You must have a signed contract by April 30th 2010 and closed on your home by June 30th 2010.

Here is the timeline for a typical home buyer in our market so you can be prepared.

Pre-Approval Process: 24 to 48 hours

Shopping for a home and having your contract accepted: 30-60 days

Loan Underwriting and Closing: 30-45 days

As you can tell by our timelines the total process can take well over three months.

If you want to buy a house and need financing the time to start the home buying process is February 1st or even better TODAY.

This gives you enough time to get the home you want and close your loan on time.

With whole country trying to close their loan before the June 30th deadline to take advantage of the amazing tax credit you don’t want to be  stuck in the middle of that log jam!

Let’s get started today! Use our Free Purchasse Assistant to start the pre-approval process.

Click Here to get Pre-Approved!

There are now two different tax credits available for home buyers.

The original tax credit is the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit and you can receive a tax credit up to 10% of the sales price or $8,000 whichever is less.

Click Here to learn more: First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit

The newest Tax Credit is for Move Up/ Repeat Home Buyers. You can receive up to 10% of the sales price or $6,500, whichever is less.

Click here to learn more: Move up/Repeat Home Buyer Tax Credit  

Hope this helps you make an informed decision and please call me with any questions or concerns.

You can reach me at 239-437-4278 ext 11 or on my cell phone at 239-910-5668.

Good Luck!

Tim Hart

If you have not read the press release from HUD you can read it here: http://portal.hud.gov/portal/page/portal/HUD/press/press_releases_media_advisories/2010/HUDNo.10-011

As a direct mortgage lender we will not be able to have this program available until HUD publishes a Mortgagee Letter.

I have also spoken to several of our wholesale lenders and they are all saying the same thing. They are going to wait to see how it all shakes out before they commit to any internal guideline changes.

This guideline change means a large increase in all of our business so I will work very hard to make this available to you and me!

Hopefully as this week rolls on we will have more clarity on the programs that we will have available.

As I get updates I will be sure to forward them directly to you.

Have a great week!!

P.S. It was nice having Realtors call me this weekend and today EXCITED about a guideline change! I haven’t had that happen in about 3 years!!:)

Please remember that it will only fit a handful of our buyers since the majority of our short sales are because people couldn’t afford their house or are selling because of decreased value.

Borrowers are considered eligible for a new FHA-insured mortgage if, from the date of the loan application all mortgage payments were made on time for the most recent 12 months PLUS all installment debts for the same time period were also made within the month due.

However, borrowers are NOT eligible if they pursued a short sale simply to take advantage of declining market conditions therefore they also must meet one of the following conditions:

(1) Borrowers are relocating and establishing residency in an area not within a reasonable commuting distance from the property that was/is being sold on short sale.

(2) Borrowers number of legal dependents increased to the point where the property sold as a short sale no longer met the family’s needs.

(3) Consideration may be given on a case by case basis to an empty-nester needing to scale-down but wants to remain in the same neighborhood.

Hopefully this information helps you or someone you know get qualified for a mortgage!

Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Have a great weekend!

We have just heard that Chase retail has suspended accepting USDA/Rural Housing loans in Fort Myers-Lehigh Acres.

Chase plans on accepting USDA loans soon but they are not for sure on the exact date.

But what do you know…….in the meantime, we are still accepting USDA/Rural Housing Loans!!  If you send your USDA buyers to Chase and need your client approved please do not hesitate calling me and we will happily step in to help.

We are still able to close USDA loans while Chase figures out what they are going to do. Please call me with any questions or concerns.

I wanted to pass along this information from our local USDA office in North Fort Myers.

They are now taking 30 days to underwrite a file starting on files from 12/18 on. They were taking 10 to 15 days before today so this is not good news for any USDA buyer.

Hopefully you will be able to prepare your buyers and sellers for this long delay until USDA/Rural Housing can get caught up.

Thanks and have a great New Year!

Here is the e-mail we received today.

From: Roy, Kristine – Royal Palm Beach, FL
To: Prioleau, Angela – Royal Palm Beach, FL
Sent: Mon Dec 28 12:14:11 2009
Subject: 30 Day Email to Lenders

Though we have taken every possible measure to process your Guaranteed Loan request, due to the extensive volume experienced, we will not be able to underwrite your request by December 31, 2009.  The current turn time for underwriting is averaging 30 calendar days from the date of submittal. 

We apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused. 

Sincerely,

Angela S. Prioleau

Area Director

The City of Cape Coral will be holding a new event at Sun Splash called “Santa Land”.

The event will be from 12/18- 12/23 starting at 5pm to 11pm.

It will include a  mini-carnival, train rides around the park, visits with Santa, a children’s craft area, and a Waltzing Waters liquid fireworks display.

$10 each will get you in the doors and allow you to do everything the event will offer and all the proceeds go to the Sunshine Kids.

For more information, call Cape Coral Parks & Recreation at (239) 573-3128.

CNN.com is reporting that foreclosure filings fell by 8% in November, making it the fourth consecutive month of improvement in the housing market.

This is great news for our nation and with it being the 4th month in a row we hope it continues to decrease.

As the housing inventory is lowered you will see prices stabilize and even increase.

This will allow for prices to rise up and will bring the option of building a home back to our market.

Remember when people built homes??

It seems like a long time ago for SW Florida Real Estate but it will happen once the current inventory has run out.

With the First Time Home Buyers tax credit being extended and the super low real estate prices we truly expect 2010 to be a great year for us and the real estate buyer in Lee County!

Here is the entire article from CNN.com: http://money.cnn.com/2009/12/10/real_estate/Novermber_foreclosure_report/index.htm

Lt. Governor Jeff Kottkamp made an appearance at the Shell Factory in North Fort Myers to discuss what homeowners should do if they have Chinese Drywall.

We know several clients and friends of ours who own homes in Cape Coral and Fort Myers that are either uninhabitable or utter money pits.

Hopefully something happens soon to help these homeowners out who have been affected by this major problem.

It is pretty crazy to see that Jeff Kottkamps own house has Chinese drywall. I guess it can happen to anybody!:)

In the meantime if you are out looking to buy a new home, do yourself a favor and have a chinese drywall inspection. It could save you thousands of dollars or more!

Here is the entire article from the News-Press: http://www.news-press.com/article/20091205/NEWS0111/91205020/1076/HOMESCAPE99

If you are in the market to buy a home this is great news for you!

The Home buyer Tax Credit is set to expire 12/1/2009 and has been extended to June 30^th 2010.

There have been a couple of important revisions to the current bill that may be very important to you.

Here are a couple of highlights for you to review:

• You have to enter into a contract by April 30^th 2010 and close by June 30^th 2010 to be eligible for the credit.

• First Time Home Buyers will still receive a credit for 10% of the purchase price up to $8,000. This credit can be applied to your 2008 or 2009 tax returns with an amended tax return.

• Current Home Owners are eligible for a $6,500 tax credit if you have owned and lived in your home for the five out of the last eight years and are making an upgrade to a newer or larger house.

• Learn more about the tax credit by clicking here: http://www.hartmortgageservices.com/navPage.html?targetPage=http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/glance.php

Even if you currently own a home you can take advantage of this Tax Credit along with record low interest rates and rock bottom Florida real estate prices!

If you would like to take advantage of this buying opportunity please use or Free Purchase Assistant to get pre-approved today!

Click Here:  http://www.hartmortgageservices.com/forms/purchaseAssistant.html 

Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns regarding your potential purchase.

Have a great day!

No more rent for Anthony Agrusti!

Here is what Anthony had to say about his experience with Hart Mortgage Services:

Thanks for all that you and Kristin did for me. I thought closing my loan would be harder since I was a first time home buyer but you guys made it pretty easy. I am so fired up to have my new house and have Hart Mortgage Services to thank!

Sincerely, Anthony Agrusti

You can check out the rest of his closing pictures by clicking here.