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According to NAR’s [National Association of Realtors] latest figures,
Did You Know: November 6, 2009, the increase in single
owner households in on the rise. They attribute it to baby-boomers that
are widowed but staying in their home. There has been an increase in
single women purchasing homes, per NAR’s stats, almost one-quarter of
first time home buyers were single females who purchased their first
home on a median income of $47,400.
The national average for single occupant households is 28%. This figure
is likely to rise after the results of the 2010 census is revealed in January.
This trend is good news for the small bungalows and ranch homes built
after World War II that are on the market today. We have found that
condos and townhouses have great appeal to the single buyer, too.
It used to be unusual for people to live alone but is much more
accepted as the norm today.
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If you are looking for a home in the Grand Rapids Area, we service the following areas: Metro Grand Rapids, Ada-Cascade, East Grand Rapids, Caledonia, Kentwood, Lowell, and Rockford. We have assisted Grand Rapids buy & sell homes for the last 35+ years. Call 1-616-292-7263 to talk with Terry or email him at: terry@terrywestbrook.com.
For MLS access to the homes for sale in the West Michigan Area,visit: Westbrook Realty ~ Grand Rapids Real Estate for a free search. Your search can be saved and modified as you view homes, with no obligation.
Thinking of selling your home? We offer one of the most extensive marketing campaigns in Grand Rapids with a major online presence for your home. With over 85% of buyers looking for homes online, this is where we concentrate our efforts. Click here to view Terry’s Realtor profile.
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Westbrook Realty – Giving You Our Personal Best
Bring your checklist to this great home in a NE neighborhood. It has all the
amenities you are looking for at a great price and in great condition.
At 1440 square feet of finished living space, it is a lot of home for the money.
Listed at $ 99,900
Three Bedrooms…………………check
Two Baths…………………………..check
Hardwood Floors……………..…check
Remodeled Kitchen………….…check
All Appliances included………check
Ceramic Tile Floors……………..check
Finished Rec Room Down……check
Two Stall Garage…………………..check
Fenced Backyard…………………..check
Central Air Conditioning………check
Roof looks good……………………check
Newer furnace……………………..check
New Hot Water Heater………..check
Master Suite………………………..check
Easy Access to Expressway..check
You can see lots of pictures of this home at our website:
Copyright 2009
All rights reserved
In February we received a call on a property that had been foreclosed on
by HUD (Housing & Urban Development). The buyer was looking to
purchase the house and rehab the property. When we met the buyer,
his thoughts were to purchase it and put his daughter in as a tenant.
This sounded like a great idea and after looking as his 401k, he decided
a smart use of what money he still had in his account.
In Michigan the process to buy a HUD-owned home is similar to a
number of states. The offer is presented on line - if you are successful
in your bid you have 24 hours to supply the paperwork to the attorney
firm that is handling the process.
All went quite well and HUD accepted our offer on the property.
Now we wanted to do inspections. As is typical in vacant HUD properties, we
need to turn the utilities on to do the inspections. The local power company
would not turn the power on until an electrical upgrade was completed.
We called the attorney firm and they indicated another department in Arizona
took care of that. It would take a few days to get the quotes in to authorize
the upgrade. As it turns out, they need 3 quotes and the guy in Arizona
only had 2 approved contractors. After a few weeks of waiting we did our
own quote and called the attorney and asked if we could do the upgrade
at no cost to HUD and then do our inspections.
The answer: No, they would not allow anyone in the house that was not
approved.
I went through the layers of management to get to a supervisor that
indicated he "was all over this" and he would make it happen. Another
month of phone calls and frustration finally got the bids in and received
a call from another department.
This department indicated the bids were in but now they had to check
with HUD to see if they would do the work since all properties were
purchased "as is". I asked why they did not mention that we would not
have the opportunity to do our inspections before we had gone through
nearly 3 months of waiting.
He did not have an answer but would get back to us.
Finally approved but the approved contractor could not get to the job
for a while.
The buyer, totally frustrated by now, decided he still wanted the property.
With nearly 3 months of phone calls and lack of action by HUD, he
offered to buy the home without inspections, if they would give a
credit at close for the electrical repairs.
The calls were made and the approval granted. FINALLY!!!
Now we have 3 days to get the home closed before the offer expires.
If not closed in 3 days, we would have to file for an extension of the
agreement which might cost the buyer because he had not closed in
a timely manner.
We did close on the last possible day without too much issue.
Why do we do this?
Because the buyer is so happy! The Buyer’s daughter actually bought
the home and has a mortgage from the parents so she can get the
"First Time Buyer Home Credit".
They are happily cleaning and preparing to move in to the home.
The electric is upgraded and the repairs are being completed.
The moral of the story:
In this housing market, buyers that never would have been able
to buy can own a home ——- if they have patience to go through
the process.
**Having a parent or relative fund the mortgage is another option
to a bank mortgage.
The $ Benefits of the First Time Home Buyers Tax Credit
Buying Foreclosed Homes is NOT FUN
If you have the patience to buy a HUD-owned home or a foreclosure
Home, please contact us at 1-888-240-1968 ext 0 or email us at:
Grand Rapids Ada Real Estate ~ Westbrook Realty
Copyright 2009 All rights reserved
The first attempt to give a credit to buyers last year seemed very limited in
benefits. I looked at it as an interest-free loan that had to be repaid.
The accounting alone would discourage buyers about taking it.
With the new American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 comes a
new first time home buyer program. The following chart provided by
NAR gives an overview of the changes and benefits.
Let’s do an analysis on buying 3 different homes:
Starting with a home with an $80,000 loan, then $150,000 loan and finally,
a $300,000 loan.
Remember you must be a First Time Buyer [or not owned a home for 3 years]
and make less than $75,000/yr for a single owner and $150,000/yr for a couple.
The examples are estimates based on an estimated 10% down payment with
PMI(Private Mortgage Insurance).
Other loan terms and down payments are available and will cause these
calculations to vary. Call me & we can see how it will impact you specifically.
Hypothetically, you just bought a home for $88,000, with $8000 down.
Loan $80,000
Int Rate 5.5% Payment 454.23
Taxes 1200 Tax / mo 100.00
Insurance 500 Ins / Mo 41.67
PMI 420 PMI/ MO 35.00
Total payment per month $630.90
Now, what is the best way to use your $8,000.00 credit?
Option 1: Increase your Federal Income tax deductions with your employer
paying in $8000.00 less in taxes and use the extra money to make
the payments for a year and live in your new home for free for the first year.
Option 2: Increase your deductions so you pay in $8000.00 less in taxes.
Send the extra money into the principal on your mortgage every month.
With the additional payment to principal you will reduce the term of the loan
by 6 years, saving $26,000 in interest over the term of the loan. Potentially
paying the loan down far enough that you can ask for the PMI insurance
to be removed, since you now have an additional 10% payment to principal.
Option 3: Save the money and get less than 1% interest.
The same comparison of Option 2 for a buyer with a $150,000 loan: it reduces
the loan term by 3.5 years and saves $28,800 in interest over the life of
the loan.
The same comparison of Option 2 for a buyer with a $300,000 loan: you
reduce the loan term by 1.8 years and save $29,700 over the life of the loan.
However you decide to use your $ 8000 tax credit, as long as you stay in the
home for 3 years there is no penalty or payback. At the very least, you are
ahead by $8,000 and you could have an additional $26,000 to $29,700 in
interest savings on the life of your home loan.
If you were hesitating about buying a home, this should encourage you buy
a home soon. I would be delighted to discuss the 2009 Tax Benefits to you.
***This analysis is based on estimates I have made based on real estate taxes,
Interest rates, Insurance premiums will vary based on the home you select.
Grand Rapids Ada Real Estate ~ Westbrook Realty
Copyright 2009 All rights reserved
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