California follows Fed with Tax Credit of their own.

See Information below and follow the link for more Information.

CALIFORNIA

The California budget bill just signed into law includes a $10K California state tax credit for all NEW homebuyers who purchase a home between March 1, 2009 and March 2010 (or until the $100 million credit allocation is used up).  The credit is in addition to the Federal tax credit and can be used $3,333 per year in 2009, 2010 and 2011 for ANY new home buyer who stays in the home at least 2 years.  This is not available to the resale market and was not even introduced in the legislation until the final vote (Senator Ashburn from Bakersfield) agreed to vote for the budget package only if the credit were included.  More information is available here: http://www.cbia.org/go/cbia/newsroom/cbia-in-the-news/homebuyer-tax-credit-passed-by-legislature/

 

Hot off the Press Stimulus Package!

The following information has been provided to me from one of our top Wholesalers Franklin American.

Economic Stimulus Plan Benefits the Housing and Mortgage Industries

Revised February 17, 2009

Just signed and sealed…a $787 Billion Stimulus Plan made up of tax cuts and spending programs aims at reviving the US economy. Although the package was scaled down from nearly $1 Trillion, it still stands as the largest anti-recession effort since World War II.

Home owners and potential homebuyers stand to gain from key provisions in this stimulus plan. Here is what we know as of today…

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Tax Credit for Homebuyers

First-time homebuyers who purchase homes from the start of the year until the end of November 2009 may be eligible for the lower of an $8,000 or 10% of the value of the home tax credit.  Remember a tax credit is very different than a tax deduction – a tax credit is equivalent to money in your hand, as opposed to a tax deduction which only reduces your taxable income.

The tax credit starts phasing out for couples with incomes above $150,000 and single filers with incomes above $75,000.  Buyers will have to repay the credit if they sell their homes within three years.

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Additional Housing-Related Provisions

Tax Incentives to Spur Energy Savings and Green Jobs — This provision is designed to help promote energy-efficient investments in homes by extending and expanding tax credits through 2010 for purchases such as new furnaces, energy-efficient windows and doors, or insulation.

Landmark Energy Savings — This provision provides $5 Billion for energy efficient improvements for more than one million modest-income homes through weatherization.  According to some estimates, this can help modest-income families save an average of $350 a year on heating and air conditioning bills.

Repairing Public Housing and Making Key Energy Efficiency Retrofits To HUD-Assisted Housing—This provision provides a total of $6.3 Billion for increasing energy efficiency in federally supported housing programs.Specifically, it establishes a new program to upgrade HUD-sponsored low-income housing (for elderly, disabled, and Section 8) to increase energy efficiency, including new insulation, windows, and frames.

Expanding Housing Assistance—This provision increases support for several critical housing programs. It includes $2 Billion for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program to help communities purchase and rehabilitate foreclosed, vacant properties.

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More Help for Homeowners in the Future

Another thing to keep an eye on in the coming weeks is President Obama’s plan to help struggling borrowers before they are faced with a default on their mortgage.

According to reports, the Obama administration is discussing plans to help borrowers who are struggling to stay afloat, but who have not yet fallen behind on their payments. At this point, details are scarce; however, reports indicate that President Obama is looking to spend approximately $50 Billion to directly help homeowners before they face foreclosure and financial disaster.

While this is good news for individual homeowners, it will likely be good for the housing industry as a whole. That’s because, assisting struggling borrowers before they default should help stop the wave of foreclosures, which are estimated to top two million this year. That, in turn, will help stabilize home prices.

 

Tax Credit? Will it Stimulate the Economy or is it a Temporary Fix?

The new version of the Tax Credit has been released and is expected to be signed into law as soon as today. This tax credit will give first time home-buyers up to $8,000 as  credit when they file their taxes. The newest version does not require the credit to be repaid. The first time home-buyer would have to purchase the home prior to December 1st of 2009.  If the buyer sells the home within the first three years they would be required to repay it.

Here are the  list of my concerns:

1) The goal is too give a credit to those who get off the fence and jump into a hurting housing market.  So, we put a time limit on the consumer forcing them to make the largest financial decision some may make before they are truly ready so that they can get free money?

2) The credit is designed to give the consumer money they will turnaround and spend in the struggling retail industry to help Stimulate the Economy.  Like a well designed gift card consumers rarely spend only the amount they are given. So what account pays the overage. A credit card? 0% interest for a year at Home Depot?

3) Once the time-line is over and the government sees that the overall effect was very little and all they did was help to add debt to a debt driven society what will they do extend the time-line. There are several homeowners who will make it in the time that is allotted for the tax credit but there will be several who won’t. Many of those that make it in time will have rushed just for the free money and may put themselves at financial risk (have it now society). Then we will extend the time-line for those that just did not make it so we can capture the others that felt like they missed their opportunity restarting the cycle.

4) If the debt does not have to be repaid then where is the money coming from and who is going to pay for it? There is no telling on this. The money will come from somewhere and the repayment is spending this money in the retail market and acquiring more debt hoping to stabilize companies that are on the verge of bankruptcy. The question is once the money is spent and we return to reality where many are struggling to make it spending will decrease and the companies will return quickly to where they were.

Overall, I like that there are plans out there to help jump-start our economy. As a Mortgage Broker I am excited that my home-buyers may have funds to reestablish reserves post purchase. If that is where they place the funds and they do not spend them in the retail market then the plan is a failure? If they save the funds then we gave them free money to sit on. This would not accomplish the goal but would be wise for the buyer. The Tax Credit reminds me of a heart being restarted by a defibrillator. The heart is jump-started back into action but only temporarily if the actual problem is not found and treated. The Stimulus Bill is a temporary fix or a delay while we dig for a cure. If the liver is the problem we can jump-start the heart all we want but in the end when the liver fails our body shuts down. In the end we are providing a stimulus package that is leading to impulse purchase, rush decisions and poor fiscal responsibility. Sound Familiar. Isn’t that what got us where we are at?

Solution: Come back for the next blog entry on the solution. Why teaching fiscal responsibility is a bad thing for the economy!