Prairieville, LA

If you have slowed down your efforts find your new Ascension Parish home because you figured that you could not complete your sale in time to qualify for the $8000 first time homebuyer tax credit, put on your shopping shoes! Not only is the credit extended till next April, it's now offers some new provisions that will help you as a first time buyer and also help existing homeowners who want to move by offering a $6,500 tax credit. The redesigned credit allows you to make more money and still qualify ($125,000 for single, $225,000 for married, phase out of credit for incomes up to $20,000 higher.) For repeat buyers, the only consideration is that they must have used their current home as a primary residence for 5 of the last 8 years.

By extending the credit to more potential buyers, the credit will help everyone. First time buyers typically buy homes at the lower end of the price spectrum, while current homeowners often are ready for a more expensive house when they are making their second or third purchase. Some folks who are ready to move have been put off by the prospect of a slow sale, so have put their moving plans on hold. With the new credit available, there will be a renewed interest in both starter and move-up homes.

Right now in Ascension Parish, the average home price hovers around $217,500 for new homes and $208,782 for resales. There is a 3 month supply of homes under $100K and about a 5 month supply of homes up to $250,000. For homes in the $351-400K range, the inventory is 18 months, while homes over $400 have a 40 month supply. The new credit is likely to open up more buying opportunities for entry level buyers and encourage the sellers to buyer properties that are likely to be more costly. It is good on properties up to $800,000.

Though the new credit is good through April 30, 2010, you are only required to have a contract in place, but the closing need not be complete until July 1, 2010. Currently, the credit that was due to expire on November 1 required the closing to be complete by that date. Given that the whole loan-appraisal-closing ritual now takes longer, some buyers were likely to be clogged in the pipeline as the credit expired, while others put off the purchase figuring they would make it through in time. With the new credit, buyers with contracts have three months for the process to be completed. This means you can buy in confidence right up to April 1, with the knowledge you will be able to claim the credit.

This is also good if you want to buy a newly built home. Even if you are just looking at the floor plan today, you have plenty of time to buy one of the beautiful homes now under construction in Prairieville, Gonzales, Sorrento, or Geismar. Builders have tended to construct model and a small quantity of homes so they are not left with unsold inventory, but could easily build more to accommodate buyers like you New home sales are on course to approach 500 homes in the parish this year.

Sandy Ogburn-Sandlin and her team at Re/Max Excellent Properties can explain all the details of the new credit to you, as well as show you the best new and resale homes in Ascension Parish as well as neighboring cities in the Greater Baton Rouge market. It's likely that homes will move quickly with the new incentives in place, so contact Sandy's Team today to jumpstart your housing search!

Ascension Parish is booming these days, with its 6.7% unemployment over 2% lower than the national average, as new businesses going up all over town. If you happen to be one of the unlucky people who lose their job, you have to figure how to stay afloat until you return to work. If you have a mortgage, you want to save your home while taking care of your other bills too. These days, many households already have two wage earners, so if one loses a job, there is no one else who can jump into the job market to help out.

Ideally, you should have three to six months in savings to carry you over in case of emergency, but many people live paycheck to paycheck without this safety net. Finding a new job is often taking longer so having savings will not spare you from what every homeowner needs to do: develop a game plan for making it through till income returns to normal. When your income is down, you must the order in which you pay your bills, but every creditor feels like they should come first. You need to first pay your mortgage, insurance, utilities, and other necessities like food, followed by your car note, then your loans and credit cards. If you have no reserves, obviously you will have to modify the list.

When you income changes and you have having difficulty paying your mortgage, there are programs designed to help make it through and avoid what will happen if you cannot ultimately pay: foreclosure. Before you get to that point, it's good to ask yourself if you want to keep the home. You may realize that the maintaining the home always made things tight for you. Though the current real estate market can be challenging, you might consider selling. If you owe more on the home than it is worth, you may ask your Realtor® about selling it on a short sale, where the bank agrees to accept less than the loan value as full payment. In any case, the time you are off is a good time to prepare the home for sale in case you would later decide to that. Even though you might not be able to afford costly remodeling projects, you can paint and declutter - tasks you may have need to do anyway.

If you want to keep your home, you need to take advantage of available resources. This means contacting your lender (or an outside housing counselor who will do this for you). Your lender may be able to help you if you contact them early and agree to reduced payments, forbearance (where you don't have to pay for a short time), or a loan modification.

For some of these plans to work, you need some income. This may mean that you accept a job that pays less than what you were making but is enough to cover the house payment and your other basic expenses. There is no point of jumping through all the hoops to get a loan modified if you will default in a few months because the payment is still too high for you.

Some people who have tried to get help say contacting the lender is more than a notion. Though lenders say they want to work with customers, many distressed borrowers report that they can't reach them, don't hear back from them, or wait forever, only to be told that they don't qualify or that they should apply to the Federal Making Home Affordable program. This is why it is often a good idea to talk with a HUD-approved counselor who might be able to get in touch with your lender or at least help you explore other resources before foreclosure looms.

In trouble with your mortgage due to job trouble or any other reason? The State of Louisiana has many resources to help you. Want to discuss your situation with a knowledgeable Realtor®? Sandy-Ogburn-Sandlin and her Team can talk to you about selling your home at short sale. We can show the best homes in Ascension Parish, as well East Baton Rouge Parish or Livingston Parish.

Once you've decided to buy a beautiful Prairieville home, the big question is "How much house can I afford?"

You may already have a figure from the bank If you have gone to get pre-approval. This may be more or less than what you had in mind. It's only a starting point in your thought process. The perception is that bank puts the upper limit on what you can spend, but the lender may not take into account everything you need to consider.

How Much Can You Afford?

Some lenders use different percentages to figure out how should go for housing, but the most common guide to how much you can afford these days is based on the 28/36 rule. The means your housing should be 28% or less of your gross income before taxes, while your debt (not including your mortgage) should be 36% or less of your income. Based on an income of $60,000, you might be able to append about $1,400 a month on your mortgage, taxes, and insurance, but this would dip to $1,000 if you paid about $650 about for credit cards, car payment, and other loans. (Click here for a handy 28/36 mortgage calculator to compute how the 28/36% rule would work out for you.) Banks may use a magical formula based on your FICO score, but they are considering similar things: how your debt compares to your income.

With a household income of $120,000, your might be able to pay $2,800 for housing with no debt. What if your spouse is laid off? Do you have resources to help you make it for a while? What if one spouse wants to stay home with the kids? What if your salary stays the same but your other expenses keep increasing? Will you be able to handle increased energy costs if the home is bigger than your old residence? A mortgage you can technically afford can become a noose around your neck.

Bottom line, you need to be honest with yourselves. If you are saving for your kids' college or trying to keep them in private schools as well as number of expensive activities, a big house payment can cut off other life options unless your income increases.

Don't Sacrifice It All For Your Down Payment

You can reduce the amount of the loan and the monthly payment by putting more money down. It is a mistake to raid retirement funds ordeplete savings. Experts say you should have three to six months savings on hand in case of job loss, plus about 5 % of the purchase price of your home as a cushion for emergencies and repairs. In addition, you may need about 3-5% of the amount of the purchase price for closing costs and moving expenses.

The last thing you want to do is buy a house that develops a leaky roof six months down the road that you can't afford to fix. You are better off putting down less down payment - even if that means you buy a less expensive home or consider FHA financing, as that requires a smaller down payment. At this time, it seems like that an extension of the first time homebuyers tax credit is likely in some form, so you can probably plan on some assistance for either your downpayment or other move-in expenses.

Since home price and interest rates low, this is great time to buy an affordable house - but not to overextend yourself. Talk to Sandy Sandlin today about buying a Prairieville home Sandy's Team will give the most to date information about the status of the first time homebuyers credit, as well about the best properties in East Baton Rouge, Ascension, and Livingston Parishes.

This is a proud October for the 21 schools of Ascension Parish. As a whole the district was named the fourth best school system out of 70 in the state, while 17 of the 21 schools improved their individual performance.

The Ascension Parish district scored 105.09 in state performance scores. This score was the district's highest score ever and represents a 6.1% increase over last year. Superintendent Donald Songy praised the "exceptional commitment and expertise of ... teachers, administrators, and of staff" that resulted in this year's success and laid the groundwork for "a pattern of steady growth from year to year."

Further, he noted the "the level of growth this year.provides us with reassurance that the strategic initiatives set in place are producing results and fostering an improved education for all our students." Assistant Superintendent Patrice Pujol added that Ascension had moved to the top due to high level assessments aligned with the Districts' curriculum and teachers' instructional practices.

Particularly noteworthy are the achievements of these schools:

12.6 point increase- Lowery Intermediate School. For the second straight year, this school showed the larger improvement in the district and now has moved into the academically acceptable range.

12.5 points - Dutchttown High School

11.2 points - G.W. Carver Primary School

9.7 points - St. Amant Middle School

8.7 points - Galvez Primary

8.2 points - Donaldsonville High

7.6 points - St. Amant High

6.6 points - East Ascension High

6.3 points - Prairievile Middle

6.0 points - Dutchtown Middle

Seven other schools also shows great improvement, which qualified 17 schools to receive a Growth School Performance Score of 100 or more. For more information on the progress of the Ascension School District over the years, see www.apsb.org/schoolscores.

As noted in our previous blog Top Schools Districts Attract Buyers to Greater Baton Rouge Area, 10 years ago, the State of Louisiana set out to improve school performance state-wide. In 2009, nearly 80% of schools showed gains in their scores, while 43% met their growth targets this year vs. only 25% last year. Twenty eight percent of schools exceeded an SPS of 100; the percentage of schools with scores under 100 decreased from previous years. Additionally, the number of Academically Unacceptable Schools (AUS) fell from 90 to 55, or 4.3 percent.

This good news on school performance is one more reason why buying a home in Ascension parish is a great investment for your family. When buying real estate in Louisiana., contact Sandy's Team for the best properties in East Baton Rouge and Ascension Parishes.

I have recently had clients that have run into problems while trying to buy a home so hopefully this article will save the potential home buyer a lot of headaches along the way. Below are things to consider before making a change in employment if you are thinking about buying a home....Changing employers will not really affect your ability to qualify for a mortgage loan for most people. For some home buyers, however, the effects of changing jobs can be disastrous to your loan application. Below are tips on avoiding problems in the loan process...


Salaried Employees

If you are a salaried employee who does not earn additional income from commissions, bonuses, or over-time, switching employers should not create a problem. Just make sure to remain in the same line of work. Hopefully, you will be earning a higher salary, which will help you better qualify for a mortgage.
Hourly Employees

If your income is based on hourly wages and you work a straight forty hours a week without over-time, changing jobs should not create any problems.
Commissioned Employees

If a substantial portion of your income is derived from commissions, you should not change jobs before buying a home. This has to do with how mortgage lenders calculate your income. They average your commissions over the last two years.

Changing employers creates an uncertainty about your future earnings from commissions. There is no track record from which to produce an average. Even if you are selling the same type of product with essentially the same commission structure, the underwriter cannot be certain that past earnings will accurately reflect future earnings.

Changing jobs would negatively impact your ability to buy a home.
Bonuses

If a substantial portion of your income on the new job will come from bonuses, you may want to consider delaying an employment change. Mortgage lenders will rarely consider future bonuses as income unless you have been on the same job for two years and have a track record of receiving those bonuses. Then they will average your bonuses over the last two years in calculating your income.

Changing employers means that you do not have the two-year track record necessary to count bonuses as income.

Part-Time Employees

If you earn an hourly income but rarely work forty hours a week, you should not change jobs. There would be no way to tell how many hours you will work each week on the new job, so no way to accurately calculate your income. If you remain on the old job, the lender can just average your earnings.
Over-Time

Since all employers award overtime hours differently, your overtime income cannot be determined if you change jobs. If you stay on your present job, your lender will give you credit for overtime income. They will determine your overtime earnings over the last two years, then calculate a monthly average.

Self-Employment

If you are considering a change to self-employment before buying a new home, don’t do it. Buy the home first.

Lenders like to see a two-year track record of self-employment income when approving a loan. Plus, self-employed individuals tend to include a lot of expenses on the Schedule C of their tax returns, especially in the early years of self-employment. While this minimizes your tax obligation to the IRS, it also minimizes your income to qualify for a home loan.

If you are considering changing your business from a sole proprietorship to a partnership or corporation, you should also delay that until you purchase your new home.