Bobbie Files Realtor® Berkley, Greater Taunton Homes for Sale

Just so we are all clear and on the same page, albiet there are over 451 of them in the bail-out package, below are the artificial sweeteners added on the the "Financial" Bail Out Package.

_Provide business tax breaks, including for production of, investment in, and use of renewable fuels.

_Require group health plans that include mental health or addiction treatment to provide coverage for those conditions that is equitable to other medical coverage.

_Increase personal credits against the AMT, shielding more than 20 million taxpayers from the tax.

_Grant tax relief to victims of natural disasters in the Midwest and elsewhere.

_Extend through 2011 a program that funds rural schools and local governments that have low property-tax bases because they lie within or are adjacent to federal lands.

_Extend until end of 2009 the deduction for state and local general sales taxes.

_Extend until end of 2009 individual tax breaks, including deductions for higher education costs and teachers' personal expenses.

_Increase, from $100,000 to $250,000, the limit on federal bank deposit insurance.

Now please excuse my ignorance, or my lack of a Washington D.C. education, but the way I see all those sweet little nuggets is that they have nothing at all whatsoever to do with the Wall Street crisis.

Where is there anything to help, I don't know, maybe the average Joe?

Even better than that is their wonderful tired old cliche of "I'm for Main Street not Wall Street"!

Well, based on what I see, they are helping the people that work on Pennsylvania Ave. more than anyone!

According to the Drudge Report McCain never even read the bill he is so forcefully backing and promoting.

It would be a cheaper scenario to just give every taxpaying homeowner who is over 30 days late on their mortgage a check to pay the entire mortgage off, than it would be to allow this package.

Bobbie Files
www.BerkleyMass.com

I am not a typically political person and know it is never wise to bring political discussions into business BUT with what is going on now I can't bite my tongue any longer.

This bail out package is about the biggest show of crony backing garbage I have EVER heard of!

I am not an unsympathetic person but please tell me what victims of natural disasters has to do with the financial crisis our world is in??? Well our fine Senators think it is ok to attach those type of additional bills to the financial relief bail out bill.

In all areas that there is real estate we see homeowners struggling....whether it is due to a bad mortgage coming due....or it is to losing their job because of the economy....or it is just someone that bought a home that they absolutely should have been denied financing for....the end result is the same. They are struggling and have few if any options available to them.

While these homeowners are struggling, our moronic Senators are creating bills that are filled with such pork and garbage that menial homeowners will get no benefit from.

Then to add insult to injury those Senatorial fools went on t.v. last night puffing with pride in a display of grotesque windbaggery I almost lost my dinner!! What a group of pompous, self absorbed windbags. The back patting and complimenting of each other for their job well done.....Well done????? By whose opinion??? Certainly not the opinions of the people who elected these fools to office.

I am mad, I am ranting. These morons need to go!

First I want to let you know who Fannie and Freddie are:

Fannie was created during the depths of the Great Depression, and Freddie in 1970, to help make mortgages more affordable for homeowners. The companies buy billions of dollars in mortgages each month from commercial lenders. Some are sold to investors as mortgage-backed securities; others are held by the companies in their own investment portfolios. These 2 companies back almost 80% of all mortgages generated so their failure would be catastrophic. Bailing our private companies is not a path I want our government to go down BUT and this is a big BUT not bailing out Fannie and Freddie has a far more negative impact to the global economy than letting them fail. The plan represents a cease-fire in a decades-long ideological battle over the proper role of the companies. Free-market conservatives see the companies as extensions of "big government," while Democrats have protected them as the main vehicle to promote affordable housing for middle- and lower-income people.

Does this bailout help me?

Well the short answer is - Probably, not definitely, but economists and other people with more knowledge than myself say it will and it was necessary to prevent an economic meltdown.

How will it help me?

The government plans to buy significant amounts of their mortgage-backed securities on the open market, beginning with the purchase of $5 billion worth this month. This step, never before undertaken by the government, could begin to restore some confidence in the credit markets and lead to lower interest rates for home mortgages.

Both of these giants, who got too big for OUR good, needed to be bailed out - for the best interest of all of us. Hopefully, the government really cleans their homes out and disciplines the babies for bad behavior!!

Do I qualify for the new First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit?
What is the Housing Rescue Bill just passed into law?

With the Congress recently passing the new Housing Relief Act of 2008 I have been asked many questions by both home buyers and homeowners as to how this effects them.

These are the most frequenty asked questions:

1. How do I qualify for the first time buyer credit?
2. How can the Housing Rescue bill help me?

I have read and re-read the bill and this is my brief summary of it.

The "let's get this economy moving and help prevent many more foreclosures" stimulus act - or as titled "The Housing and Economy Recovery Act" kicks off on October 1, 2008 and is designed to:

1. help troubled homeowners avoid foreclosure, and
2. help the economy to generate home buyer demand through a $7500 tax credit

1. Help troubled homeowners avoid foreclosure
If you feel you are in need of some rescuing from your current mortgage payment, you may be in luck with some help from our federal government.

• If you live in your home, can prove you cannot afford to continue paying your existing loan, and are paying at least 31% of your gross monthly income on mortgage debt, you are eligible for help; assuming your mortgage was issued between January 2005 and June 2007

• If your current lender chooses to participate, the program requires your lender to write down the value of your loan to 90% of your home's current (appraised) value. Assuming your lender agrees to write down the value of your loan, a new FHA lender buys the old loan and takes over the reworked mortgage.

• All new loans will be underwritten by FHA on a case-by-case basis. This means you will be required to obtain a new appraisal on your property and will have to provide verification of your income by providing income statements, bank account information, job histories, and credit scores. Sorry ... no stated income loans available this time.

• The purpose of obtaining a new Fixed-Rate FHA loan through the program is to reduce the amount of your mortgage payment and/or save you from those rising ARM rates so that you can afford to stay in your home and therefore avoid foreclosure.
• So, what's the catch?
  • You will have to pay FHA a 1.5% insurance premium AND agree to share any profits with FHA from future home appreciation. You will be required to pay a 3% "exit fee" of the mortgage principal to FHA when you resell or refinance. Additionally, you will have to agree to pay FHA 100% of any profits you realize if you sell or refinance within a year; 90% after two years, and so on. For example, if you sell within a year with an original loan principal of $175,000 and a sales price of $225,000, you will owe FHA $50,000, minus costs, upon sale.

• Is it worth it?
  • This is a personal question you have to ask yourself. What is it worth to save you from foreclosure?

2. Help the economy to generate home buyer demand through a $7500 tax credit
If you are a "first-time homebuyer" and have been ‘waiting' to buy, wait no longer. Take advantage of an interest-free loan from our government! Do you qualify?

• You must be a "First-Time Homebuyer" .... Now, "first time" homebuyer to the government means something different than what "first time" means to you and me. You are a First Timer according to Uncle Sam if you have not purchased or owned a home in the past three years.
• As a "first-timer" you can receive up to a $7500 tax credit by purchasing a home between April 2008 and June 2009.
• What is a tax-credit?
  • This is called a ‘credit' but it isn't really. You will have to pay the amount back over 15 years. In other words, the tax credit is more of an ‘interest-FREE' loan. If you take the $7500 tax credit, your income tax bill will increase by $500 a year for 15 years.
• So, what's the catch?
  • If you sell the house before the 15 years of paying back the ‘loan' you will have to pay the remaining balance after you sell.

For more detailed explanations of the new bill, visit the following links:

National Association of Realtors® Summary of Key Provisions - the Housing Stimulus Bill (realtor.org)

How Housing Rescue Bill Can Help You (cnnmoney.com)