WASHINGTON — Senators agreed Wednesday to extend a popular tax credit for first-time home buyers and to offer a reduced credit to some repeat buyers.
Look like the tax credit is going to be extended. Even though it has ways to go, this is a big step in the process. As all of you know it provides up to $8,000 to first-time home buyers but is set to expire at the end of November. When the Commerce Department came out on Wednesday and said that new home sales fell 3.6 percent in September, some industry representatives blamed uncertainty about the tax credit.
So, what do the Senators in Washington do? They agree to extend the existing tax credit for first-time home buyers. Not only due they extend it but they add a little something special on to it as well. They are offering a reduced credit of up to $6,500 to repeat buyers who have owned their current homes for at least five years, said Regan Lachapelle, a spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
read entire article: http://www.securemtgonline.com/HoustonRealEstateBlog
As many of you know my youngest son plays the coolest game on earth. He plays for a local ice hockey organization called the Houston Wild. This team is made up of 10 year old kids from across the Houston metro area.
They mainly travel up to Dallas and take on very stiff competition as Dallas has about 5,000 kids age 8-18 playing hockey where as Houston has about 500 in the same age range. At the Dallas Labor Day Tournament this team came in 2nd out of 15 teams in there bracket and was just invited to a very prestigious tournament over Presidents Day, in Colorado Springs,Co. because of how they are doing. The tournament is invitation only and will have about 20 teams from across the United States in attendance.
Link to tournament: http://www.csaha.com/tournament/pday/pdthome.asp
The team had already scheduled a golf tournament for November 22, 2009 and several of you have responded with much help and we thank you.
We still have plenty of room for those who want to put together a team or maybe do some sort of sponsorship. With an invitation from a tournament of this magnitude fund-raising work becomes even more important.
for more information http://www.securemtgonline.com/GolfTournament
Not only are we doing a golf tournament, we have also started a turn in your electronics program, so if you have some unwanted electronics laying around go to: http://hockey_tech.gazelle.com
Squirt A Hockey Team
2009 Golf Tournament and Fundraiser
Tournament Date: Sunday,November 22,2009 Time: 9:30 am check in with 11:00 am Shotgun start Location: Houston National Golf Club, Houston, Texas Goals:
team that is open to the entire Houston Wild Club and the general public. The proceeds will
be used by the Squirt team to underwrite the extraordinary costs for attending competitive
travel hockey tournaments.
Tournament Format:
will be a shotgun start and will follow team scramble play. Mulligans and special shots such
as "a foot wedge", "a 1 putt green", "free toss onto the green", etc. will also be available for a
nominal charitable contribution. There will be prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places, plus closest to
the pin and long drive contests.
For more information and registration: http://www.securemtgonline.com/GolfTournament?c=2
Even though each home and home buyer is unique, the same mistakes are made over and over again when making a purchase. This special report will point out seven of the most common mistakes made during home buying and how to avoid them.
Buying a home is one of the most exciting events in a person's life, whether it's the first home or the fifth one; however, it can also be one of the most stressful. Purchasing a home should be regret-free and anxiety-free.
Learning to avoid these 7 most common mistakes when buying a home can help lower your stress and help you focus more easily on possibly the single largest purchase of your lifetime.
Here is a list of the most common mistakes
Mistake #1 Not Being Prepared
Mistake #2 Thinking Too Long Term
Mistake #3 Waiting Too Long
Mistake #4 Focusing on a Single Feature
Mistake #5 Overlooking New Construction.
Mistake #6 Working without an Agent
Mistake #7 Rushing the Process
To find out why these are 7 of the most common buying mistakes go to http://www.securemtgonline.com/HoustonRealEstateBlog to find out more information
Everybody has a horror story of some kind, when talking about real estate. There are just some things most people don't think about when searching for property to buy or sell, whether you're the buyer, the seller or even, yes, the agent
Exhibit A
Sheryl (name changed to protect the innocent) is exhibit A. Now, she thought she'd bought a nice house at a good price. Everything seemed to be perfect. The one place that Sheryl went wrong was forgetting to do a home inspection on that beautiful piece of real estate.
After a pleasant day of moving in, she went to take a shower. Turning on the faucet, she noticed the water pressure wasn't what it should be. Ignoring the indications of worse yet to come, she flipped from faucet to shower. Only a few lonely, sad drips came from the showerhead. To compound the issue, she discovered that the washer didn't have enough pressure to get her clothes clean, washing dishes was an exercise in futility and if a hose was turned on in the garden the second story toilet wouldn't flush.
After much ado, many phone calls and two plumbers, Sheryl found that the beautiful tree in the front yard that had sealed the deal had also burst the pipes. She now had to pay to have the tree removed (it couldn't be saved), as well as the pipe dug up and replaced. In addition, she owed the water company for all the water lost through the break.
The moral: Don't skimp on the details just because you're under pressure.
Exhibit B
Bob, a real estate agent (again, name changed), still loves open houses. They're a big deal for him and he makes plenty of contacts that way. However, even Bob, who has been in the industry for years, forgot to do a last walk through before a certain open house started. Unfortunately, he and the potential buyers found an unpleasant surprise in the upstairs bathroom. In trying to take care of the surprise, he found the toilet was blocked and the bathroom fan didn't work. Needless to say, the potential buyers didn't stick around to tour the rest of the house.
The moral: A short walk-through can save a lot of embarrassment.
With any real estate, there's always the chance that you'll miss something. A homebuyer's checklist or home seller's checklist is a great way to make sure you don't. If you do, try to take what comes with a grain of salt, a lot of patience and as much of a smile as you can muster.
If you're trying to find a great home without the horror and a mortgage to go with it, I can help. Call me at 713-623-5195 or email me at http://www.securemtgonline.com/MortgageLoanConsultantContact for more information.
ActiveRain Corp. is not responsible for the accuracy of the site's content (which is written by members of the ActiveRain Real Estate Network) and does not endorse the views of the real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and others listed here.
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