Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008

President Bush just signed the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 on July 23rd.  This is exciting news for consumers and Realtors!  The bill will provide some much needed help to help stimulate the housing market.  Some of the interesting provisions includes a homebuyer tax credit of up to $7500 that would be available for any qualified purchase between April 8, 2008 and June 30, 2008.  The credit will be repayable over 15 years.  The decision of who is qualified is up to the banks, which will have to take a loss.  Banks are usually willing to take the loss because actually foreclosing on a house can be costly.  A person qualifies if they spent more than 31 percent of their monthly incomes on their mortgages as of March 1, 2008.  The loan must have originated no later than January 1, 2008.  Keep in mind that if you sell your home within 5 years of refinancing, you have to share the profit with the government 50/50.  The bill also offers some much needed help to those who were victims of the subprime loans by offering a refinance program.  Effective October 1, 2008, Lender’s will be able to write down qualified mortgages to 85% of the current appraised value and borrowers will get a new FHA 30 year fixed mortgage at 90% of the appraised value.  Hopefully this bill will help!

Looking for a new home?  Go to www.buytampafl.com for a list of all available homes in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area.

Tags: Housing, Real estate market, Refinance