Robert Dowding ~ Realtor ~ Greater Lansing, MI

WASHINGTON - Thousands of first-time home buyers will be able to get short-term loans so they can quickly make use of a new $8,000 tax credit to pay for some of the costs of buying a home.

The Federal Housing Administration on Friday released details of a plan in which borrowers who use FHA loans can get advances from lenders that let them effectively receive the credit in advance, so they don't have to wait to get the money from the Internal Revenue Service.

Most borrowers will still have to come up with the FHA's required 3.5 percent down payment, unless they work through a state or local housing agency or an approved nonprofit.

Ten states have such programs in place, according to the National Council of State Housing Agencies.

But there are many other potential uses, such as for closing costs and fees, or to beef up the down payment beyond the minimum level.

The FHA, which insures about a quarter of new home loans, is projected to guarantee about 2.2 million loans in the next budget year.

Any buyer who has not owned a home in the past three years is considered a first-time buyer and eligible for the program. Borrowers can claim the credit by filing an amended 2008 tax return or can wait for their 2009 return.

The change "will present an enormous benefit for communities struggling to deal with an oversupply of housing," Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan said in a statement.

The tax credit was included in the economic stimulus package signed by President Barack Obama in February. It is not available to individuals with incomes above $95,000 or couples with incomes above $170,000 and it expires Nov. 30.

Real estate agents and home builders generally welcomed the change.

Jerry Howard, CEO of the National Association of Home Builders, called it a "great step in the right direction." On Wall Street, shares of such builders as Toll Brothers and D.R. Horton rose on the news.

Still, some real estate agents were concerned that many buyers won't benefit at all if they can't use it for a down payment - a big hurdle for many first-time buyers.

I hear this question around my Lansing MI office at Keller Williams Realty all the time. I guess I've become "that guy" at our office. The one that's Tweeting on Twitter, created a Robert Dowding Team page on Facebook, search for new contacts on Linkedinand sit through webinars weekly on how to do it all better and more efficiently.

I first joined LinkedIn because I randomly got a request from someone I was friends or did business with, I'm not really sure. Since that time I have used it a little but not been real dedicated to it. I'll be honest I haven't made many contacts through it but I'm sure its a great way to connect with other business and like minded people.

Then there's Facebook. First it was myspace for me and after a short stint on there and getting real sick of slow loading pages, responding to friends requests from lonely foreign women looking for friendship and whatever else it may become I reluctantly joined FB. I saw it as an opportunity to reconnect with friends, classmates and kill some time playing scrabulous or owned. After all the games and other BS got old I realized that I had begun to build on online data base that I could market to and still just hang out and be friends with. After a while I found that by sharing my experiences in life and Real Estate as well as usefull content from time to time people begin to remember "Hey Rob's a Realtor and on FB just ask him." What do you know, I started getting leads from FB and building my data base as well as meeting and hanging out with some cool new and old friends.

That paragraph got long so I'm starting a new one for some reason. I don't write many blog posts this just keeps coming up.

OK so now comes Twitter and boy I'm a rookie at it but enjoying it. I'm @RobRealtor I have watched a few webinars and read some blog posts as to best ways to market business on micro blogs and be a user worth following. Here's is what I think I know. NO ONE wants to see you just continuously market, market, market yourself on there just like FB. If you aren't willing to be a "real" person fill out a profile and load a picture, chances are no one will want to follow you. Ashton Kutcher @aplusk has some 2 million followers or something because well he's Ashton Kutcher and he's famous but also because he just shares crap he likes and what he's doing and people like that. So by following me @RobRealtor you're going to get a little of everything.

So to answer the question, How do you have time for social networks? I guess the answer is..... I enjoy meeting new people, chatting with friends and marketing my business (virtually). I have time because I have chosen to use social networks as part of my daily business. My advice, choose you're battles, it's extremely unlikely you'll ever receive a COLD call from me but hey you may find something I posted and meet me online. If you're a friend on FB I'm likely not going to take your quiz or join your mafia. If you follow me on Twitter and you are following 10, 218 people, only 345 are following you and you post a new link every 5 minutes, I'm not following you back. So have fun and I'll see you online. Maybe.

I just walked outside and my Iris's look awesome maybe I should write about my flowers and gardens next but not sure if anyone wants to hear about that. Now I have to add pics because I guess people like to see pictures while they read, personally I just look at the pictures usually.

-Rob

April 2009 Market Update for Ingham, Eaton and Clinton counties in Michigan. The Robert Dowding team at Keller Williams Realty is dedicated to providing you with the most up to date statistice and trends available.

We are now officially in the full swing of the spring real estate market in the Tri-County area of Mid Michigan. With the addition of buyer incentives and continued affordability of housing we are seeing another month of promising numbers.

Average sales prices were fairly stable as compared to March 2009 numbers with exception of Eaton County that experienced a difficult March but rebounded well in April. We are still down from 2008 which is to be expected. The promising numbers are the number of units sold. All three counties reported increases in units sold with Ingham and Eaton counties over 40%! May has been very busy as well and I would expect to see this trend continue.

As always keep us in mind for all of your real estate needs and contact us with any questions you may have. We look forward to helping you and yours.

Professionally, Robert Dowding