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The program provides $14,000 to eligible borrowers purchasing foreclosed properties in eligible areas. Funds are in the form of a second mortgage lien with no interest and no monthly payments, also known as a soft second. The lien is released over a period of five years and six months. That means if you stay in that house for 5 and a half years, you don't pay it back. Funds may be used for required repairs and/or down payment assistance.

This program began April 1, 2009 and all funds must be used by June 30, 2010.  If you are a first time home buyer, get the most for your money and purchase before December 1, 2009 for an additional $8,000 federal tax credit.  There is another tax credit for all GA Home Buyers regardless of what you buy or your income for buying a home between June 1 and November 30th, 2009.

How to Apply:

All buyers must receive eight hours of in-person home buyer education/counseling provided by a HUD-approved housing counseling agency. Courses are not available on-line.

Contact a Georgia Dream participating lender for pre-qualification and to begin the mortgage loan process. Yes, good credit is still important here.  Call me for a recommendation on a participating lender.

Can I buy a home anywhere in Georgia?
No. You must purchase a foreclosed property in an area of greatest need which means an area that has a large inventory of foreclosures. Counties in metro Atlanta are included in this. For counties outside metro Atlanta please click here.

Are there income limits?
Yes and these limits are before taxes. For the counties of Dekalb, Cobb, Fulton and Gwinnett the income limits are as follows:

• Household of 1   $59,800
• Household of 2   $68,350
• Household of 3   $76,900
• Household of 4   $85,450
• Household of 5   $92,300
• Household of 6   $99,100
• Household of 7   $105,950
• Household of 8   $112,800

For all other counties, please check www.dcaloans.com.

Are only first time home buyers eligible for the Georgia Dream NSP program?
Applicants do not have to be first-time home buyers and can own other real estate. However, the applicant must owner occupy the NSP financed property as his or her primary residence within 60 days of closing. Any rental income generated from the ownership of other real estate would have to be counted as household income for NSP qualification purposes.

If I am a first time home buyer and I use the Georgia Dream NSP do I still qualify for the federal first time home buyer $8000 tax credit?
Yes, if you purchase a home prior to December 1, 2009.

Can I use other down payment assistance with this program?
No, unlike the traditional Georgia Dream down payment programs, the Georgia Dream NSP cannot be combined with other down payment assistance programs.

Once again, The Castles By Chrissy Team is your local expert on the best way to buy a home, get financing, and have a smooth transaction.  If you have additional questions about this credit or other related home buying questions, please call us today.  I look forward to helping you take advantage of these credits in 2009!

Sincerely,

Chrissy Neumann
#1 Top Producing Team KWFA 2008
404.925.5335
Fax 404.529.4529
www.CastlesByChrissy.com

Is it Better to Remodel Now or Buy a New House?

A lot of home owners have seen the value drop in their neighborhood and are thinking it would be much better to just renovate their bathroom/kitchen/ master suite, etc versus taking a "loss" on selling their home.  Surprisingly, though, keeping up a home may cost you up to four times its purchase price. Is it smarter just to buy another home? Quite possibly, especially when real estate values are as low as they are right now.  Here's how to make an informed decision.

The emotional answer could very easily be "NO" - most of my past clients said it cost more money in marital counseling than if they just bought a new home! :) All joking aside, there are the financial reasons to take into account.  

At first glance, there seem to be plenty of cost advantages to staying put and renovating. You can avoid the costs of selling your home, buying a new one and moving, which can drain away 10% or more of the value of your home each time you change abodes.

However, you need to consider the costs of maintenance, repairs and updates. These are far more than most homeowners realize.

The high cost of keeping up with the Joneses

If you are considering holding on to your property and you are not a committed "do-it-yourselfer", you might be no better off than had you rented all those years. The cost of repair and renovation bills can easily overwhelm your profit.

Meanwhile, if you are a move-up buyer you could be leagues ahead if you snagged a new or fully remodeled house in this down market.

What are the real costs involved?

An architect or contractor can help give you a ballpark on a remodel, and help point out some ways to save money.

• The out-of-pocket costs of construction (any savings or other funds you plan to devote to the cause).
• The cost of any financing (usually your monthly payments multiplied by the time you plan to remain in the house).
• If you're adding on rather than renovating, the cost of higher utility bills, bigger homeowner's insurance premiums and greater property taxes from your additional space.

When computing the costs of moving, consider:

• Real estate commissions, closing costs and moving, which typically equal 10% or more of the house you're selling.
• The cost of the new, presumably bigger mortgage, multiplied by however long you plan to be in the house.
• The cost of higher utility bills, bigger homeowners insurance premiums and greater property taxes over the same period.
• Any new furniture, window treatments, landscaping or other the years.

A lot of clients called me this week to get my view point on the article printed in the AJC this past week.  I thought I would go ahead and share my thoughts with you as well.

Attached is the front-page article from this Wednesday's Atlanta Journal Constitution. (Email Chrissy@CastlesByChrissy.com for the article)  If you did not see it, I'm sure your friends, family and coworkers have all been talking about it!  Truly, how does the media expect us to rebound from this shifting market if all they do is interpret data negatively?

Once again, I feel compelled to be your "local economist of choice" and portray the stats accurately and unbiased!

In this article concerning the most recent real estate stats the media is misinterpreting the data.   The story is focusing on the median point of sales prices for homes that sold.  The median is simply the number at which half the data points in a given sample (in this case, all homes sold in the given time period) are above the median number, and half the sample points are lower than the median number.

Now, for many reasons (including foreclosures, new lending requirements, unemployment issues) homes under $200k represent a slightly larger portion of all homes sold.  In fact, they now represent 52% of sales in 2008 up from 42% in 2007.  So OF COURSE the median number is lower!   This DOES NOT mean the price of any particular home is down by 11.2%, as indicated and easily (mis)interpreted from the AJC article.

At least the article, in it's sub-headline, notes that "Atlanta's housing bubble didn't burst as soon or as badly as elsewhere."  Which interpreted accurately means that our recovery will be MUCH faster and has already started.  

Homes still rose in value in this survey by 16.79% from 2000 through 2008.  Your housing costs still are an investment in an appreciating asset over time, while living in a rental home or apartment are not!   All the while, you are still paying down principle and therefore further increasing your equity generating a nice tax deduction every April 15th, and enjoying a much higher credit rating for making timely mortgage payments.    

What the media should be portraying is a sense of urgency if you live in metro Atlanta.  An urgency that you are about to miss out on one of the BEST times to buy in our history - given prices and interest rates.  Don't be that person that reads the AJC a couple months from now and realizes you missed the bottom.

Let us help you decide what is best for your situation.  Give me a call anytime. I live to talk about this stuff!

Have a great weekend.

I'm looking for someone smart - are you that person? Do you know someone who has been waiting for the "bottom" of the real estate market to hit?  Well - they've almost missed it.   I might sound like a broken record at this point - but as your real estate expert it is my job to provide you with the real facts.  And guess what, we have good news!

For three straight months inventory has been declining - that's what we want to hear!  We had too much supply and now its going away.

The number of annual home sales has gone up for the last two months! We also want to hear that!  That means demand is increasing!

As the following chart illustrates, indeed the market has corrected. While it is quite possible that the market will continue for a time to “over correct,” the important point to realize is that no one can ever predict or time the floor—until after the fact when opportunity has been lost. Don't let your friend miss this opportunity! Send me their name and I will explain this graph to them and how time is of the essence.

Now is the time to buy and the reasons are many:

• Real estate remains one of the most stable long-term investments with relatively modest fluctuations in annual gains.
• The extensive housing inventory in most markets is providing great choices for investors.
• Mortgage money is available to financially stable buyers and interest rates remain attractively low.
• Real estate investments tend to bring a greater annual return on investment (ROI) than stocks, gold or commodities, because they are leveraged (buyers put 20 percent down, and receive appreciation on the entire value of the property).
• Just as the late 1980’s and early 1990’s provided a massive opportunity for real estate investors to make great buys and build wealth, the current market will do the same. Smart money is already back in the market buying up the distressed properties.

Friday Blog, October 10,2008 - In light of all the recent news on Wallstreet and Main Street, I thought it might be best to start giving an actual “personal take” on what’s going on out there in the market.  After all, the so called “economic crisis” is a direct result of the housing industry.  As your real estate expert, I owe it to you to tell you what we are truly seeing out there AND what we should/would/or could do about it.

It goes without confirmation that it is now a full fledged buyer’s market.  So does that mean if you are a renter – now is the time to buy?  Does that mean if you are a current home owner that you should get out now while prices are still relatively ok?  Or does that mean you should stay right where you are – homeowner or not – and just wait until everything gets back to normal?

There is not really a simple answer to these questions.  Except maybe the first – YES, YES, YES!  If you are a renter – buy now!  Just like if you have money to invest in the stock market – invest now!  Why wouldn’t you – because you’re scared its going to go lower?  Well you may be right – but if you look at the facts based upon historical data we are reaching the bottom.  And you don’t want to wait so long that you miss the low times.   Right now the majority of buyer’s are scared and are sitting on the fence – which means that there is more inventory than ever sitting and way more motivated sellers.  Capitalize on this fact now!  Even if prices drop another 1-2% they are still on average 10% less than they were in 2007.

You know the market always rebounds, that is a given.  You also know rates currently are still very low.  You don’t know when prices will go back up and you don’t know if rates will go up.  Don’t hedge your bets – be smart and buy now if you can.

Take for instance a gorgeous home just outside the Perimeter – 15 minutes to Buckhead, Downtown, and the airport! (see virtual tour)  http://homescenes.com/_pgm/hs_IDXMain.cfm?PropertyID=49120

Last year this exact same floor plan sold for $244,500.  A year later this home is on the market for $20k less.  These are the kind of deals you don’t want to miss out on as a buyer right now.  And there are plenty of these to go around.

Take advantage of the low prices, low interest rates and $7500 tax credit and buy now-  really, I know you won't regret it.   If you call me 2-3 years from now, my bet is you will sell and make a profit.

In regards to the other questions – they are a bit harder…..and we are gathering more data and historical facts to guide you accurately on your next steps.  I will answer the questions in my next email to you.  So stay tuned .. . ..and have a great weekend!