Doing the Charleston!

Most of you now know about the severe devastation caused by the earthquakes in Haiti. The Haitian people are suffering terribly, and they need help immediately. The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) is helping answer the calls for help in two key ways.

First, NAR is contributing $550,000 to charities that will help bring much-needed supplies and care to the people of Haiti. Included in that sum is $100,000 donated by our REALTOR Benefits® Program partner, Lowe’s®, which we have matched at $100,000. From that we will donate $50,000 to The Harvest of Haiti, founded by REALTOR® Patrick Moore, a 2007 Good Neighbor Award winner. Patrick has done great work for several years in Haiti supporting orphans, delivering clean water and providing medical care for more than 3,500 people a year.

We are also contributing $500,000 to the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, which is supporting earthquake recovery efforts with immediate relief and long-term support to earthquake survivors.

Second, NAR is accepting donations from REALTORS® through the REALTORS® Relief Foundation. We have earned a reputation for our compassionate work on behalf of others – both here in the United States and around the world – and continue in these efforts on many levels.

Let us take the following words to heart. “An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.” - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Please demonstrate your compassion by donating today through the organization of your choice, and bring hope to people who so desperately need it.

Many of you may know this - the First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit program was extended to allow Buyers who contract on a house by April 30, 2010, and close by June 30, 2010, to still receive the $8000 tax credit. What you may NOT know is that the program was also expanded to offer a tax credit to home buyers that are NOT first time home buyers. That means a lot more people can get a piece of this pie!

You could qualify for a tax credit of up to $6,500, if you previously owned a home and bought another after Nov. 6, 2009, or if you currently own a home and want to buy another before April 30, 2010. Also, the house purchased does NOT have to cost more than the house you sell. (This will be good news to those of you who are downsizing.)

The basic rules are for the $6500 tax credit are:

1. You must have lived in your home as a primary residence for at least 5 of the last 8 years

2. The home sales price can’t exceed $800,000.

3. You can't purchase the home from a parent, spouse, or child; or an entity in which they're a majority owner (IE: If the home’s title is in the name of a family business, you can’t buy it from the business.)

4. You can't acquire the home by gift or inheritance

The following rules apply for both first time homebuyers and other home buyers:

¨    You cannot have an adjusted gross income over $250,000 if you file a joint tax return, or over $125,000 if you are a single filer.

¨    You must be 18 years or older. (For a married couple, only one spouse must meet this age requirement.)

IMPORTANT NOTE:  Homebuyers who claim the credit on their 2009 tax return will not be able to file electronically, but instead will need to file a paper return. For homes purchased in 2009 there is an option to take the credit on an original or amended 2008 tax return.

Remember this is a true tax credit - it reduces a taxpayer's tax bill, or increases his or her refund, dollar for dollar, AND, it will be paid out to eligible taxpayers, even if they owe no tax or the credit is more than the tax owed.

If you would like to buy a house, this is absolutely one of the best times I’ve seen in my lifetime, and I’ve been doing this for 30 years.!  

You can benefit from tax credits, low interest rates, and Buyer’s market prices on homes. If there is any legitimate way you can find a way to buy a home - as the well known slogan says – just do it;  and hurry, as of Sat., 1/30/2010, you only have 90 days and counting down to get a house under contract.

Let me know if I can help you do it.

Mortgage rates dropped this morning (Thurs. 1/15/10) on weaker-than-expected Retail Sales data from December. Lower rates means more bang for your home-buying buck.

Excluding motor vehicles and parts, December's "ex-auto" sales receipts were down roughly $500 million from November. Analysts had expected receipts to grow.

The correlation between Retail Sales and home affordability isn't obvious, but it's definitely logical. Retail Sales is directly related to consumer spending and consumer spending accounts for the majority of the U.S. economy. When consumer spending slows, the economy often does, too. It leads investors to seek out "safe" investments.

It's the reason why stock markets often drop on weak economic data -- stocks are among the riskiest investment classes available. Conversely, the best place to find safety is in the market of government-backed bonds.  This world includes products like U.S. Treasuries and many of the mortgage-backed bonds that help set mortgage rates.  Weak economic data puts mortgage bonds in demand.

Mortgage interest rate shoppers will be happy;  more demand for mortgage bonds causes mortgage rates to fall.  Mortgage rates are lower today because Wall Street is shedding some risk.

December's Retail Sales report closes out a year of generally-weak data.  2009 marks just the second time that Retail Sales fell year-over-year since the government started tracking it 40 years ago.  The other year was 2008.

Home buyers around the country, this is good news - so go buy that house you want!