Green Real Estate in Idaho

As of last Friday there has been an exciting improvement to the $8,000 ($8,000 or 10% of sales price, whichever is less) tax credit available to first time home buyers. Now, buyers using FHA approved lenders will be able to take an advance on their $8,000 credit and put it towards their down payments and or closing costs.

While the stimulus provides this credit to first time buyers (or those that have not owned a home for the past 3 years) the $8,000 previously could only be collected after the close of escrow by filing an amended 2008 return or waiting to claim the credit in 2010 on the buyers 2009 tax return.

I expect this to make a great thing even better as many first time home buyers find it difficult to come up with thousands of dollars in closing costs along with a down payment. For additional information regarding this new program consult your preferred lender. You can read the full article about this new program here.

Well, Boise’s growing up and with it comes some improvements to our trash collection and curb side recycling programs. Over the summer all Allied Waste (formerly BFI) customers will be receiving new trash and recycling bins. While some customers have already upgraded to the newer wheeled bins, they have been optional and even resulted in an additional rental cost for the convenience. Under this new program, all residents will be upgraded and there will be no additional cost associated with the use of the new cans. Yes, if you’re already using one and getting billed for it, expect to see that drop off shortly.

Along with the automated trucks that will be rolling up and grabbing our trash cans from their quiet resting places on the sidewalk, we’ll see a completely new recycling program roll out. Not only will we be parting company with the barrage of small blue bins (we have 4 here at my house) for our cardboard, cans, plastics, paper, but once the change is in place sorting recyclables will be a thing of the past. Brand new huge blue cans, similar to the new garbage bins, will be delivered to residents wishing to participate. All recycling will be deposited in the solitary recycling can and collected every other week. Sorting of the various recyclables to be handled offsite. This move alone cuts half the amount of recycling trucks roaming neighborhoods in half, add to that that the new collection trucks added to the fleet will run on compressed natural gas. A double win for those keep score on environmental impact.

Full details, ordering options and more is all available at the http://www.curbitboise.org website. Check it out, it’s worth noting that here in the lovely City of Trees, residents that do not participate in the recycling program do pay a premium on their garbage bills, so get with the program and start recycling.

Now… if only we had a real mass transit system!

You may not have heard, but now there is even more money available to first time home buyers, up to $7000 (seven thousand dollars) actually and the beauty of this new money is that it can be used at the time of purchase to put towards your down payment. As with everything in life and home buying, there are rules, restrictions, and qualifying that have to be addressed. The good news however is that if you’re a first time home buyer and you meet the qualification for the $8000 (eight thousand dollar) tax credit you’re well on your way.

This is a very new program and has enormous potential to help even more first time home buyers (FTHB) achieve their goals of home ownership. Coming up with thousands of dollars in closing costs and down payment is difficult at any time, today is no exception. The good news is that rates are at historic lows, prices are down, and inventory abounds in most price points here in the Treasure Valley. Rates are not likely to go much lower and when the FED begins curtailing their involvement in the purchase of mortgage backed securities rates will almost certainly rise later this year.

If you’re thinking about purchasing your first home, I’m here to help. Give me a call at your convenience and we can get started putting together a plan to get you into your new home in time to take advantage of all the fantastic incentives available to you. In fact, feel free to try out the new Google connection widget, top right of every page on this site. Just enter your name and your phone number and click connect.

On Friday, May 1, 2009 the new Home Value Code of Conduct Plan will go into effect. How will this impact your purchase you may ask… Well, see below.

1. Appraisals will have to be ordered through a 3rd party vendor designated by the lender we send the loan to.

2. The appraisal has to be paid for at the time of ordering.

3. We will not know who the appraiser is and they will not know that we are the broker or loan officer. We, the loan officer and anybody within our company, cannot have any contact with the appraiser at any time. If there are issues with the appraisal, they have to be addressed through the third party vendor that ordered the appraisal.

4. The borrower must receive a copy of the appraisal 3 business days prior to signing Closing loan documents, via e-mail or 5 days prior if the appraisal has to be mailed. The lenders will not allow the borrower to sign until this time has passed.

5. Some appraisals may not be transferred between lenders. This is determined by each individual lender as to whether or not they will transfer and/or whether or not they will accept a transferred appraisal.

6. Turn times from the time of ordering the appraisal to delivery can be up to 5 days, unless there is a problem with gaining access to the house.

All in all it’s not a terribly life altering adjustment. The primary reason behind this has to be the whole mortgage market meltdown and the fact that previously lenders had direct contact with appraisers and in some cases were able to influence appraised value which lead to inflated valuations. So long as this process is well streamlined it will hopefully not prove to be a major roadblock to the timely execution of purchase and sales. It is unfortunate that this will go live at the busiest time of year, it could very well be a trial by fire. If you’re planning on writing an offer anytime in may you may be well advised to add an extra week or so to your escrow, just to be safe.

Thank you to Sara Solis with Pacific Residential Mortgage for putting this synopsis together.