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First Time Home Buyers

Monday, October 21, 2013

by Liz Warren

If you are a first time home buyer or a buyer with minimum down payment pay attention to recent news concerning Fannie Mae. Currently you can get a mortgage with 3% down. Many buyers have applied for a conventional loan with 3% down vs. an FHA loan due to the high upfront PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance) required by FHA. FHA loans have been losing out to Fannie Mae conventional loans due to PMI.

This November Fannie Mae will be increasing their down payment requirement to 5% instead of 3%. If you get your approval now and close by March 15th you can still get the 3%.

The mortgage insurance on Fannie Mae loans tends to be lower than the FHA insurance but that is dependent upon your credit scores.

So, the bottom line is if you are buying and want to get the best deal for a 3% down payment, you need to act NOW. See your mortgage professional for addition details.

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First Time Home Buyers

Mt. Hood First Time Home Buyers

Thursday, February 25, 2010

by Liz Warren

If you are a first time home buyer and made a purchase last year or this year you need to know that the IRS will not accept electronic filing of your taxes. After over 90,000 fraudulent claims, according to the Treasury, the IRS is changing the filing requirments. Here is information from the IRS' "First-Time Homebuyer Credit" page online.

The IRS has created form 5405. Check the rules and requirements to get this tax credit on the First-Time Homebuyer Credit page above to be sure you qualify.

Did you know that if you sell your house within three years of purchase you may have to pay that tax credit back?

If you have not made your first time home buyer purchase, you have until April 30th to have a binding contract in place and you MUST close by June 30th, 2010!

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First Time Home Buyers