Cathy Baumbusch

The Commonwealth Transportation Board voted on April 15, 2009 to fully fund Phases 3 and 4 of the completion of the Fairfax County Parkway.

The State of Virginia had set aside funds to complete Phase I & II. Phases III and IV have been made possible by the 15% of Federal Stimulus Package funds received by the state for transportation.

A bi-partisan group of representatives in Springfield, VA fought for these funds to stay in Northern Virginia. Delegate Dave Albo, Delegate Vivian Watts and Senator George Barker actively campaigned the the Governor, the Secretary of Transportation and the CTB to fully fund the Fairfax County Parkway.

This is welcome news for the people of Springfield, and specifically those living near and around the Engineering Proving Ground of Fort Belvoir, which is located just south of the intersection of Routes 7100 and 7900 and Rolling Road. The building that will house 9,000 top secret jobs can already been seen being built on the compound. It is expected that thousands more government contracting jobs will also come to the area as a result of the government job increase.

Here is a link to the full stimulus funding report from the April 15th meeting. The key page is page 9

And here a link to the construction site explaining the full Fairfax County Pkwy. project.

Thanks to Delegate Dave Albo for providing this timely information!

For the past 3-4 weeks, I've been driving my buyer clients around, searching for homes in the $300,000 price range and below.

Time after time, what I am encountering is this: "multiple contracts" or "multiple offers", "highest and best", "no more showings". And most of these properties with these remarks are showing as "Active" listings.

For example, a simple search (3PM Eastern) for Detached homes in Springfield, VA priced $260,000 and below yields 11 properties. Six of them are short sales. The rest are bank owned. Two of the short sale listings indicated there were contracts either being reviewed or that they were only accepting back-up offers. One of the bank-owned property's remarks indicated final signatures on their contract was forthcoming.

Of the listing agents that I was able to reach, all indicated that they in fact had already received at least one offer on their property. I suspect that the rest will indicate the same. So effectively, there are no fully available properties in this price range in Springfield. The only difference between this market and that of 2001-2003 is the status of the owner.

This is no longer a Buyer's Market. Its a Seller's Market, or more accurately, its the Bank's Market!

The keys to success are this:

• Be diligent in your search for a home. Get a Buyer's Agreement so that your agent can search FSBO homes for you also.
• Be prepared to act quickly. This means have your pre-approval from the bank already completed.As soon as a property comes on the market, go see it. And be prepared to write a contract on the spot.
• Have the necessary cash for your downpayment. Or if you're doing 100% financing such as with VA, be sure you have enough cash to close.
• Have patience. You may have to write several contracts before you finally get the house you want.
• Be prepared to compromise. Bank addendums can be a deal killer if you don't go with what is contained in them. Banks want to relieve themselves of all liability. Be prepared for a one-sided deal. Banks in a short sale are giving some concessions, but be prepared for none.
• Choose a REALTOR that has experience in this market and knows how to write winning contracts.

FOR RELEASE: IMMEDIATE For more information, please contact:

DATE: April 2, 2009 Cathy Baumbusch, 703-969-1691

CATHY BAUMBUSCH EARNS PRESTIGIOUS DESIGNATION TO HELP HOMEOWNERS IN DANGER OF FORECLOSURE

Cathy Baumbusch, of RE/MAX Allegiance, has earned the prestigious Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE) designation, having completed extensive training in foreclosure avoidance and short sales. This is invaluable expertise to offer at a time when the area is ravaged by "distressed" homes in the foreclosure process.

Short sales allow the cash-strapped seller to repay the mortgage at the price that the home sells for, even though it is lower than what is owed on the property. With plummeting property values, this can save many people from foreclosure and even bankruptcy. More and more lenders are willing to consider short sales because they are much less costly than foreclosures.

In Virginia, the foreclosure rate has steadily increased. As of Sept. 30, a record 21,000 homes in the state were in foreclosure, about 11,000 involving subprime loans¹. It is happening in all price ranges. Local experts say that even high-priced homes are not immune.

"This CDPE designation has been invaluable as I work with sellers and lenders on complicated short sales," said Baumbusch. "It is so rewarding to be able to help sellers save their homes from foreclosure."

Alex Charfen, founder of the Distressed Property Institute in Boca Raton, Fla., said that Realtors® such as Cathy Baumbusch with the CDPE designation have valuable training in short sales that can offer the homeowner much better alternatives to foreclosure, which virtually destroys the credit rating. These experts also may better understand market conditions and can help sellers through the emotional experience, he said.

The Distressed Property Institute opened in January 2008 and provides training on-site and online. The CDPE is the premier designation for Realtors helping homeowners in distress and handling short sales.

"Our goal is to educate as many people as possible so we can help as many homeowners as possible," Charfen said.

For more information about CDPE designation or to find a certified distressed Realtor in your area, please call 1-800-482-0335.

The Making Work Pay tax credit, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, will give a 6.2% earned income credit max $800 for a married couple filing jointly and $400 for singles and other taxpayers. If married couples filing jointly have a combined Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) of $150-190K or above, the credit is phased out, as it is for other taxpayers earning modified AGI between $75,000 and $95,000.

New withholding tables have been released by the IRS and for those in the Military, they will be implemented by April 1, 2009. The credit will be spread out over the year. Military members can expect to see a change in federal withholdings. Military members do not need to fill out a new W-4 to receive this tax credit.

If you have more than one job (such as a Reservist with a regular full-time job), you may want to review your W-4 forms to ensure enough withholding is held to cover the tax for the combined income.

The IRS also released new tables for computing the advance payment of earned income credit. These tables change the percentage formula to increase payments for some married military members. The new percentage formula was implemented in March 2009.

For more information see

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=204521,00.html

Today's news reported that the Fed will further stimulate the economy by purchasing $750 billion in additional mortgage-related securities and an additional $300 billion in Long-Term Treasury Bonds.

The market has responded with astoundingly low interest rates this weekend.

Some 30-year fixed rate examples include:

Conforming: of 4.25% with 1-point, 4.5% with 0-points

Conforming Jumbo(up to $625,500): 4.375% with 1-point, 4.875 with 0-points

Non-conforming Traditional Jumbo: 5.5% with 1-point, 5.75% with 0-points

FHA (under $362,790): 4.5% with 1-point, 4.75% with 0-points

FHA ($362,791-729,750): 4.5% with 1-point, 4.875% with 0-points