The Branch Team Blog

Special Rules for Members of the Military, the Foreign Service and the Intelligence Community

Congress has acknowledged the unique circumstances affecting members of the military, the foreign service and the intelligence community by making the exceptions that apply to both the $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers and the $6,500 tax credit for repeat home buyers.

Click here for all the details.

Source: www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com

TREC Warns Public of Real Estate Brokerage Scams in Dallas/Fort Worth Area

The TREC Standards and Enforcement Services Division (TREC) has received complaints against a group of individuals and companies that have been doing business in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. The individuals and companies named in the complaints represent themselves as real estate agents and real estate brokerage companies but do not hold Texas real estate licenses. The public should be aware, owners of real property, tenants, buyers, and investors claim to have lost large sums of money related to the group's real estate schemes.

Click here to read the entire press release.

Source: Texas Real Estate Commission

Fourth Quarter Home Sales Surge 13.9%

Strong gains in existing-home sales were the predominant pattern in most states during the fourth quarter, with many more metro areas seeing prices rise from a year earlier, according to the latest survey by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION of REALTORS®.

Sales increased from the third quarter in 48 states and the District of Columbia; 32 states even saw double-digit gains.

Click here to read the entire story.

Source: National Association of REALTORs®

Homebuyer Tax Credit: No E-File and Four-Month Delays

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Good news homebuyers: You can file for your $8,000 first-time buyer tax credit again.

Bad news: You still can't e-file your taxes if you want the cash. And there are long delays.

On Thursday, CNNMoney revealed that buyers who purchased their properties after Nov. 6 were unable to claim the refund because the Internal Revenue Service had yet to release a new form and instructions. But on Friday, the IRS finally posted the new form 5405.

The two-month delay was frustrating to Florida resident Charles Teschke. "We are not broke or anything, but nevertheless we were still counting on getting the tax refund to help pay for the appliances and stuff we needed for our new home," he said. "The IRS told me they estimate it will take four months for me to get my refund!"

Click here to read the entire story.

Source: CNN Money

Dallas-Fort Worth Home Foreclosure Filings Ease Slightly Over Last Year

Home foreclosure filings have eased slightly in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Lenders posted 4,695 homes for forced sale next month ? 4 percent less than a year ago. And foreclosure filings in the four-county area were 20 percent lower than the almost 6,000 postings recorded last month, according to Foreclosure Listing Service.

?This is a very good sign that we could be leveling off,? George Roddy, CEO of the Addison-based foreclosure tracking firm said Thursday. ?But you can?t get too excited because any decline from last month looks good.

?And one month does not make a trend,? he said. ?We will just have to wait to see what happens next month.?

Still, it was the first time monthly foreclosure filings in the D-FW area were down on a year-to-year basis since October 2007.

Click here to read the entire story.

Source: Steve Brown, The Dallas Morning News

Record Number of Foreclosures in 2009

Total foreclosures in 2009 reached 2.8 million, a 21 percent increase over 2008 and a 120 percent rise compared to 2007, according to foreclosure sales Web site RealtyTrac in a year-end report released Wednesday.

RealtyTrac also reported that fourth quarter foreclosures decreased 7 percent from the third quarter, although they were up 18 percent compared to 2008. December 2009 foreclosures were up 14 percent over December 2008.

The 10 states with the highest foreclosure rates in 2009 were: Nevada, Arizona, Florida, California, Utah, Idaho, Georgia, Michigan, Illinois, and Colorado.

California, Florida, Arizona, Illinois account for 50 percent of the foreclosures. The other 10 states with the largest numbers of foreclosures are Michigan, Nevada, Georgia, Ohio, Texas, and New Jersey.

?A massive supply of delinquent loans continues to loom over the housing market, and many of those delinquencies will end up in the foreclosure process in 2010 and beyond as lenders gradually work their way through the backlog,? says RealtyTrac CEO James Saccacio.

Source: The Associated Press (01/14/2010)

Dallas-Fort Worth home sales swing to negative territory

After two months of solid gains, North Texas home sales fell back into the negative in December - down 1 percent from a year earlier.

The best news in the monthly report on pre-owned home sales was that median prices were up 2 percent from December 2008.

Pre-owned home sales in North Texas fell below the 5,000 mark last month for the first time since February, according to figures released Thursday by the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University and the North Texas Real Estate Information System.

Click here to read the entire story

Source: Steve Brown, The Dallas Morning News

Satisfaction with Lenders Declines

Customer satisfaction with their mortgage lender has declined as the time between between application and closing has increased, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2009 study of mortgage lender satisfaction.

Overall satisfaction among mortgage customers fell to 739 on a 1,000-point scale, down 18 points from 757 in 2008. The decline appeared to be a response to tighter underwriting standards and extended turnaround times.

The study found that the average time required to approve and close a loan has increased to nearly 47 days in 2009, compared with 30 days in 2008. The increased time is a reflection of tighter scrutiny and the rising volume of applications to refinance, lenders say. Borrowers also report that requests for increased documentation have increased from 33 percent of applicants to 45 percent.

Source: J.D. Power (11/12/2009)

Obama Signs Extended Tax Credit into Law

Expected to contribute approximately $22 billion to the economy, Congress overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan measure this week extending the $8,000 home buyer tax credit to April 30, 2010.

The legislation, which is part of a larger bill that also extends unemployment benefits, was signed into law by President Obama today.

More people are now eligible to take advantage of the law, which includes a $6,500 tax credit for buyers who are current home owners and have lived in their home for five of the past eight years.

Income limits for eligible home buyers were also expanded to $125,000 for single buyers and $225,000 for couples, up from $75,000 for individuals and $150,000 for couples. Qualifying home prices are capped at $800,000.

Click here to read the NAR Home Buyer Tax Credit Brief.

Source: National Association of REALTORs®

Congress Passes Homebuyer Tax Credit

The Senate and House voted in favor of extending the first-time homebuyer tax credit. As you know, the legislation extends, through April 30, an $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit and creates a new $6,500 credit for homebuyers who have been in their current residence for the last five years or more.

The Senate unanimously voted Wednesday night (98-0). The House just passed the bill this afternoon (403-12).

President Obama is expected to sign the legislation tomorrow, Friday, November 6.

Source: National Association of REALTORs®

Senate Clears the Way for Tax Credit Extension, Expansion

After two weeks of delay, the Senate last night cleared the way to pass a seven month extension and expansion of the tax credit for homebuyers. By an 85 to 2 roll call vote, the Senate voted to cut off debate on a package of measures that includes the homebuyer credit, making it virtually certain that the legislation will reach President Obama for his signature this week.

The homebuyer tax credit, due to expire in 28 days, would be extended through April 30 of next year. First-time buyers who are in process of making a purchased would not need to worry about qualifying for the $8,000 credit if they close after the November 30 deadline.

For the first time, the legislation cleared last night makes move-up buyers as well as first-time buyers would be eligible for a credit. The $8,000 maximum first-timer credit will continue and will now available to couples with income up to $225,000, a nearly $55,000 increase above the level in existing law. A new $6,500 maximum credit would also be available to move-up homeowners who have lived in their current residence for five of the prior eight years.

Source: RE/MAX of Texas

Mandatory Sprinkler Proposal Still Alive

A proposed requirement that all newly constructed homes have sprinkler systems in order to meet most building codes survived a challenge by the National Association of Home Builders.

Members of the International Code Council, which writes the code that is recognized and adopted by almost every state, county, and city nationwide, soundly defeated the amendment supported by the home builders to delay the sprinkler implementation requirement from 2011 to 2012 and then make it an option rather than a mandate. The home builders say requiring sprinklers would add several thousand dollars to the cost of a new home.

Supporters of the sprinkler requirement considered the vote last week at the code council?s annual meeting in Baltimore to be a strong bellwether because it means that removing the sprinkler proposal from the code that is up for final approval in May would require a two-thirds majority.

Source: The Baltimore Sun, Jamie Smith Hopkins (10/31/2009)

Homebuyer Credit Gets New Life

Key lawmakers in the Senate have tentatively agreed to extend the existing $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers and also offer a new $6,500 credit for existing homeowners who have lived in their current residence for a consecutive five-year period in the past eight years.

Home buyers must be under contract by April 30, 2010, and close before July 1. House Democrats have expressed concern about the cost of the tax credit for the government, and allegations of abuse have resulted in an IRS probe of the program.

Source: Wall Street Journal, Corey Boles and John D. McKinnon (10/29/09)

Tax Credit Extension Considered in Senate

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, is supporting a four-month extension of the home buyer tax credit.

Two other proposals in the Senate would, respectively, extend the credit through June and, most generously, increase the deduction to $15,000 and open it up to all home buyers and those with higher incomes.

One or more of these proposals is likely to come up for a vote in the next week attached to a measure that would extend unemployment benefits for 20 weeks.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, Corey Boles (10/23/2009)

IRS Urges Stronger Controls on Tax Credit

If Congress decides to extend and expand the first-time home buyer credit, the Internal Revenue Service wants stronger regulation that would force anyone who claims the credit to actually prove they closed on the property.

Linda Stiff, deputy commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, told the House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee on Thursday that the IRS would support requiring anyone claiming the credit to file a copy of a settlement statement from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, known as the HUD-1 form, with their tax return.

IRS auditors testified that the agency believes it paid thousands of fraudulent tax credit claims, totaling at least $139 million since the first of the year.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, Martin Vaughan (10/22/2009)

What's a Guaranty Fee?

You may have noticed an unfamiliar fee on closing statements: The guaranty fee. It's not new-the fee's been around since 1975-but it was recently raised to $5. The fee, which is regulated by the Texas Title Guaranty Association, is used to pay claims resulting from shortages in the trust funds or escrow accounts of an insolvent title agency, certain expenses of receivers or conservators, and the expenses of Texas Department of Insurance's title examiners.

To learn more about the guaranty fee and the Texas Title Insurance Guaranty Association, please click here.

Source: Texas REALTOR® Focus

Which Cities Will See Biggest Rebound?

Which cities are likely to be the hottest post-economic downturn destinations for young, brilliant, and highly mobile workers?

The Wall Street Journal surveyed six trend-spotting experts and they chose cities based on economic diversity, lifestyle and their own personal prejudices.

Here?s the top-10 list:
1. Washington, D.C. (tie)
1. Seattle
2. New York
3. Portland, Ore.
4. Austin, Texas
5. San Jose, Calif.
6. Denver
7. Durham, N.C.
8. Dallas
9. Chicago
10. Boston

Source: The Wall Street Journal, Sue Shellenbarger (09/30/2009)

One-Third of Home Mortgage Applicants Denied

Nearly one third of people who applied for a mortgage last year were denied, the Federal Reserve reported Wednesday.

The denial rate was up 29 percent from 2006 when approvals were highest. Last year?s denial rate was twice as high for African-Americans and Hispanics as it was for whites.

FHA insured more than 50 percent of all loans to African-Americans and 45 percent to Hispanics. Nearly 17 percent of African-Americans and 15 percent of Hispanics got high-priced loans, compared to 7 percent of whites.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said lenders weren?t discriminating by race, but making decisions base on credit score and the size of the down payments.

The data, collected from nearly 8,400 lenders, is required under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975.

Source: The Associated Press, Alan Zibel (09/30/2009)

Many Experts Support Extending Tax Credit

Real estate professionals and home builders are pushing for an extension and an increase in tax incentives to encourage homebuying. Otherwise, they argue, that it is very likely that the current housing uptick will end on Dec. 1, when the tax credit does.

?The giddiness we see out there [about a recovery] is without merit," says Richard A. Smith, CEO of Realogy, which is the parent company of Century 21, ERA, Coldwell Banker, and Sotheby's International Realty.

Not everybody sees things Smith?s way. Michelle Meyer, an economist with Barclays Capital in New York, says that while the tax credit did contribute to an increase in sales, some of the improvement reflects an improving economy.

?Even if you say some of the gain is artificial, it's still true that we're seeing an increase in housing demand, and that shows fundamental strength," she says.

Mark M. Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com, ignores this chicken-or-egg argument and points to an analysis he did that suggests increasing the tax credit to $15,000 for all home owners through the end of next year would result in 675,000 additional home sales.

Source: BusinessWeek, Prashant Gopal (09/11/2009)

Dallas Home Prices Showing Gains, Fueling Optimism

The outlook for Dallas home prices was brighter in two indexes released Tuesday.

They were down 2.2 percent in June from a year earlier but rose 2.7 percent from May to June to the highest level since last September, according to the closely watched Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller Index. It was the fourth consecutive month of gains in the Dallas index price, S&P said Tuesday.

Click here to read the complete story.

Source: Steve Brown - The Dallas Morning News