It’s also been expanded!  People who currently own a home are eligible to get up to $6,500 to “move up”!  Here’s a short video from Tom Kunz, President and CEO of Century 21, explaining the extension:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it-i_pbt1os]

In order to qualify for the $6,500, here’s a quick explanation of the guidelines for current homeowners (info on first timers can be found here):

• The credit is available for homes that go under contract by April 30, 2010 and close by June 30th, 2010.
• Current homeowners can claim a $6,500 credit as long as the property they are vacating has been their primary residence for at least five consecutive years out of the last eight years.
• Income limits: $125,000 a year for individuals, $225,000 a year for married couples. (these are higher limits than before)
• Homes that cost more than $800,000 aren’t eligible for the credit.
• $6500 tax credit is not retroactive.  (from the language of the bill: “shall apply to residences purchased after the date of the enactment of this Act.”

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call or email me!

~Jonathan Benya- Realtor
Century 21 New Millennium
9405-A Chesapeake St
La Plata, MD 20646
301-609-9000 – office
301-653-8116 – cell

Charles County Real Estate Blog
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Shaun Donovan, secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, said that the Federal Housing Administration is going to permit its lenders to allow homeowners to use the $8,000 tax credit as a down payment, provided you are using personal funds for the first 3.5% of the downpayment.

Donovan’s statement came in an address to several thousand Realtors® gathered at The Real Estate Summit: Advancing the U.S. Economy, a special daylong session at the Realtors® Midyear Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo in Washington D.C.

If you’ve been looking at buying your first home, but the down-payment requirements have kept you from doing so, then this might be your chance to take advantage of a fantastic change in FHA policy.  Feel free to give me a call to find out more information or ask questions about how to take advantage of this program!

~Jonathan Benya- Realtor
Century 21 New Millennium
9405-A Chesapeake St
La Plata, MD 20646
301-609-9000 – office
301-653-8116 – cell

Charles County Real Estate Blog
SOMD Home Search
Southern Maryland Custom Homes & Land

When you’re putting your house on the market, there’s obviously a lot that needs to be done in preparation, such as rearranging, cleaning, and landscaping in order to maximize your house’s interior and curb appeal. But in today’s market, perhaps touching up the paint and making the minor repairs isn’t quite enough to make your house stand out.

This is why sometimes it might be best to upgrade when you’re putting your house on the market, especially when it comes to home lighting.

This might seem counter intuitive at first; why buy additional lighting that you won’t be using and that might be removed or altered by the eventual buyers? Certainly both points are valid, but a few changes can drastically help improve the appearance of your house and might in the process enable you and your Realtor to sell it at the asking price.

How to Get the best “Bang for your Buck”
When upgrading your lighting in this manner, it is worth noting that you want your upgrades to be based on functionality, not style. After all, you don’t want to purchase lighting based on what looks good to you but rather what you think would work for any future occupants.

Above all it is important to find lighting that will illuminate areas that previously didn’t have much light cover, as you don’t want to turn on your lights when showing your house only to have some unappealing dim spots. A few simple and inexpensive ways of rectifying this would be upgrading your vanity lights for your bathroom or purchasing kitchen island pendants and under-cabinet lighting for your kitchen.
You also need to consider the exterior of your house as well. Flood lights do an excellent job of accentuating the front of you house at nighttime, while path lighting can help highlight your landscaping while also providing safe and easy access to the house.

Both of these types of lighting will also make your house easier to find for the prospective buyers and will help its curb appeal as well.

Don’t forget about Sunlight!

Lastly, it is important not to overlook natural light, as this can be important during daytime visits. In this case, the littlest things, such as cleaning your windows and keeping all curtains and shades drawn up, can make a huge difference. Sunlight is always more appealing than artificial lighting, so it is important to utilize it whenever possible.

It goes without saying that the better you present your house, the better the chances of being able to sell it the asking price. Maximizing both artificial and natural lighting goes a long way in creating the right look and atmosphere for potential buyers.

~Jonathan Benya- Realtor
Century 21 New Millennium
9405-A Chesapeake St
La Plata, MD 20646
301-609-9000 – office
301-653-8116 – cell

Charles County Real Estate Blog
SOMD Home Search
Southern Maryland Custom Homes & Land

The guidelines for HAP have been revised to also include:

• Military personnel with PCS orders who are unable to sell their homes
• Wounded warriors required to relocate for medical reasons, and
• Surviving spouses of fallen service members

Who Is Now Eligible?

Eligibility requirements for the expanded HAP program are:

• Permanent reassignment requires move of more than 50 miles.
• Reassignment ordered between 1 February 2006 and 30 September 2012 (or earlier date designated by Secretary of Defense).
• Property purchased (or contract to purchase signed) before 1 July 2006.
• Property sold by owner between 1 July 2006 and 30 September 2012, or earlier date designated by Sec. Def.
• Property was the primary residence of the owner
• Owner has not previously received these benefit payments.

What Does This Mean?

Essentially the DoD will reimburse up to 95% of any loss on the sale of your home, provided the home was originally purchased before July 1, 2006.  The DoD MAY also elect to purchase your home from you for up to 90% of it’s current value.

Unfortunately to DoD has not yet released the detailed compensation guidelines, so they will not be approving any applications just yet.  They are, however, recommending that any Military Personnel who may be eligible should submit their applications ASAP.  Applications received now will be held until guidelines are released.

How do I apply?

In order to apply for the HAP program,all you have to do is go to the Hap Website and download the application form.  They have complete instructions there and will be notifying applicants once the guidelines are released.

~Jonathan Benya- Realtor
Century 21 New Millennium
9405-A Chesapeake St
La Plata, MD 20646
301-609-9000 – office
301-653-8116 – cell

Charles County Real Estate Blog
SOMD Home Search
Southern Maryland Custom Homes & Land

Jeez, even the dog doesn't want to be in this house!

There’s been a huge increase in Southern Maryland Short Sales over the last year thanks to the ongoing housing crisis. More often than not, they end up as foreclosures, many times because the path to negotiating is at best, murky.

When working with a lender to get a short sale agreement, there are several things that they are going to ask for, including tax returns, financial statements, investment records, etc. They’re also going to ask for a hardship letter.

So what is a “Hardship Letter”, exactly?

It’s essentially a personal letter to the bank explaining why you can’t possibly afford to pay the mortgage anymore. The thing to remember about the hardship letter is this: The sadder, the better!

This is really where you want to work closely with your Realtor to brainstorm on all the reasons why you can’t pay the mortgage. Sick mother? Kids with serious medical bills? Devastating car accident? Job lost due to faltering economy? This is your time to say so!!

Whatever you do, don’t lie about it, but make sure you are maximizing the hardship you are experiencing. The banks are willing to work with people, but excuses such as admitting you falsified loan docs to get the house aren’t exactly going to make the bank jump for joy.

It DOES make a difference!

The banks can only work with the information they are given, and the more hardship they can establish, the better off your chances of getting the short sale approved are.

Questions about how to survive a short sale or get your hardship letter written? Send me an email to jonbenya@mac.com and I’ll be more than happy to help!

~Jonathan Benya- Realtor

Century 21 New Millennium

301-653-8116

In comes the concept of the low-ball offer. Low-balling is where you offer considerably less than the asking price on a home. It’s easy enough to write (You always have the right to offer as much as you think is fair), but writing the offer and getting the offer accepted are two very different things!

So how do you convince the banks to accept less than they want for a foreclosure? Well, there’s a couple of ways to increase your chances of getting that offer accepted.

With a buyers market, the more enticing the TERMS of the contract are, the better your chances of getting the deal to closing. Think about what perks you have to offer in the contract. Here’s an example of things that can make your
offer more attractive:

1. Offer a quick closing- The less time the bank has to hold the property, the better off they are.
2. Don’t request repairs- Banks are selling as is, and with a low-ball offer, structure it such that you are contingent upon an INSPECTION WITH WALK-AWAY rather than repairs
3. Avoid contingencies- If you want the banks to consider a low-ball offer, there has to be a good reason. Bogging down a contract with multiple contingencies is a good way to get the offer rejected.
4. Offer cash- With a cash offer, there’s no risk of loans not being accepted, which can be very appealing to the bank.
5. Look for homes with “market rot”- Homes that have been up on the market for more than 150 days are good targets because the bank has been holding them for longer than they would like. They probably need to lower the price, and are more likely to take an offer.
6. Write a letter- Sounds cheezy, but outlining why you’re offering this sort of price can help the bank make sense of the offer. Every little bit helps, and I’ve seen things like this actually make a big difference.

Related Posts:

What Does “AS-IS” Mean?
Waldorf, MD Foreclosure Update for August, 2008
Foreclosure Buying Tips Part 1
Foreclosure Buying Tips Part 2
Foreclosure Buying Tips Part 3

~Jonathan Benya
Century 21 New Millennium
9405-A Chesapeake St
La Plata, MD 20646
301-609-9000
301-653-8116
Southern Maryland Real Estate Blog

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In order to apply for this program, you must:

• Have a loan originated prior to 2008
• Be paying paying more than 31% of your monthly income on your mortgage
• The program qualifies for PRIMARY RESIDENCE ONLY
• Have your income verified

The program will not take effect until October, 2008, runs through September, 2011, and here’s the kicker (There’s always a catch, right?):

Lenders can pick and choose which loans to refinance under the program!

This means that if your lender isn’t in the mood to adjust your loan, you’re out of luck!  The catch is that the bank WILL be losing money on the deal, as the loan is essentially going to be giving owners 10% equity (Loans can only be up to 90% LTV), so I would imagine that even though 400,000 people are theoretically “eligible”, far fewer are going to be given a break as the lenders will be eating crow on the deal.

This isn’t a free money deal for the homeowners, however:

If you sell during the next five years, you must agree to share 50
percent of any profits from the resale with the government. What’s
more, homeowners can only retain equity gains based on a sliding scale.

The homeowner would have zero equity from a sale in the first year,
with the amount rising 10 percent in each succeeding year and capping
at 50 percent from a sale in year five and thereafter.

The equity must be repaid because the maximum amount on the new loans will be capped at 90 percent of the current market value.

This has a big impact on OUR area because of all the military families in the area that are struggling to make payments.  If you get re-assigned in a year, you lose all of your financial gain in the home!

The entire 694-page bill can be viewed at: http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/financialsvcs_dem/hr3221_bill_text.pdf

Want more information on the new bill, and what it means to you?  Call Jonathan Benya at 301-653-8116 and I’ll be more than happy to help explain what to do and how to do it so you can take advantage of this opportunity!

~Jonathan Benya
Century 21 New Millennium
9405-A Chesapeake St.
La Plata, MD 20646
301-653-8116
301-609-9000
http://www.teambenya.com