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.

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.

Getting a home loan in Ann Arbor. Today I attended a Continuing Education Class taught by Tom Richardson, General Counsel of Liberty Title Company.

The next several posts I am going to go through the steps as everyone who is buying a home in Ann Arbor Area is being affected by the new Good Faith Estimates and Housing and Urban Development Forms.

All the new rules came into effect on January 1st. The three things I want you to remember as we start the series are:

• The lender is required to provide you a GFE (Good Faith Estimate) within 3 days of applying for the loan.
• Certain fees can not change at all. A few can change up to 10%, and 3 can change at closing. More details coming.
• The purpose of the new act is to help you the buyer know the true cost of purchasing a home. You are encouraged to shop and compare.

Here is a little graph I created to show you the 12 steps to obtaining a loan in the Ann Arbor Area.

You can download the entire guidelines at HUD.gov and download the Shopping for Home Loans, HUD’s  Settlement Cost Booklet.