Stacey McCarthy, Realtor, eAgent
Keller Williams Real Estate
584 Middletown Blvd., A-50
Langhorne, PA 19047
215-757-6100 ext 173
Great news tonight!
For anyone unable to sell their home because of Flood Insurance:
Updated 6/29/2010
National Flood Insurance Program:
It passed the House of Representatives but the Senate must still pass the bill. The consideration of H.R. 5569 (National Flood Insurance Program Extension Act of 2010) will be this week. Take action: http://takeaction.realtoractioncenter.com/campaign/nhip_rhs_two.
Tax Credit Closing Deadline:
An extension HAS NOT been passed. NAR is pursuing all possible options with senior congressional staff to determine what other legislation may be available. Each of the possible options face difficult obstacles... the Senate did not have any votes as of Friday. Proceed as if the June 30, 2010 date is binding.
Women home buyers are a force
The National Association of Realtors reports that between 1980 and 2000, the number of households headed by unmarried women increased by almost 10 million. Along with forming households, women are buying houses. One in five homes purchased in 2004 were purchased by single women, compared to only one in ten being purchased by single men. More women (15.5 million) than men (11.8 million) lived alone and among these 56% of the women owned their home compared to 47% of the men.
You go girls!
There are activities for kids in Philly during spring break. Here's a
list of some stuff to do just outside of Philly with your younger
kids. Maybe you'll see my son and me at a few of these:
Statistics on Women and Homeownership
Interestingly, single female buyers accounted for nearly twice as large a share as single male buyers for both first-time buyers (24 and 12 percent) and repeat buyers (17 and 9 percent).Twenty percent of recent home buyers were single females, and 10 percent were single males.
More women (15.5 million) than men (11.8 million) lived alone. Among these, women were more likely than men to own their homes (56% vs. 47%).
About one-quarter of the nation's nearly eight million single mothers spend more than half of their incomes on housing, compared with one-tenth of households headed by single fathers.
Over the time period of 1994-2002, the number of unmarried females owning homes climbed from 13.9 million to 17.5 million.
Sources:2008 NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, (Chicago, IL: National Association of REALTORS®, 2007)
2006 NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, (Chicago, IL: National Association of REALTORS®, 2005).
2000 census delivers insights on homeownership, (Community Banker, Mar. 2002). Q
The State of the Nation's Housing: 2009, (Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University, 2009).
Did you know women could not get a mortgage on their own in 1970, even
if they had a great job? That's right. They had to get a co-signer if
they want to buy on their own. We've come a long way, baby! And now is
the best time that there has ever been since 1970 to purchase a home.
New Homebuyer Credit Form Released; Taxpayers Reminded to Attach Settlement Statement and Other Key Documents
New Homebuyer Credit - Claim It: English | Spanish
New Homebuyer Credit – Military: English
For these and other videos: YouTube/IRSVideosIR-2010-6, Jan. 15, 2010
WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today released the new form that eligible homebuyers need to claim the first-time homebuyer credit this tax season and announced processing of those tax returns will begin in mid-February. The IRS also announced new documentation requirements to deter fraud related to the first-time homebuyer credit.
The new form and instructions follow major changes in November to the homebuyer credit by the Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009. The new law extended the credit to a broader range of home purchasers and added new documentation requirements to deter fraud and ensure taxpayers properly claim the credit.
With the release of Form 5405, First-Time Homebuyer Credit and Repayment of the Credit, and the related instructions, eligible homebuyers can now start to file their 2009 tax returns. Taxpayers claiming the homebuyer credit must file a paper tax return because of the added documentation requirements.
The IRS expects to start processing 2009 tax returns claiming the homebuyer credit in mid-February after it completes the updating and testing of systems to meet the law’s new requirements. The updates allow the IRS to put in place critical systemic checks to deter fraud related to the homebuyer credit.
Some of these early taxpayers claiming the homebuyer credit may see tax refunds take an additional two to three weeks.
In addition to filling out a Form 5405, all eligible homebuyers must include with their 2009 tax returns one of the following documents in order to receive the credit:
- A copy of the settlement statement showing all parties' names and signatures, property address, sales price, and date of purchase. Normally, this is the properly executed Form HUD-1, Settlement Statement.
- For mobile home purchasers who are unable to get a settlement statement, a copy of the executed retail sales contract showing all parties' names and signatures, property address, purchase price and date of purchase.
- For a newly constructed home where a settlement statement is not available, a copy of the certificate of occupancy showing the owner’s name, property address and date of the certificate.
In addition, the new law allows a long-time resident of the same main home to claim the homebuyer credit if they purchase a new principal residence. To qualify, eligible taxpayers must show that they lived in their old homes for a five-consecutive-year period during the eight-year period ending on the purchase date of the new home. The IRS has stepped up compliance checks involving the homebuyer credit, and it encouraged homebuyers claiming this part of the credit to avoid refund delays by attaching documentation covering the five-consecutive-year period:
- Form 1098, Mortgage Interest Statement, or substitute mortgage interest statements,
- Property tax records or
- Homeowner’s insurance records.
The IRS also reminded homebuyers that the new documentation requirements mean that taxpayers claiming the credit cannot file electronically and must file paper returns. Taxpayers can still use IRS Free File to prepare their returns, but the returns must be printed out and sent to the IRS, along with all required documentation.
Normally, it takes about four to eight weeks to get a refund claimed on a complete and accurate paper return where all required documents are attached. For those homebuyers filing early, the IRS expects the first refunds based on the homebuyer credit will be issued toward the end of March.
The IRS encourages taxpayers to use direct deposit to speed their refund. In addition, taxpayers can use Where's My Refund? on IRS.gov to track the status of their refund.
More details on claiming the credit can be found in the instructions to Form 5405, as well as on the First-Time Homebuyer Credit page on IRS.gov.
Page Last Reviewed or Updated: January 15, 2010
News
Economics, Industry NewsWomen continue to believe in value of homeownership
Wednesday, December 23, 2009By Kim ShindleStricter down payment requirements have made it more difficult for single women to buy homes in the last couple of years, according to Tara-Nicholle Nelson, Esq.
Nelson, a real estate broker who created the Women’s Real Estate & Lifestyle Design Advisor certification, said, “In the years leading up to the crisis, 40 percent of single women homebuyers put less than five percent down on their homes. Women were almost 30 percent overrepresented as subprime mortgage holders and many were given interest rates higher than prime and higher mortgage limits than they could legitimately have qualified for.
“There’s no hard data but I think that retrospective analyses of the housing crisis will reveal that women were disproportionately affected by the foreclosures because they generally put little down on their homes and more frequently were given foreclosure-prone subprime mortgages,” she added.
Nelson believes despite these circumstances, women continue to see the value of homeownership. “My experience has been that women have held more tightly to the belief in the wealth-building potential of real estate and many have become more interested in buying than ever before, perceiving the potential for good deals,” she said.
REALTORS® who understand how women look at buying a home can become valuable resources to these homebuyers, Nelson said.
While women can be more skeptical of real estate and mortgage professionals, they are looking for a REALTOR® to be a lifestyle design advisor. They want the REALTOR® to coach them through the complex sequence of decisions and to navigate today’s market, Nelson added.
“Their value system is different when it comes to real estate,” she continued. “They look at the house and its features to see how those features will impact every person in their lives.”
“REALTORS® who can help women consumers make sense of all this information and help them make better decisions will do well with this demographic,” Nelson added.
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About Kim:
Kim Shindle is the Communications Specialist at the Pennsylvania Association of REALTORS®.
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Tags: foreclosures, subprime, women
This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009 at 6:00 am and is filed under Economics, Industry News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
