the details have not been released, but there is potential there!