| | | ||||
|
| |||||
| | |||||
| In This Issue · Tax Credit for Buyers · HUD Homes - $100 Down · Broker Blog · DocuSign –Paperless Tool · SureClose Update · Area of Expertise · Affidavit of Disclosure Information on the in’s and out’s of the tax credit for first-time homebuyers. A list of HUD homes available for purchase by city. Updated Buyer Advisory Renters’ have a right to SPDS. Also, Buyer Advisory now available in mobile format for use on your phone. Read Our Online Broker Blog Continuing Education Requirements Enter your CE hours as you take them on the ADRE website 480.722.9800 Office 480.802.1599 Broker Hotline brokerreview@westusa.com | Tax Credit for First Time Homebuyers
· How much is the credit? The tax credit is 10% of the purchase price of the property not to exceed $7500 for a single person or a married couple filing jointly. · Which purchases qualify as “first-time”? A purchase of home as a primary residence between April 8, 2008 and July 1, 2009 qualify if the taxpayer has not owned a home in the three years prior to the purchase. · When would the purchase need to occur? With the current program, eligible purchases need to occur between April 8, 2008 and July 1, 2009. It is very possible that the program will be extended and perhaps even increase to a maximum of $15,000. · When does the tax credit occur? If the purchase occurred in 2008, the buyers need to take the credit on their 2008 taxes. If the purchase occurred in 2009, buyers can choose to take the credit on 2008 or 2009 taxes. · How does the homebuyer apply for the credit? They need to file an IRS Form 5405 with their federal tax return. · Are there income limits? Yes. The credit is reduced or eliminated for buyers with higher incomes. Have your buyer look into this on the IRS website in the link in the left margin of this newsletter. · When must the credit be repaid? The homebuyer must start repaying the credit two years after the credit and then over the next 15 years. For example, if a homebuyer takes the $75,000 credit on their 2008 taxes, they must start repaying the credit on their 2010 taxes by paying 1/15th of the $7500 each year -- $500 per year, 2010 through 2024. If the home is sold or if the owner stops using the home as a primary residence, the remaining tax credit must be repaid that year. The tax credit is a great reason to talk to your entire database. Don’t waste time trying to discern which of your contacts will benefit from this information. Blast it out to everyone you know because they will all have someone to talk to about it. $100 Down. Really. Looking for a way to work with a buyer who doesn’t have the 3.5% FHA minimum down payment? There is a way! If a buyer purchases a HUD home as an owner occupant with the intention of using the home as their primary residence for at least one year, and they use FHA financing, the down payment requirement is only $100. HUD homes are properties owned by HUD that are REO’s formerly secured with FHA financing. All Arizona HUD homes can be found on one website which is listed in the left margin of this newsletter, but they are also listed in MLS. Selling HUD homes is a different process with different forms than a standard real estate transaction. One advantage of selling HUD homes is that you can choose your own commission up to 5%. HUD homes are not on MLS lockboxes. All HUD homes are keyed the same. Be prepared and get yourself a copy of the master key before you end up at one with buyers. You can borrow my key and run over to Lowe’s to make a copy. And as a reminder, guidelines for FHA mortgages changed at the beginning of the year. The maximum loan amount is now $271,000, and the minimum down payment was raised to 3.5% of purchase price. Remember to get your FHA buyers to sign the “For Your Protection Get a Home Inspection” form (A140 in A-Forms). Visit Our Broker Blog for Answers Don’t forget our online Broker Bulletin for West USA Revelation agents. We will post information on specific real estate and contract topics to assist you with your transactions. Coming soon will be a list of helpful contract clauses for various situations. If you look today, you will find information on topics ranging from Using Lease Option Contracts to Mortgage Fraud as well as Short Sales. Additionally, I post the monthly Broker Newsletters there for you to refer back to. DocuSign – Another Step Towards Paperless Another tool available to you to allow you to do more business in less time is DocuSign. This is a fee service available to you through Zipforms which allows you to get electronic signatures on your listing contracts and purchase contracts. There is a 30 day trial available, but the fee is monthly after that. The service works by installing a special print driver on your computer or any computer on which you access DocuSign. After you write a contract in Zipforms or receive an emailed document or scan a document, you “print” the document using the DocuSign driver, tag the document where you need each signer to sign, initial, or date, and send the document to the parties. Once the parties have completed the on-line signing, you are notified that the document is complete, and you can send it to the other agent and upload it to the office SureClose file. One disclaimer regarding electronic signatures, although they are valid and useful in almost all situations, there are some banks and governmental agencies that still require actual signatures. SureClose
Working Outside Your Area of Expertise Many agents appreciate the opportunity to investigate another branch of real estate sales other than our typical residential resale transactions; however, it may be appropriate to make certain disclosures to the parties we represent in transactions that are outside our area of expertise. ADRE Commissioner’s Rules require that agents obtain written permission from the parties represented prior to working outside their area of expertise. Although it can be interesting and exciting to delve into the ins and outs of a commercial sales transaction, it is not possible for you to offer your client the same representation as an agent who specializes in commercial real estate. Additionally, it can be alluring to calculate the commission that might be earned on a larger commercial or land deal, but if you don’t have the experience and knowledge required to keep the deal together, the transaction will be a distraction from your income earning potential. Another option to working outside your area of expertise would be referring those transactions to another agent who specializes in that area. For example, if you specialize in selling suburban residential real estate, and you meet a seller with a piece of land in Maricopa, consider finding another agent in our company that has the experience necessary to represent the seller and request a referral fee for that transaction. Providing an Affidavit of Disclosure Whether you are representing the buyer or the seller, there are a few extra precautions you must take when you sell property in an unincorporated area. In most of our transactions, buyers have some protection in the fact that ADRE requires a Public Report to be issued and approved on subdivided land. n A seller of five or fewer parcels of land in an unincorporated area of a county, other than subdivided land, is required to furnish a written Affidavit of Disclosure to the buyer prior to seven days before the transfer of the property. This requirement is in effect for both vacant and improved land. n If you represent a seller in the transfer of non-subdivided land, you must require the seller to provide the Affidavit of Disclosure. Per the ADRE, no release or waiver of the buyer’s right to the Affidavit of Disclosure shall be valid or binding; therefore, there is no way around it. Your REO and short sale listings are not exempt! n In the even that the buyer does not acknowledge receipt of the affidavit, the buyer has the right to rescind the sales transaction for a period of five days after the receipt of the Affidavit of Disclosure. | ||||
| | |
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
February Newsletter
Posts
