The NMWelcomeHome Team Blog - Real Estate

Lose Your Private Mortgage Insurance

Private mortgage insurance provides protection to a lender in case you default on your home loan. Unless you make a 20% downpayment on a house, you’ll most likely be required to purchase PMI. PMI premiums on a median priced home ($198,100 in 2008) can run between $50 and $100 per month, according to the Mortgage Insurance Companies of America.

PMI might be unavoidable, but it isn’t eternal. Knowing exactly when you’re entitled to cancel coverage can save you a bundle. If you own a median priced home, you’ll pocket between $600 and $1,200 for each year’s worth of premiums you can avoid. That extra cash can be used to pay down your principal instead.

When PMI is cancelled automatically
Though often maligned, PMI plays an important role. Many aspiring…

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Short Sale Series Part 3 - Buying a Short Sale

Buying Short Sales -

If a home is being sold for below what the current seller owes on the property—and the seller does not have other funds to make up the difference at closing—the sale is considered a short sale. Many more home owners are finding themselves in this situation due to a number of factors, including job losses, aggressive borrowing against their home in the days of easy credit, and declining home values in a slower real estate market.

A short sale is different from a foreclosure, which is when the seller's lender has taken title of the home and is selling it directly. Homeowners often try to accomplish a short sale in order to avoid foreclosure. But a short sale holds many potential pitfalls for buyers. Know the risks before you pursue a…

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Short Sale Listing Close to Being Approved

View Flyer of 673 Sunny Meadows Rio Rancho NM 87144 - Share With A Friend

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Get Good Foreclosure Deals

TIPS TO GET GOOD FORECLOSURE DEALS

Foreclosure rates are spiking and brewing up a hot market for investors and buyers. To get the best deal possible, follow these tips:

1. Timing is everything. In New Mexico borrowers often are given a chance to avoid foreclosure with a redemption period, typically two to three months, to pay off the amount they owe and redeem the property. The borrower may opt to sell the property during this pre-foreclosure stage if they can’t make up their missed mortgage payments. This is typically the best time to strike a deal, as home owners are looking for ways to avoid foreclosure. Another prime time to buy: prior to an auction date.2. Look in the right places. Follow the foreclosure trail. Title companies, banks, purchase…

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Corporate transfer changes - Will this affect you?

In a typical relocation the spouse that does not have a job was able to use their projected income combined with the relocating spouse income when applying for a mortgage which would help determine housing affordability.

FNMA had announced it will disallow inclusion of 'trailing' income.  What does this mean?  It means that this secondary trailing income will not be allowed which will reduce the affordablility of the couple's next home.  According to RISMedia 70% of all corporate relocations are dual income so the effect on these relocations is significant.  This rule change seems to stem from current economic conditions and the availability of employment.

As a Realtor® with years of helping families relocate I must work even closer with these families…

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Passed - Tax Credit at a Glance

More people are now eligible to take advantage of the law, which includes a $6,500 tax credit for buyers who are current home owners and have lived in their home for five of the past eight years.
Income limits for eligible home buyers were also expanded to $125,000 for single buyers and $225,000 for couples, up from $75,000 for individuals and $150,000 for couples. Qualifying home prices are capped at $800,000. 

$8,000 First-time Home Buyer Tax Credit at a Glance

• The $8,000 tax credit is for first-time home buyers only. For the tax credit program, the IRS defines a first-time home buyer as someone who has not owned a principal residence during the three-year period prior to the purchase.
• The tax credit does not have to be repaid.
• The tax credit is…

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Home Buyer Tax Credit Breakdown

Hopefull voted on soon the Tax Credit for First Time Home Buyers will be extended and expanded.  This is the latest.

- Tax Credit would remain $8,000 for firs-time home buyers and extended from December 1, 2009 to April 30, 2010.

- Allow move-up buyer $6,500 tax credit and would be eligible if they have lived in their home as a primary residence for 5 years or more.

- Tax credit would end April 30, 2010 but would allow any buyer that had a binding contract to qualify for the credit so long as they complete the transaction within 60 days.

- Income limits will be raised for both move-up and first time home buyers to $125,000 single filer and $225,000 joint return.

- Purchase price of the home not to exceed $800,000 to be eligible for the tax credit.

-…

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Searching Foreclosure and Pre-Foreclosure Homes

I recently requested an upgrade to provide, what I think, is a valuable tool for buyers looking for a good deal on a home. 

Sometime late October there will be a dedicated page to search Foreclosure Property in the Albuquerque, Rio Rancho and surrounding area.  This includes Los Lunas, Belen, East Mountains, Placitas, Bernalillo etc.

I felt the general public was not able to accurately get a foreclosure list.  Most of the time if someone had a list it was already 6 months old and all that inventory had been sold. 

Congratulations to anyone who is registered with my site...You will soon have access to all the listed Foreclosure Properties in the area.  As an added benefit I included Pre-Foreclosure also known as Short Sales. 

Short Sales represent a…

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No Excuse Not To Buy a Home

First Time Homebuyers have the opportunity of a life time!

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

State Offers Assistance To First-Time Homebuyers

Associated Press

SANTA FE — First-time homebuyers can find new financial assistance from the state and federal government.  Gov. Bill Richardson and the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority today announced a loan program that will help lower- and middle-income New Mexicans make a down payment in buying their first house. 

The program takes advantage of a tax credit that was created as part of the federal economic stimulus package. First-time homebuyers can get a federal tax credit of 10 percent of the purchase price of a home, up to $8,000. 

The finance authority will provide a no-interest loan up to $6,500 for a down…

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Historic Homes Parade - Albuquerque

The 2nd Annual Realtors Pararde of Historic Homes will be held March 14th and 15th.  Over two dozen homes will be featured all built before 1940 or 1945.  The homes will be located throughout the Greater Albuquerque Area, from Nob Hill to the South Valley, from Downtown to Corrales.

Home prices on the tour start at $143,000 and range up to $1.9 million for a 210 year-old adobe hacienda.  Call me for more information at 505-350-8184 visit http://www.abqhistorichomes.com.

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