Dan Chapman

The U.S. Senate approved a $45 billion plan to expand a tax credit for first-time homebuyers, extend jobless benefits and provide tax refunds to money-losing companies.

Lawmakers voted 98-0 for the measure, sending it to the House. The bill then would be forwarded to President Barack Obama for his signature.

The plan would be the first major extension of provisions in February’s economic stimulus plan. The $8,000 homebuyers’ tax credit, slated to expire at the end of November, would continue until April 30 and be expanded to include people with higher incomes and some who already own homes. That would cost about $10 billion in the fiscal year that began Oct. 1, according to Congress’s Joint Committee on Taxation.

The measure includes $2.4 billion to extend unemployment benefits for as many as 20 weeks, enough to aid the jobless through the holiday season. It would loosen tax rules for homebuilders and other money-losing companies to let them claim an estimated $33 billion in tax refunds this year, according to Joint Committee on Taxation estimates.

The legislation had been delayed for weeks by Republican demands for votes on amendments to the plan. The Democrats and Republicans had been arguing over the details of the plan for weeks. No suprise there right?

The Treasury Department estimates that more than 1.4 million Americans have taken advantage of the homebuyer credit at a cost so far of about $10 billion.

The Senate plan would allow homebuyers who have lived in their residence at least five years to receive a $6,500 credit. Couples earning as much as $225,000 a year and individuals earning up to $125,000 would qualify. That is up from the current $75,000 limit for individuals and $150,000 for couples.

Those buying homes worth more than $800,000 wouldn’t be eligible for the credit. Those who sell their new home or stop using it as their main residence within three years would have to repay the credit.

What are your thoughts on the extension and added credit of$6,500 for current homeowners? Is this a positive for our business in the short term and negative in the longterm? I see it a bit from both perspectives. It will help the economy in the short term but is it fair that others have to pay for other people to get free money from the Government? Something to think about for sure.

The FOMC- Federal Open Market Committee, met last week to consider the future direction of interest rates, and it agreed to hold its short-term rate target at 0 -- 0.25 percent, the same level it has held since last December. The Fed adjusted the language of its statement just slightly, placing just a bit more emphasis on signs of improving economic activity. This gradual shift paves the way for the eventual time when the Fed will need to raise rates to a more normal level. But for now, the Fed confirmed its position that short-term rates will remain at their exceptionally low levels "for an extended period."

The consumer is not as confident as the economist have said, "big suprise" yeah right! Consumer confidence for September was reported at 53.1, a fair amount lower than expectations at 57.0% and whispers of an even stronger reading. On this news stocks reversed lower, boosting Mortgage bonds this week.

The Case-Shiller Home Price Index showed home prices fell 13.30% year over year in July versus expectations of a 14.20% year over year decline. The report, which uses the 20 largest cities, also showed only 2 cities (Las Vegas and Seattle) with month over month declines. This news was better than expectations, but still not a good number. However, the month over month numbers appear to indicate that that the worst of the housing price declines are behind us. I am not 100% sold on this trend as I think in 2010 we will see a huge wave of foreclosures due to the fact that many homeowners are still in bad loans with no equity add in the high unemployment rate and it seems to me a bad recipe.

This friday's employment report is anticipating only 180,000 jobs lost in September. A fairly mild number compared to August and the lowest monthly totals so far this year. Probably due in part to the large losses over the year as a whole and the fact that we are entering the latter part of the year. Stay tuned for more market updates to come!

I have been reading lately some of the latest news on the housing market and something I read suprised me! Banks are actually walking away and not foreclosing on some homes in certain areas. Areas like Detroit, Cleveland and Buffalo to name a few. Homeowners have been told by banks that they still have title to the home after they have been evicted by the bank. Interesting way to pressure them into making the payments, evict them then tell them they are not selling the property at the auction! I would imagine in most of these cases the properties are in such bad shape and the mortgages are so far under water that the banks don't want to take that large of a loss, so they just tell the homeowner that they are not foreclosing. Maybe they are just waiting it out until things improve ?Who really knows for sure. On another note housing starts in July were 581,000, below expectations of 599,000. Building Permits rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 560,000 lower than the 577,000 expected. Housing Starts and Permits came in both slightly below expectations, and snapped the recent three month string of better than expected numbers. Still, housing appears to be gradually stabilizing. We have a ways to go to get out of this mess still.

You know Twitter - the social networking and microblogging service that allows people to keep in touch through "tweets" - short snippets of text sent to cell phones, BlackBerrys and PCs.

Businesses are making use of the Web format for marketing, research and customer services. Computer maker Dell sends coupons to its Twitter users. Whole Foods Market offers $25 gift cards as prizes for people who submit the catchiest messages promoting Whole Foods. Other companies send messages to foster community and build loyalty to stores and products.

Uncle Sam is a player, too. The Food and Drug Administration uses Twitter to help get out the word about product recalls.

Because most Twitter messages are searchable on the Web, businesses can also use it to track customer comments and answer complaints - even offer immediate help or advice. Among firms closely tuned in to what customers are saying are Southwest Airlines, JetBlue, Comcast and many others.

Rock stars use twitter to help promote their albums and concers, even Lebron James uses it!

Quick, helpful responses via Twitter can go a long way to changing customers' opinions about a firm, even turning detractors into company promoters.

Keep messages informal and conversational. Being boring is the worst thing you can do, keep it simple and short and don't Spam! Business tweets should be personalized; you may want to designate one or more employees to twitter on behalf of the company. Keep in mind that Twitter messages - limited to 140 characters each - are seen by people who choose to become "followers" of a business or an individual.

Twitter is a good tool to use at trade shows, helping to draw attendees to exhibitors' booths as well as press conferences and receptions hosted by a company or trade group. The Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce, for example, puts out messages about its Schmooza Palooza networking party and trade show before, during and after the event in hopes of spreading buzz about it. Results are good; attendance has grown dramatically. You can even link it to your facebook account and of course your cell phone.

Twitter is great for small businesses, too, because it's easy and doesn't add any expense. The only cost is the employee time it takes to write and follow others' messages.

Consider registering your company's name with Twitter, even if you don't expect to use it. It'll help prevent misuse by someone else. You can check out my profile at www.twitter.com/danchapman or go towww.twitter.com.

I get this question a lot lately. Is now the time to buy? Have we hit bottom yet? All debatable for sure. I think the answer depends on where you live and what your current financial situation is.

Personally I believe we are probably about half way through this foreclosure crisis. I believe this is a great time to be a buyer but of course a bad time to be a seller. Are we at the bottom? Probably close to it but there are great deals all across the country, especially in areas like California, Florida, Nevada, Hawaii and Arizona where prices have slid between 30-55% percent. There are great opportunities out there especially on short sales or bank owned properties. If you just can't sell right now consider renting your place out for a while until the market improves but make sure you can qualify with your property as a rental before putting an offer on another home.

Now more than ever is the time to make sure your clients are able to get financing, as you know loan guidelines are now very strict so make sure you have a client who is officially Pre-approved.

Interest rates are still very low but may not remain low after this year as inflation could really hurt us in that area. i think rates could be above 6% by the end of this year. That is another long topic for discussion for sure!