Overland Park KS Homes for sale & Johnson County Real Estate Blog: July 2008

1. Must be first time buyer
2. rebate will 10% of Homes value up to $7500
3. income limited to singles with $75,000 or less or married couples at $150,000 or less
4. must be repaid over 15 years (6.67% per year)
5. remainder must be completely repaid if home sold before 15 years
6. effective for home purchases between April 9 2008 & July 1 2009

       

If you have been looking to buy a home in overland Park or Johnson County Kansas you might want to pick up the pace. Especially if you were depending on Down Payment Asssistance.

Not only did the new housing bill eliminate Down Payment Assistance it also will raise the down payment required to 3 1/2 percent.

If you wish to buy a home in Overland Park and absolutely need down payment assistance you will need to be approved and under contract before October 1st or you will be out of luck.

Don't wait till it is too late. This is a reality and it is the only zero downpayment  loan program left. Once October 1st rolls around you will have to come up with a down payment or get that money from a family member.

            

President Bush signed the new housing bill today. It is designed to help those in need avoid foreclosure. It is supposed to help as many as 400,000 homeowner refinance their current loan with new loans backed by the Federal Housing Authority(FHA)          

President Bush originally threatened to veto this measure but was under extreme pressure to provide assistance to home owners in need. Here are some of the high and low points of the bill.  

High Points: 

1. Helps home owner is need by refinancing bad loans

2. provide up to $7500 tax credit for first time buyers

3. increases loan limits to $625k for FHA, Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac

Low Points:

1. Eliminates third party down payment assistance

2. increases federal deficit by 800 billion (With a B)

3. Puts tax payers on the hook for potential losses by foreclosures

So will this help you or hurt you. It all depends on your situation. If you are a home owner with good credit you may be able to refinance into much more favorable terms.

If you are a first time buyer and don't have a lot of money for a down payment, you may be squeezed out until you can save 3 1/2 percent for a down payment.

The long term affects could end up hurting us all, as our government puts on the potential hook for over 800 billion.

What do you think?

Does this help or hurt you?

Time sure flies when the easiest road in an out of your subdivsion is closed. Has it really been a year since they closed Nall Blvd between 151st & 159th. Well the wait is over, Thursday they will be opening the 2 south bound lanes. The 2 north bound lanes will not re-open until October.

Can someone tell me why it takes a year to widen a small stretch of road? My only answer is because it can. So now that we have Nall open, maybe they can focus on 159th & Antioch or any of the other major throughfares that are currently closed.

Copyright 2008 The Russell Home Team www.searchjocoHomes.com 913-681-1383

This past weekend someone decided that it would be fun to torch the playground at Sunrise Point Elementary school in Overland Park. What makes someone do something this senseless? How do I explain to my kid's the reason they can't go play? This is just plain stupid, the vandals caused over $20,000 in damages. If you have any information contact the Overland Park Police Department.

Copyright 2008 The Russell Home Team  www.SearchjocoHomes.com  913-681-1383

With the downturn in Real estate, there has become a lot of new and unique opportunities. For buyers in Overland Park & Johnson County Kansas that new opportunity is called a short sale. A short is when the seller of a home is in the begining stages of Foreclosure and they know that their home is not worth how much they owe on it or at least they cannot sell their home and completely payoff the mortgage and pay the fees associated with selling their home.

So how does this help you? Banks do not like foreclosing homes, it costs them a lot of money and time doing so. One of the options banks consider during tough times is accepting less than is owed to them instead of foreclosure.

If you are a savvy buyer and have patience you can stand to find a great house at a great price through a short sale. As you can see I underlined patience, because banks are swamped with short sale requests right now and getting an answer is not an overnight thing.

 It will usually take 4-8 weeks to get a final decision from the bank of whether they will accept your offer or not. A lot can happen in 4-8 weeks and that is why so many short sales fail. It is not that the bank was unwilling to accept the offer, it is that the buyer gets so frustrated with the timeline that they back out of the deal.

If you are in the position to be flexible ie.. month to month lease, you would be a great candidate for a short sale, The process can be a little bit frustrating but in the long run you could end up with your dream home for a lot less than you expected. Building wealth sometime takes drastic measures.

The Russell Home Team are experienced short sale negotiators, we know how to get you a great deal and how to work with the banks to ensure a smooth process.

Click Here to see Short Sale Homes in Overland Park & Johnson County

copyright 2008 The Russell Home Team www.SearchjocoHomes.com 913-681-1383

Are you looking to buy a home in johnson county Kansas? How about buying a foreclosure? Foreclosed properties can great deals in this depressed market. There are several types of Foreclosures:

HUD Homes- Homes that were purchased with FHA financing and backed the the Federal Goverment return to the market as HUD homes. HUD releases new listings every week and they have an online bidding process. During the first bidding cycle only bids by owner occupants will be considered. After the first bid it is opened up to investors.

Fannie Mae- loans backed by Fannie Mae return to the market as REO properties. These homes are listed on the open market just like any normal home listing.

Bank owned- loans that don't meet Fannie Mae standards are usually held as Portfolio loans. Some are small local banks and most are large banks like Citi, Wells Fargo & Countywide.

Foreclosed properties can be a really good deal but they usually come on at market value, it is not until 60 days that the banks start get aggressive on price reductions & low offers. The other thing to remember is that Foreclosures are always sold as-is with no repairs. You are allowed to have the home inspected but only for your knowledge.

Foreclosures are not for the weak at heart and the bank may reject your offer several time before acceptance but they can be a very worth while endeavor.

Click Here to Start Searching for Foreclosures Now.  

Copyright 2008 The Russell HomeTeam www.SearchjocoHomes.com 913-681-1383

Dear Future Home buyers,

Your government is trying to take away your ability to buy a home. Right now the House is debating a bill sponsored by HUD to end Down Payment Assistance Programs and the Senate will be debating it soon. Eliminating these programs will make it harder for First time & low income buyers to make home ownership a reality.

The elimination of these programs will not only affect first time buyers, it will affect the sellers of those homes. If we remove first time buyers from the market, we lose the the buyers of secondary homes, if we lose the buyers of secondary homes we lose the buyers of the highest level of homes. Pretty soon we have no buyers at all.

Our governement thinks this will help reduce foreclosures by forcing buyers to have a little skin in the game. This will not reduce foreclosures but will add to it because there will be less homes being sold.

So what can you do? You can fill out this petition that is being submitted to Congressman Moore and Senator's Brownback & Roberts

http://rallyforhomeownership.com/

Do your part to make sure that Homeownership stays a reality. Don't let our goverment take away your home ownership dream.

Over the last 8 years I have helped countless families purchase homes using Down Payment Assistance programs. Most of these families would have never been able to purchase a home without these programs. I dont want to lose this valuable tool, please take the time to submit the petition. Even if it doesn't help you it will probably help someone you know become a home owner.

Copyright 2008 The Russell Home Team www.SearchjocoHomes.com  913-681-1383

Congress is getting ready to vote on the bill that would end Down Payment assistance. You need to go to this link and enter your name on the petition to HUD

http://rallyforhomeownership.com/

You also need to call your local congressman and Senator to let them know that this program is needed and that ending it will provide a finacial hardship to most first time buyers.

The trickle down effect will be immence if we take first time buyers out of this already trying market.

Now stop reading and start calling and fill out the petition.

According to an article in the Washington Post the FHA down payment assistance programs may finally be dead. The house is deferring to the senate and giving way to eliminating Third Party non-profit down payments assistance.

Over the last 8 years I have put a lot of first time buyers into these programs using Neighborhood Gold, Nehemia and others. I think this is a loss for everyone. This change is going add a significant barrier to home ownership, esppecially in the coastal states.

We need to call on our lawmakers to come up with a better solution than just eliminating this program and to re-vant FHA mortgages.

What are your thoughts.