Shameca Tankerson

Everything old is new again.

If you live long enough you will see styles come and go.

What's in goes out, then comes back again. It seems that true in real estate as well. Conforming Loan Limits Are Above $700,000 Once Again!

Conforming mortgages are limited by loan size, based on "typical" housing costs around the country. The current conforming limit on a single-unit property is $417,000.

In 2008, as part of the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, Congress authorized conforming loan limits increases in "high-cost" areas around the country. In Los Angeles County, for example, a mortgage could be as large as $729,750 and still be considered "conforming".

Those temporary increases rolled back effective January 1, 2009, to a maximum of $625,500.

However, as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 signed into law this week, conforming loan limits in high-cost areas have been returned to their elevated levels of 2008.

Changes to conforming loan limits impact everyone with a stake in real estate, even if their neighborhoods are not considered "high-cost". This is because conforming mortgages offer the widest selection of home loan products, and often at the lowest rates. The widespread availability of conforming mortgages helps to support home sales nationwide as well as providing ample refinancing options for people that need it.

Lenders have yet to pick up the change, but are expected to shortly. Once they do, more homeowners will be eligible for cheap home financing.

To lookup your neighborhood's conforming loan limits, visit the HUD Web site. Or, if you have specific questions related to your home or an upcoming purchase, contact me directly anytime.

Super Bowl Weekend marked the start of the Spring Buying Season in real estate. Anecdotally, real estate agents will tell you that buyer activity tends to tick higher at this time of the year.

Meanwhile, with mortgage rates still trolling near all-time lows and the roll out of the new first-time homebuyer tax credit, 2009 may bring out even more buyers than we've seen in the past.

Just having your home on the market may not be enough to attract an offer, though -- the home has to have appeal. That brings us to home staging -- the process by which a homeowner re-organizes and re-presents his home to appeal to as many potential buyers as possible.

Home staging is part-science, part-art, and part-psychology. Homebuyers tend to judge homes within the first 8 seconds of seeing them so making a quality first impression can mean the difference between getting multiple bids, and just getting a lot of foot traffic.

The 4-minute video gives some quick-and-easy tips, including:

• Create more light in the home
• Clean up the closets and thin them out
• Remove the clutter from every room in the house

Even though home inventories are falling, supplies are still higher than in previous years. Home sellers wanting to stand out in a crowd may want to consider staging their homes to help them sell more quickly.

Staged homes sell for as much as 17% more money and as much as 40% faster than non-staged ones.

In Mesa, Arizona, Wednesday, the President presented the Homeowner Affordability and Stability plan, a multi-pronged effort to support the housing market.

The story made the front page of nearly every newspaper in the country.

The president's plan is sweeping:

• Incent mortgage servicers to work with at-risk homeowners before delinquency starts
• Let homeowners with good credit but little equity refinance to today's low rates
• Fund Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to support mortgage markets

It's a broad plan with many positive angles, but for now, we can't forget that it's just a plan. Although the White House shapes and influences housing policy, Congress, Loan Servicers, and the Federal Agencies must still implement and execute it. Until that implementation occurs, these reforms exist only on paper.

It's a key aspect of the speech that's not getting coverage.

One thing we learned during the stimulus package debate was that just because the President wants something to happen doesn't mean that it will. There are always details to be worked out and that's one reason why the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan couldn't go into effect immediately. There are still loose ends to tie and details to define.

According to its website, the White House lists March 4, 2009 as the plan's effective date. Until March 4, therefore, nothing in Wednesday's speech is guaranteed.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was signed into law Tuesday in Denver, Colorado. Also Tuesday, stock markets fell near their November 2008 lows.

The two moves are related.

With each new stimulus; with each potential jumpstart of the economy, Wall Street questions whether the federal push will be enough to make an impact.

Traders ended undecided on that issue today, but resolute in something else -- that whatever change the stimulus bill will bring, it's not going to come fast enough to help.

The sell-off in equities was a boon to home buyers. For the first time since early-December, mortgage markets gave a sustained rally, extending gains from the 8:30 AM market open through the 4:00 PM market close.

Conforming mortgage rates were down on the day. Longer-term, though, this pattern won't likely last. Not only will the stock market regain its balance and draw dollars back, but, more importantly, the stimulus bill contained verbiage increasing the national debt ceiling by 53.4 percent. Government debt is often financed by printing more money and this leads to inflation, the enemy of mortgage rates.

For now, the stimulus plan is helping mortgage markets, albeit indirectly. If you're shopping for home loan, consider locking quickly. When markets flip -- and they always do -- it figures to be sudden.

(Image courtesy: Recovery.gov)

With Congress reaching agreement on a $789 billion stimulus package for Americans and the President expected to sign it into law, the clock may be ticking for this year's home buyers and homeowners.

The package contains two benefits related to housing.

The first provision is fairly well-known. It gives first-time home buyers an $8,000 tax credit provided they purchase a home between January 1, 2009 and August 31, 2009.

This is a true tax credit.

To reduce misuse and abuse, however, the $8,000 credit is contingent on home buyers holding property for at least 3 years. If the home is sold in fewer than 3 years, the tax credit must be repaid to the government. It's also worth noting that the date range applies closings and not sales agreements.

Closings must occur within these 8 months to be eligible.

A second noteworthy feature in the package is that the stimulus package gives existing homeowners incentive to "green" their homes. With available tax credits for energy-efficient windows and doors, furnaces and insulation, homeowners can claim larger tax deductions based on home improvement, up to $1,500.

But, just because the government provides housing-related tax benefits doesn't mean you should just act on them blindly. Tax liability is a highly individual item and you may be ineligible for any number of reasons. Be sure to discuss your plans with a qualified accountant before committing to a plan.