Interesting Stuff

Well, again it's been a while since I've posted. I vow to try to post at least once a month in 2009 and by the way, I hope everyone out there had a good Holiday season and a happy start to the new year! I got to visit New Hampshire, again (3 times a year now), to visit my parents who celebrated their 65th wedding anniversery just before Christmas. They had actually been displaced by that huge ice storm that whalloped New England on December 11. They're home was without electricity for 8 days. My folks tried to stick it out for 3 days without heat, but that was enough and they went to a shelter which had been setup in their community. By the time I got there to start my 2 week vacation, they had been back home for 4 days. Also, you could not believe the destruction I saw. About a half mile south of my parents home, a large elm tree snapped in half and abviously took some utility wires with it, then about a mile north of their home, not only did a large oak tree split in half under the weight of the ice, but a utility pole along the side of the road split in half and toppled over. No wonder my favorite 93 year old and 86 year old were without power for 8 days!

Just thought I'd let you know of something exciting on the real estate front. If you are a first time buyer, you can take advantage of a First Time Homebuyers Credit which has just been setup since the first of the year, as part of the Economic Recovery Act. If you have purchased or will purchase a home between April 8, 2008 and July 1, 2009 and you are a first time homebuyer, or have not owned your own home for the past 3 years and are buying now, you are entitled to a credit of $7500.00 on your federal income tax. It's like an interest free loan of $7500.00, in that you have to repay the $7500.00 to Uncle Sam, over a 15 year period. This is for the purchase of a main home. It's not good for vacation homes or rental properties.

There are some other stipulations for getting this credit, but it's worth checking out at this website: http://www.IRS.gov and there's more good news. Right now the powers that be in Washington under the new administration, are talking about waiving the payback rule. In other words, if they approve the rule change, you would be able to get the $7500.00 First Time Homebuyers Credit and NOT have to pay it back. So stay tuned! I'll have more on this, as it becomes available. In the meantime, visit that IRS website or contact my favorite mortgage banker, Dave Tumey of Cambridge Mortgage at 248-526-2210.