Colleen Barlow

Thankfully, the President signed the law extending the $8000 First-time Home Buyer Credit and adding a credit of $6500 for other "Repeat" Home Buyers. Thanks to Scott Schaub of M-Point Mortgage Services for this summary of the new law:

$8,000 First-time Home Buyer Tax Credit at a Glance

•· The $8,000 tax credit is for first-time home buyers only. For the tax credit program, the IRS defines a first-time home buyer as someone who has not owned a principal residence during the three-year period prior to the purchase.

•· The tax credit does not have to be repaid.

•· The tax credit is equal to 10 percent of the home's purchase price up to a maximum of $8,000.

•· The tax credit applies only to homes priced at $800,000 or less.

•· The tax credit now applies to sales occurring on or after January 1, 2009 and on or before April 30, 2010. However, in cases where a binding sales contract is signed by April 30, 2010, a home purchase completed by June 30, 2010 will qualify.

•· For homes purchased on or after January 1, 2009 and on or before November 6, 2009, the income limits are $75,000 for single taxpayers and $150,000 for married couples filing jointly.

•· For homes purchased after November 6, 2009 and on or before April 30, 2010, single taxpayers with incomes up to $125,000 and married couples with incomes up to $225,000 qualify for the full tax credit.

The $6,500 Move-Up / Repeat Home Buyer Tax Credit at a Glance

•· To be eligible to claim the tax credit, buyers must have owned and lived in their previous home for five consecutive years out of the last eight years.

•· The tax credit does not have to be repaid.

•· The tax credit is equal to 10 percent of the home's purchase price up to a maximum of $6,500.

•· The tax credit applies only to homes priced at $800,000 or less.

•· The credit is available for homes purchased after November 6, 2009 and on or before April 30, 2010. However, in cases where a binding sales contract is signed by April 30, 2010, the home purchase qualifies provided it is completed by June 30, 2010.

•· Single taxpayers with incomes up to $125,000 and married couples with incomes up to $225,000 qualify for the full tax credit.

With interest rates at historically low rates, and the home buyer credits, it's an amazing time to buy a home. Even if you can't sell your current home for what it might have sold for back in 2005, you'll save money on the new home and the closing costs on both selling your current home and buying your new home. In most cases, it makes more financial sense to move now, and not in a couple of years when people believe home values will have risen slightly.

I'm happy to run the numbers for you if you like. I can tell you the probable sales price for your home, and the closing costs on both selling your home and buying a new home. Please just call me at 301-717-1663 or email to Colleen.Barlow@LongandFoster.com .

Warmest regards,

Colleen Barlow, Realtor

According to Yahoo Finance... WASHINGTON (AP) -- To prevent inflation from taking off, the Federal Reserve will need to start boosting interest rates quickly and aggressively once the economy is back on firmer footing, Fed officials warned Tuesday.

"I expect that when it comes time to tighten monetary policy, my colleagues and I will move with an alacrity that, if needed, will be equal in speed and intensity" to when the Fed was slashing rates to battle the recession and the financial crisis, said Richard Fisher, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

Although I've never been able to predict the future, one thing is certain: Mortgage Interest Rates are at a historic low right now. Home prices are lower than they were. Most "experts" are predicting that home values will slowly begin to rise now, and there are some indicators that seem to show that trend beginning around the country. If you're thinking of taking advantage of the 1% up to $8,000 federal tax credit, you need to close on your new home by November 30th. All in all, it seems that now really is a very good time to buy, if you can afford to do so.

I often asked what the square footage of a home for sale is. This is a really "gray" area, unfortunately. Most often, I will quote the square footage stated in the Maryland State Department of Taxation and Assessments (SDAT) database. This figure is normally the approximate square footage of the home, NOT including:

• the basement, whether it's finished or not
• hallways
• baths
• closet space
• foyers
• garage space -- even if it has a workshop section to it

SDAT does also include a "livable" finished square footage number for the basement. I find that many homes have been remodeled and expanded or have finished their basement; and SDAT's numbers often don't reflect that improvement. I'm guessing it's dependent upon whether or not plans were filed with the county when updates were done. Either way, you can see that the numbers can be somewhat misleading.

However, be aware that most builders will advertise the square footage of the homes they build as the total square footage as measured by the dimensions of the home times the number of floors PLUS the basement.

As you can see, there can be a HUGE discrepancy between these two numbers. The same home in one scenario had an SDAT square footage of 1888 and a builder's advertised square footage of 3100 square feet! Often people come to my open houses quoting the numbers they found from various sources, not understanding that they are being somewhat mislead.

Appraisers use a different paradigm than these, just to make things even more complicated.

The bottom line is this: You can't count on the square footage quote from any source to be completely accurate, since everyone uses a different definition of what space should be included in the total. Compare room sizes of competing properties to be sure that you're comparing "apples to apples". Your agent should have a laser measuring tool available which would allow you to quickly measure the rooms yourself, to be sure you're getting what you think you're buying. Buying a home is a significant investment for most of us. Protect yourself and don't rely on square footage quotes -- even from the "experts".

For instructions on the process of appealing your property tax assessment in Montgomery County, MD; please see my post below. If you'd like a free Competitive Market Analysis of your home's value, just click on the image below and fill-in the blanks:

You'll receive your market analysis by email in less than an hour. Please keep me in mind if you're thinking of selling or buying a home.

Best wishes,

Colleen Barlow

If you received a property tax assessment that you believe is too high, or if you recently purchased a home for less than the assessed value, it may be worth the effort to appeal the property tax assessment-even if you are in the middle of the three year assessment cycle. Information on the appeal process can be found on the State of Maryland Department of Assessments website: http://sdatcert4.resiusa.org/appeals2008/.

If your property is located in Montgomery County, Maryland, you may contact the local assessment office and ask for Roberta Ward, who is extremely helpful and can walk you through the process. Her email is rward@dat.state.md.us, and her phone number is (240) 314-4511.

I'm happy to do a Competitive Market Analysis (CMA) to help you determine the market value of your home, if you should decide to ask for an appeal. Please just email me at Colleen.Barlow@LongandFoster.com and give me the address of your property and details such as the number of bedrooms, baths, square footage (if you know it), and any information on updates you've made to the property.

Wishing you a wonderful 2009!

Colleen Barlow, Realtor

Phone: 301-717-1663