Ilyce Glink

Mortgage interest rates are super-low at the moment. But the best deals are for owner-occupied homes, not for financing investment property. On a recent radio show, a caller emailed Ilyce to ask about a great loan deal she supposedly got when she financed her investment property. Is it the real deal?

Question: On your radio program one Sunday, you mentioned that you got a very low intereste rate when you refinanced an investment piece of property that you owned. I believe the interest rate on the loan was in the 4 percent range. That sounds just too good to be true. Are those deals out there? And, if so, can you please help me find a mortgage lender who will offer me that kind of an interest rate for my investment properties?

Answer: What I was talking about was an investment condo that my husband and I own, but the financing deal isn’t structured quite the way you think.

We bought this particular investment condominium several years ago from the developer with a 10 percent down payment. We took out an 80 percent first mortgage and a 10 percent second mortgage. Our second loan was at about 7 percent. Our own home equity line of credit is now at about 3.5 percent.

The financing move we made was to trade the 7 percent loan for a 3 percent loan from our home equity line of credit (HELOC). In other words, we took out money from our primary residence's equity line and used it to pay off the second mortgage on the investment property. That financing move will save us a few thousand bucks this year. We will use that savings to pay down the equity line. If you were to take out a primary loan for investment property today, assuming it fell within Fannie Mae conforming limits, you'd have to put down at least 25 percent in cash and you'd get an interest rate at about 6.5 percent, perhaps with some extra points or fees. So, we did a lot better than that, without incurring any financing charges or fees.

In short: The deal you thought I was talking about on the air probably doesn't exist in this market. But there are some decent financing options for those real estate investors who want to buy and hold investment properties for long-term capital appreciation and income.

FOURTEEN STATES are now offering tax credits for homebuyers or first-time homebuyers. Georgia is the latest state to offer a homebuyer tax credit. It is available to anyone, regardless if you have owned a home before.

Georgia became the latest state to pass a homebuyer taxc redit.

The Georgia Credit for Homebuyers says taxpayers who purchase a single-family residence (including a condo unit or townhome for use by a single family) in Georgia are eligible for a homebuyer credit of up to $1,800 over three years. The home must be purchased within a six-month time period, on or after June 1, 2009 and before December 1, 2009. The amount of the credit is the lesser of 1.2 percent of the purchase cost of the home or $1,800. Thus, to receive the maximum credit, the taxpayer must purchase a home that costs at least $150,000.

There are 13 other states that offer some form of tax credit for homebuyers or first-time homebuyers. There are several other states that are currently working on tax credits for homebuyers or first-time homebuyers. California's tax credit for new construction homebuyers seems to be the most generous at this point.

Stay tuned. I'm sure we'll be adding to the list of the states offering homebuyer tax credits.

Don't miss your chance to get tickets for my Money Makeover event this Saturday in Atlanta!

You can do an online registration for Saturday's event up until Friday (tomorrow) night, or do walk-in registration Saturday morning. I hope to see you there

visit: thinkglink.eventbrite.com

that website has all of the information on speakers and the event location. The event includes a free copy of my book, 50 Simple Steps You Can Take to Disaster-Proof Your Finances, a free copy of my "How to Save $50/Month" eBook and an eBook of tips and best practices from our expert panelists.

Buy your own lunch from Starbucks or the hotel cafe and stay for the third session and talk with the panelists at the end of the day!

Since this Sunday is Mother’s Day (both here and in Latin America), I thought I’d share some of the financial wisdom that has been passed down in my family, mother to daughter.

1. Common Sense = Money Sense. According to my mother and grandmother, there’s no great money magic. You have to use some basic common sense when making money decisions. In my family, spending more than you had was never an option. You had to make the numbers work even if it meant living at home, not eating out, not owning or driving a car, and not taking fancy vacations.

2. Focus on What’s Really Important. Most of us seem confused when tackling our budget. We try to make room for tickets to theatre, sporting events, movies, dinners out, babysitting, gourmet coffee drinks, and vacations. My mother and grandmother taught me that it’s more important to start from the most essential ingredients, add in a few top priorities, and pretty much save the rest. In our family, education was prized. So, we paid the mortgage, taxes, utilities, food, clothing, and school tuition. If you start there and cut out everything else, it’s easier to to make a smart financial move.

3. Enjoy the Simple Pleasures. My parents always made time to go out on Friday and Saturday nights. But they didn’t spend a lot of time and money buying things they didn’t need. While their friends bought vacation homes in the mountains, boats, and fancy cars, we focused on museums, visiting with my grandparents in Florida (we drove there), and driving around the country during the summer. Instead of eating out, my mother became a gourmet cook who packed our school lunches every morning.

For more tips and a little bit of background about the fiscally fierce females in my life, go to http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/blog/home-equity/money-lessons-my-mother-and-grandmother/369/?tag=content;col1. It's my new blog on CBS's Money Watch and I can't post all of the content here. Please check it out