Marguerite Giguere Specializing in Tacoma, WA

Homebuyers, Rejoice. Buying a house in 2009 just got even easier. The President signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 this week. The bill is a $780 billion package, with about 35% of the package devoted to tax cuts (mostly for 2009) and the rest to spending intended to occur in 2009 and 2010. The major part that agents have been watching for, (especially agents like me- 80% of my clients are buyers) is the tax credit. Previously, there was a credit of $7500 that had to be paid back. Not anymore!

– The bill provides for a $8,000 tax credit that would be available to first-time home buyers for the purchase of a principal residence on or after January 1, 2009 and before December 1, 2009. The credit does not require repayment. Most of the mechanics of the credit will be the same as under the 2008 rules: the credit will be claimed on a tax return to reduce the purchaser's income tax liability. If any credit amount remains unused, then the unused amount will be refunded as a check to the purchaser. Source: Realtor.com

This is very exciting. I have a client right now who just bought a 3 bedroom, 1 bath house for $120,000. The seller (a bank) is paying his closing costs. His downpayment is $3,600. His house payment will be $897.00/month including taxes, insurance, and everything else. When he receives his tax return this year, he will be getting an extra $8,000 back that he will NOT have to repay. Thats enough for him to pay his mortgage for almost 9 months, or make some improvements to his house, or....put 6 months expenses in the bank like Suze Orman tells us all we should!

Call your favorite lender and get the details on this today.

For more Tacoma Real Estate information visit Get Real Tacoma.

The News Tribune did an excellent article today about the 2009 Property Tax Assessments that came out on Friday in Pierce County.

I thought this article was very well researched and (however you feel about property taxes) gives good insight into what they're thinking over at the Assessor Treasurers Office.

Here is a link to the cities (including Tacoma!) that actually saw DECREASES in property taxes this year.

On average, property tax bills went down for Tacomans by -.87%. We were joined by UP (-1.3%), Fife (11.43%), Puyallup (3.66%), Fircrest (1.44%), and Lakewood (1.34%). Certainly the pecentage of property tax we're paying does not reflect the loss of value in these same areas, which is the focus of much of the News Tribune's Article.

For more Tacoma Real Estate Information visit Get Real Tacoma.

What the FICO Score Measures The five main categories of information that the FICO score evaluates, along with their approximate weightings, are:

• Payment history (35%)-Aside from extreme events, like bankruptcy or tax liens, late payments have the greatest negative impact on your score. Recency and frequency of late payments count too. In other words, even though a 60-day late payment is not as risky as a 90-day late payment in and of itself, a 60-day late payment made just a month ago will count more than a 90-day late payment from five years ago.
• Outstanding balances (30%)-Evaluation of your total balances in relation to your total available credit on revolving accounts is one of the most important factors in the FICO score. Owing a great deal of money on many accounts or "maxing out" on various credit cards can indicate that a person is overextended, and is more likely to make some payments late or not at all.
• Length of credit history (15%)-Your score takes into account how long your credit accounts have been established in general, how long specific credit accounts have been established, and how long it has been since you used certain accounts.
• New Credit (10%)-Research shows that opening several credit accounts in a short period of time does represent greater risk-especially for people who do not have a long-established credit history. Multiple requests will reduce your score because it looks like you are either trying to get a high amount of credit (possibly because of a cash flow problem) or that you are being rejected by lenders and having to apply elsewhere.
• Types of credit (10%)-The score will consider your mix of credit cards, retail accounts, installment loans, finance company accounts and mortgage loans. Your score takes into account what kinds of credit accounts you have, and how many of each. The score also looks at the total number of accounts you have.

Many people are aware that you can check your credit report for free at the three bureaus for free once per year. This is a great way to make sure there is no fraud or incorrect information on your credit report- but many people don't realize this does not generate a score. To generate a score go to MYFICO.com.

If you're checking your score for the first time, or if it's been more than a year, go big and get the package which shows your score from all three credit bureaus as well as tools to show you how to improve your credit over time. They can even calculate how certain financial decisions (like buying a car, or getting a Macy's Store Card) will impact your score in the future.

For more Tacoma Real Estate information visit Get Real Tacoma.

“All you need to do is grant visas to two million Indians, Chinese and Koreans,” said Shekhar Gupta, editor of The Indian Express newspaper. “We will buy up all the subprime homes. We will work 18 hours a day to pay for them. We will immediately improve your savings rate — no Indian bank today has more than 2 percent nonperforming loans because not paying your mortgage is considered shameful here. And we will start new companies to create our own jobs and jobs for more Americans.”