Marlene "Myke" Triebold, GRI, CNAS, USAA Certified

The details of the housing bill were a disappointment for most people in the housing industry. It does very little to keep home values from falling or stimulate home purchases. Seems to be a whole lot smarter to support home values so that those in trouble can sell their homes instead of having to be "bailed out'. If home values were not falling and there were more buyers we would not have a foreclosure crisis. Two things make a foreclosures 1. economic hardship on the borrower (loss of income) 2. inability to sell the house for more than what is owed on it.

"Toxic assets" is a moving target. As more people lose their jobs and home values continue to fall, more and more of the assets become "toxic." The "value" of real estate is not a set number. It moves as the "supply and demand" for housing changes and the ability of the borrowers to repay changes. Economics is a dynamic model. Everything effects everything else. We who are in the real estate industry see the "toxic assets" increasing rapidly as more and more homes go into short sales and foreclosure, and more and more jobs are lost increasing the number of people who can no longer make payments on their home.

Some advice from the legal community--Some Housing Counseling agencies have been asking the real estate broker or agent on a short sale to provide their agency a part of the Real Estate Brokers sales commission to pay for the clients foreclosure counseling session.

Splitting the Real Estate Brokers fee is not an allowed funding source for foreclosure or credit counseling, and may be a violation of RESPA. It may also be a conflict of interest. It may also be grounds for termination from HUD's Housing Counseling program.

· The deduction is worth 10 percent of a home's value up to $8,000, which means all homes worth more than $80,000 could qualify for the maximum amount.

· There is an income limit to qualify. A married couples' modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) should be under $150,000 and single filers' MAGI should be less than $75,000.

· Partial tax credits may be available for married couples with MAGI incomes over $150,000 but under $170,000, and single filers with incomes over $75,000 but under $95,000.

· If married couples file separately, they can both claim 5 percent of the home purchase ($4,000 each for a home over $80,000) on their tax returns.

· It's a tax credit, not a deduction. The entire amount goes back to the first-time homebuyer unlike deductions, such as mortgage interest, that are subtracted from gross income before tax is calculated. If qualified for $8,000, the buyer gets $8,000, even if they would not owe that much in taxes otherwise.

· The tax credit applies to homes purchased between Jan. 1, 2009, and Dec. 31, 2009.

· The tax credit does not have to be paid back, providing the homebuyer keeps the property for at least 36 months and resides in the home.

· To qualify as a first-time homebuyer, the purchaser cannot have owned a home within the previous three-year period. However, ownership of a vacation home or rental home does not disqualify the buyer.

· If purchasing a new home, the effective date to receive the credit is the first day the homeowner actually lives in the house. If construction began in 2008, that buyer could still qualify. And if construction begins in 2009 but the owner does not take possession until 2010, the buyer would not qualify.

· The tax credit can be claimed on 2008 income tax forms even though the purchase took place in 2009. A buyer could close on a home the same day that President Obama signs it into law, fill out their income tax forms the next day, and receive the tax credit fairly quickly.

The tax credit could be used toward a downpayment if first-time homebuyers plan ahead. U.S. taxpayers have money withheld from every paycheck for income taxes. If they owe more tax than the amount deducted, they pay the IRS; if they owe less, they get a tax refund.

By anticipating at least an $8,000 refund in early 2010 when they file 2009 taxes, buyers can cut down on their tax withholding this year and save the money toward a downpayment. There is one condition, however: Should they not buy a home in the qualifying period, they would still owe the IRS the money, and reducing their withholding amount could result in a high bill at tax time.

The testimony yesterday of the banking executives in Washington should outrage every one of us. Our profession is suffering great difficulty in large part to their greed and unreasonable taking of money that should have been used for the good of the American People. Actually the fault lies with most of the corporate CEO's in every area of our economy! We have foreclosures and short sales and people are being tossed out of their homes largely due to corporate greed--banks saw profit from loaning money at higher interest rates to people who could least afford it!!