first time home buyer

Lakeland Florida Real Estate – First Time Home Buyers Tax Credit Extended and Expanded

It is signed, sealed and delivered – it is law! The First Time Home Buyers Tax Credit is extended and now current home owners wish to purchase a new Lakeland real estate may be elgible to receive a tax credit up to $6,500.

• First Time Homebuyers must be under contract no later than April 30, 2010 and close by June 30, 2010.
• Current eligible home owners buying a new primary residence may take advantage of this tax credit immediately

The chart below from the National Association of Realtors is an outline of the updated and expanded tax credit:

 

I’m sure you have some additional questions about the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit and Existing Homeowner Tax Credit that I would like to share with you in this FAQ outline from the National Association of Realtors.

The April 30, 2010 deadline may look to you far away now, but with stricter lending guidelines and short sales flooding our Lakeland Real Estate market you don’t want to wait for this deadline to approach. There are still plenty of Lakeland homes for sale and the prices have been decreasing in recent years.  Homes that are priced right will not stay on the market for a long time.

Check out what Lakeland Real Estate has in store for you with the click of the mouse right here below:

first time home buyer

Lakeland Real Estate – First-time Homebuyers…Time is running out!

Only 7 Months left…..Time is running Out for Lakeland, Florida First-time Homebuyers to receive $8000 tax credit.

Folks, you may think “oh, I’ve got plenty of time”…. 7 months is not too far off, it will be here before you know it. By now, I’m sure, everyone knows about the $8000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers – just in case you might have missed this important news. Here is a little recap to qualify, home buyers must not have owned a home for the past three years and have a modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) that is less than $95,000 for single filers and $170,000 for a joint tax return.

Thinking that a sales contract that is signed, sealed and delivered by November 30^th is sufficient, you may be surprised to know that it is not good enough to get the $8000 tax credit – you must close by November 30, 2009 to receive this credit.

If you are still sitting over the fence for the prices to drop and wait until a few weeks before the November 30^th deadline to buy your Lakeland home, you may encounter problems with title companies and other parties involved in the transaction.  Generally, a transaction from contract to close may only take a few weeks for a resale on an existing home. For a new construction the time frame from start to finish could take up to six month depending on floor plan, size, and location.

I suspect there will be a blitz of first-time Lakeland home buyers who are waiting until the last minute and that is when title companies, home inspectors, appraisers, not to mention lenders and underwriters could get swamped with files during November – don’t wait until it’s too late!

The IRS will only allow actual closing dates and does not allow “planned closing date”.

Interested in a home here in Lakeland, Florida? Begin your Lakeland home search today! Click on the “Search for Homes” icon below to see what Lakeland real estate options are in store for you!

first time home buyer

Setting Priorities to Buy a Lakeland Florida Home

Now that you’ve done your homework, you’ve got your financing in order and have been pre-approved for a mortgage loan. Now, let’s have some fun finding a new home for you.

Do you have your priorities set to buy a home in Lakeland? Home buying is a very emotional time, especially if it’s your first time. Emotions can make you blind and can be a barrier in your home search, so don’t let emotions cloud your judgment. Just because the home you are considering has a gorgeous bathroom, however you forget that the living room is too small for the size of your family.  Never judge a house by how the current home owner has decorated, since the decoration will most likely vanish when the seller leaves. You would want to make a list of your wants and needs? Needs are those things that you can’t live without and should be very basic and wants are the things you would like to have but you can do without.

Reflect on the basics:

• Number and size of the rooms – Is your family growing, do your furniture fit in the bedrooms?
• Garage size -Depending on how many cars you own and since we don’t have basement in Florida, is the garage large enough for additional storage?
• One-story or two-story layout – Bedrooms located all on the same floor.  Master suite or a laundry room on the first floor or second floor?  Split level floor plan where the Master Bedroom is located on the opposite end of the other bedrooms.
• What about the yard? Is the yard large enough for your children or pets to play? Does privacy play an important role in choosing a home? Do you have time or the aspiration to maintain the lawn and flowers?
• Location, Location, Location… – Checking out the neighborhood on all sides of the property and the vicinity for traffic, busy street, noise, potential danger to children is valuable to your home purchase.

The checklist can be endless and it really would be impossible to provide such a list. It is so important to determine what you like and dislike about your current living condition.  While it is important to consider the aesthetics of a property, consider that much of what you see can be changed.

Reality check for first-time home buyers

Real estate agents have a reason for the term “starter home.”  First-time home buyers rarely have the funds or fortune to get everything they want in their first home.  You want to make sure that your basic needs are covered and later add the wants when the funds are available. With home prices dropping like hot cakes and foreclosed homes on the rise, you also want to be cautious when you take on a home that requires repairs upfront – can you handle more work than what you bargained for?

Setting your priorities first before buying a home is the key to have a smooth home purchase.

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A Crucial Home Buying Tip – Setting Priorities to Buy a Home

Petra Norris

CDV TransAtlantic, Inc.

Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker

P.O. Box 92050 – Lakeland, FL 33804-2050

Telephone (863) 618-6919