Ann Arbor Real Estate Talk

91 days and counting if you are planning on claiming the Home Buyer Tax Credit in the Ann Arbor Area.

Not a lot of time with the new lender guidelines for GFS and HUD’s.

Have a question about the Federal Tax Credit?

You must have a home under contract by April 30th.

You must close by June 30th.

The guidelines in detail are on the IRS web-site under the 2009 to April 30th guidelines.

Begin your home and condo search on Ann Arbor Real Estate, with a direct MLS feed, containing Google Maps, Google Satellite Images and multiple photos.

The chart below shows the medium price of homes in Ann Arbor continues to drop. With a peak in October the prices continue to come down.

I am asked all the time when will we hit the bottom?  I wish I knew. In 2009 we sold the same amount of homes in the Ann Arbor Area, according to the Board of Realtors data. But….the prices were much lower.

Pricing your home to sell is the way to get it SOLD. Pricing above the market, or saying, “the buyers can always make an offer,” does not work. Buyer are looking for the best value.

Search homes and condo’s for Sale in Ann Arbor Area. There are some great opportunities for buyers right now.

9056 Emerson in Saline, Michigan is being offered for sale as a “Short Sale”.  9056 Emerson is located in York Meadows subdivision off of Willis Rd.

9056 Emerson is one a mile to the Toyota R & D Center.

Take a LOOK at the MLS View

Search the Ann Arbor Area MLS

Saline Area Schools

Here is a chart of how a loan progresses in Ann Arbor with the new Good Faith Estimates and new HUD Guidelines.

Courtesy of Tom Richardson of Liberty Title.

Here is a look at the new Good Faith Estimate if you are buying or going to be buying a home in the Ann Arbor Area.

This is the first change to the form in 17 years. The whole idea of a new form was to make the lending process more transparent to the consumers.  It encourages you to shop for a loan and make comparisons.

One of the biggest complaints was buyers getting to the settlement table and fees being different than what was expected to the consumer.

In the current form all the fees are grouped together by category, the form is standard to everyone buying in the U.S, and their is little room for fees being changed at closing.

The only 3 things that can be changed after you have applied for a loan is:

1) The cost of where you got your title insurance, the attorney fees, deposit into your escrow account (for taxes, insurance), the daily interest changes.

Once your lender gives you your good faith estimate, the origination fee can not change, the interest rate.

At the closing or settlement table you will be asked to compare and fill in the numbers on the HUD and the GFE so that they match up.

A few items can be change within 10% of the quote.

• The required services that the lender quoted.

• The Title Services if the lender chose them

• Owners title policy

• Government recording fees.

Tomorrow we will talk about “Special Circumstances” that would allow changes on the GFE. I know this is confusing, we went from a 0ne page GFE to a 3 page GFE.  But, the intent was to give better numbers to you the buyers.

You can download the book on the HUD.gov web site called Shopping for Home Loans, HUD’s Settlement Cost.