Now is the time to refinance or buy that home.

You hear it all the time but it still needs to be said. NOW is the best time in years to buy a home. Let me share with you a few reasons why.

1. If you are a first time homebuyer you get $8,000 to buy a home!! If you aren't a first time homebuyer you still get a $6,500 tax credit. You can get the money BEFORE you buy a home. Just make sure you return the cash if the deal doesn't close.
You have to have a contract by April 30, 2010 and close by June 30, 2010.
The government is literally giving you money to buy a home, they have increased the income allowed and raised the price of the homes that you can buy. If you are on the fence get off get a realtor and get your financing in place. I am biased but I think you need to get the financing in place before you start looking.

2. Fannie and Freddie temporary loan limits are just that; temporary. You can get a fixed rate in the low 5 range with no points or origination fee for a loan up to $729,750. You can buy a home thru FHA of 756k and only put down 3.5% if need be. This is in high cost areas only such as DC and the surrounding counties. The loan limits will go back down, last year it was almost impossible to get a good rate above 417k loan amounts. Don't wait until the government ends this program, end it must. If you need to know which county has which limits and for all the confusing rules click here.

3. Rates will likely rise March 2010 if not before and here is a brief explanation of why. In late September the Federal reserve basically said the economy was on the mend. I am not so sure but hey they are smarter than me right? That announcement should have sent long term interest rates, especially long term interest rates straight up and they should still be climbing. Usually bonds and mortgage backed securities (MBS) are sold in this environment. They usually are sold when inflation is slated to rise in the near future. So what happens? Of course interest rates actually fell. I think the reason is mainly because the rest of country isn't as sure about the recovery and more so because the FED is buying 1.45 TRILLION dollars of MBS thru March 2010. Remember trillion is the new billion. So the fed is keeping rates artificially low and they are also announcing that the program ends in March. Now they may extend it, they were supposed to end it Dec 31, 2009.

Numbers look like in certain areas prices are firming up and days on market are dropping for well priced homes and owned by reasonable buyers. Many people still seem to think it's 2005 for selling in the DC area and it's not that good yet.


Please let me know how I can help you take advantage of the low rates and tax credits. If you aren't sure I am right take a look at what others are writing and blogging. Ignore the general whole country articles, look for local DC information. I am also licensed in Florida and Delaware.

Thanks,
Brent

3.