Homebuyer Tax Credit Extension for Contracted Homebuyers Only

A reminder from Realty Times about the Homebuyer Tax Credit -

The extension on filing for the homebuyer tax credit is available only to those who had already contracted to buy a home by the end of April.

Closings must occur no later than September 30, 2010.

The extension applies only to homebuyers who had sales contracts in place as of April 30, 2010, but have not yet closed.

 Military personnel still have until April 30, 2011 to contract a home sale and June 30, 2011 to close the deal. Those dates for the military are unchanged by the new legislation.

 Read the full article - Realty Times - Homebuyer Tax Credit Extension for Contracted Homebuyers Only

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Title Inc.

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 201-656-4506

E-mail vti@vested.com - www.vested.com

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If you want to sell your home, you better price it right

The Asbury Park Press carries an AP story of interest to home sellers.
Advice for home sellers - Pricing homes right in a housing slump

“The good news for sellers: Your house will sell. The bad? Only if the price is just right.”

That translates into taking a hard look at your listing price if you are serious about selling.

“The recently expired tax credits for homebuyers gave sellers a boost. Home sales surged and values edged up. The worst appeared to be behind us. But since the deadline passed at the end of April, housing has faltered. Job insecurity, tight credit and consumer confidence are undermining a sustained recovery, despite the lowest mortgage rates in decades.”

“Here's the disconnect facing sellers: The vast majority of sellers believe their homes are worth more than what their real estate agent recommends, according to HomeGain.com. At the same time, most buyers think for-sale homes are overpriced.”

And it doesn’t look things will change for a while. What do you think?

Read the full article.

For your next title order or
if you have questions about what you see here, contact
Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.
Vested Title Inc.
165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101 Fairfield, NJ 07004
Tel 201-656-9220 - Fax 201-656-4506
E-mail vti@vested.com - www.vested.com

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Housing Woes Bring New Cry: Let Market Fall

Please note our new address - see the end of this posting for new information.

Bad news in the forecast for homeowners on Labor Day?  The New York Times prints, "Housing Woes Bring New Cry: Let Market Fall."

The unexpectedly deep plunge in home sales this summer is likely to force the Obama administration to choose between future homeowners and current ones, a predicament officials had been eager to avoid.

The Obama administration has been trying to pull a rabbit out of the hat when it comes to the falling value of American homes and poor market demand.

Over the last 18 months, the administration has rolled out just about every program it could think of to prop up the ailing housing market, using tax credits, mortgage modification programs, low interest rates, government-backed loans and other assistance intended to keep values up and delinquent borrowers out of foreclosure. The goal was to stabilize the market until a resurgent economy created new households that demanded places to live.

As mentioned elsewhere in Vested Title News, with the exception of the tax credits gimmick, these programs have not been successful.  Maybe drastic action is in order.

Some economists and analysts are now urging a dose of shock therapy that would greatly shift the benefits to future homeowners: Let the housing market crash.


When prices are lower, these experts argue, buyers will pour in, creating the elusive stability the government has spent billions upon billions trying to achieve.

 There is a lot at play here; financially and emotionally.  We've complained before about "strategic defaults" where a homeowner walks away from his home because its market value has fallen below the value of the mortgage.  And we've mentioned that every seller thinks her home is worth a million dollars when it's listed for sale.

Maybe the "shock therapy" is what is needed.

Read the full column, and let us know what you think.

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Title Inc.

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 201-656-9220 - Fax 201-656-4506

E-mail vti@vested.com - www.vested.com

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Tax Credit Creates "First Time Fraudsters" - WSJ

When it comes to greed, the real estate market appears to be the breeding ground for schemes. The so-called sub-prime mortgage debacle leads to the recession. To help pick-up the real estate market, the government (read "we taxpayers") provide an incentive in the form of a tax credit for first time homebuyers.

Just as the mortgage schemers found the weaknesses in the mortgage financing system, so too have others found weaknesses in the tax credit.

The WSJ writes,

It's hard not to laugh when viewing the results of the federal first-time home-buyer tax credit. The credit, worth up to $8,000 for the purchase of a home, has only been available since April of last year. Yet news of the latest taxpayer-funded mortgage scam has traveled fast. The Treasury's inspector general for tax administration, J. Russell George, recently told Congress that at least 19,000 filers hadn't purchased a home when they claimed the credit. For another 74,000 filers, claiming a total of $500 million in credits, evidence suggests that they weren't first-time buyers.

As a "refundable" tax credit, it guarantees the claimants will get cash back even if they paid no taxes. A lack of documentation requirements also makes this program a slow pitch in the middle of the strike zone for scammers. The Internal Revenue Service and the Justice Department are pursuing more than 100 criminal investi-gations related to the credit, and the IRS is reportedly trying to audit almost every-one who claims it this year.

And so it goes in America. Read the full column, First Time Fraudsters.

For your next title order
or if you have questions about what you see here,

contact Stephen M. Flatow
Vested Title Inc.
648 Newark Avenue, P.O. Box 6453, Jersey City, NJ 07306
Tel 201-656-9220 - Fax 201-656-4506
E-mail vti@vested.com - www.vested.com

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First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit - Get yours while you can

From RealtyTimes.Com:

Home Buyer Tax Credit Ends Sooner Than You Might Think
by Broderick Perkins

You have less time than you think to cash in on the federal home buyer tax credit.

Unless legislation extends the deal, you'll have to close escrow by Nov. 30 to take advantage of the maximum $8,000 tax credit available for first time home buyers.

The federal tax credit for 2009 is only for first-time home buyers -- people who've had no ownership interest in a home in the three years prior to the purchase. Single and head of household tax payers can earn no more than $75,000. There's a $150,000 ceiling for married couples filing a joint return.

A tax credit is a big deal because, unlike a tax deduction which reduces your taxable income, a tax credit reduces the taxes you owe, dollar-for-dollar.

This home buyer tax credit can also net you a rebate if the credit is more than the taxes you owe. The rebate is the difference. If you owe no taxes, your rebate can be a maximum $8,000.

The Internal Revenue Service has posted Questions and Answers

Apply for your Home Buyer Credit by using IRS Form 5405

For your next title order
or if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow
Vested Title Inc.
648 Newark Avenue, P.O. Box 6453, Jersey City, NJ 07306
Tel 201-656-9220 - Fax 201-656-4506
E-mail vti@vested.com - www.vested.com

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Buying a First Home? New tax break in store for you

Kay Bell writes in Bankrate.com about one part of the Housing and Tax Assistance Act of 2008,

Buying your first home is enough of a challenge in good times. In today's economy, it's almost impossible for some people. So in 2008, federal lawmakers enacted tax legislation they hoped would make the process a bit more affordable. Then in February, the home buying tax break was enhanced.

Unfortunately, the back-to-back changes in the first-time homebuyer credit also created a lot of confusion.

As with many government programs, you have to dive beneath the surface to understand a program and this one is no exception because it is a loan, not a true tax credit.

Typically, tax credits

"allow you to reduce your tax bill dollar for dollar. If you owe the IRS $1,000 and qualify for a $500 credit, your tax bill is halved. The best credits are refundable, meaning that you get the tax break's full value even if you owe no tax. If you owe the IRS $250 and the $500 credit you claim is refundable, you get to wipe out your tax bill and then get the $250 excess credit back as a refund check from Uncle Sam."

"But the original credit for first-time homebuyers, while refundable, must be paid back in equal installments over 15 years of subsequent tax filings. That means homeowners who qualify for the full credit would face a $500-a-year payback, starting with their 2010 return."

So in essence, the 2008-version credit is simply an interest-free loan.

There are other criteria that must be addressed before the program will benefit you. For a full copy of the article go to "First home, new tax break."

Vested Title Inc.
648 Newark Avenue, P.O. Box 6453, Jersey City, NJ 07306
Tel 201-656-9220 - Fax 201-656-4506
E-mail vti@vested.com - www.vested.com

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