Buyer Resources
Below is great information on home buying and including government programs and FHA loans. I provide free listings by email. This free service sends you homes the day they come on the market. It is a great way to learn the market and to stay on top of the best deals!
5 Government Programs You Need to Know About
The What, Who, Why, and Where of FHA Loans
5 Government Programs You Need to Know About.
 1) Good Neighbor Next Door This program is for law enforcement officers, teachers, firefighters and paramedics. You can get up to 50% off the bidding price for the home but it is going to take some homework and some luck. The home must be a HUD home and it must be in one of the revitalization areas. You can go to this website to view the HUD homes available for bid and then go to the HUD website to see if it is in one of the revitalization areas. Contact me for more information on this program.2) FHA The classic that is as popular as ever. Basically, it is a government insured loan that offers a low down payment and an excellent interest rate. It will require a good job history, a decent FICO score, and manageable debt-to-income ratios. Right now, you can get a FHA loan for only 3% down in most cases. Most conventional loans are requiring 10% down so you can see why FHA is so attractive. At least 50% of the loans I am seeing these days are FHA loans. 3) $8,000 Tax Credit Part of the new massive stimulus plan. Minimum qualifications for this program: 1) You must be a first time home buyer 2) Income needs to be less than $75,000 for the individual and $150,000 for married couples, and 3) You have to purchase between Jan 1st 09' and Nov 30th 09'. There are other qualification as well so check with your tax advisor. The tax form can be downloaded here. The great thing about this tax credit is it's refundable. So if you were normally expecting a $1000 refund and were eligible for this tax credit, you would get a $9000 refund! This refund, low home prices, and low interest rates make 2009 a great opportunity for first time homebuyers. 4) $6,000 Down Payment Assistance for New Homes This is a Utah only program. Minimum qualifications for this program: 1) You do not need to be a first time homebuyer 2) Income needs to be less than $75,000 for the individual and $150,000 for married couples, and 3) Only applies to 30 yr fixed loans. There is $10 million available for this program and it is on a first-come-first-serve basis. Roughly 1600 homebuyers will benefit from this program. 5) Obama's Loan Modification Program. If you are having difficulty making mortgage payments and can prove that you are experiencing hardship, then you may qualify for this program. This program offers incentives to lenders to modify the loans so borrowers only need to pay 31% of their monthly income. The details of this plan are still being hashed out. There have been reports of scammers in the loan modification business so make sure you talk with a HUD approved loan modification counselor. This is the first step to determining if you qualify for this program. |
The Utah Safety Council provides some very helpful information on their website for anyone who is thinking of buying a home and is concerned about radon. Radon is a gas released from uranium that is most often found in the soil and seeps into the home. The radon gas can get trapped in the basement of the home and can be dangerous for those who live there. If you are thinking of buying a home, you may want to do a Radon test when you do your regular inspection.
The following chart is taken from the Utah Safety Council’s website and it provides information about each zip in Salt Lake and the result of short term tests. A short term test is one that takes less than 90 days to complete. Anything over 4pCi/L is considered unhealthy. For more information please visit the Utah Safety Council’s website and the EPA’s website .
Salt Lake County
|
Zip |
< 4 pCi/L |
4-10 pCi/L |
10-20 pCi/L |
> 20 pCi/L |
Maximum |
Average |
Total Tests |
|
84006 |
2 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
28.9 |
10.5 |
9 |
|
84020 |
117 |
27 |
2 |
1 |
20.7 |
2.8 |
147 |
|
84044 |
27 |
12 |
0 |
0 |
8.7 |
2.8 |
39 |
|
84047 |
60 |
20 |
2 |
0 |
12.9 |
3.4 |
82 |
|
84065 |
45 |
41 |
12 |
3 |
34.4 |
6.1 |
101 |
|
84070 |
111 |
20 |
3 |
0 |
10.6 |
2.5 |
134 |
|
84084 |
96 |
39 |
2 |
3 |
40.0 |
3.5 |
140 |
|
84088 |
66 |
50 |
9 |
1 |
24.7 |
4.6 |
126 |
|
84090 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2.3 |
2.0 |
3 |
|
84091 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.5 |
0.5 |
2 |
|
84092 |
288 |
150 |
45 |
32 |
152.0 |
6.0 |
515 |
|
84093 |
198 |
173 |
104 |
40 |
78.2 |
8.3 |
515 |
|
84094 |
103 |
36 |
8 |
2 |
24.8 |
3.9 |
149 |
|
84095 |
91 |
31 |
8 |
2 |
30.3 |
4.2 |
132 |
|
84096 |
20 |
6 |
5 |
1 |
27.0 |
5.2 |
32 |
|
84101 |
7 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
5.0 |
1.1 |
8 |
|
84102 |
58 |
30 |
3 |
0 |
10.8 |
3.0 |
91 |
|
84103 |
136 |
13 |
3 |
0 |
14.1 |
2.2 |
152 |
|
84104 |
27 |
14 |
4 |
0 |
18.3 |
4.1 |
45 |
|
84105 |
140 |
61 |
10 |
0 |
15.0 |
3.5 |
211 |
|
84106 |
187 |
75 |
15 |
1 |
24.7 |
3.7 |
278 |
|
84107 |
89 |
15 |
3 |
1 |
28.1 |
2.8 |
108 |
|
84108 |
161 |
15 |
1 |
0 |
10.1 |
1.9 |
177 |
|
84109 |
216 |
82 |
10 |
1 |
20.5 |
3.4 |
309 |
|
84110 |
7 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
5.2 |
2.5 |
8 |
|
84111 |
21 |
6 |
1 |
0 |
11.7 |
2.6 |
28 |
|
84114 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
8.6 |
7.9 |
2 |
|
84115 |
33 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
8.7 |
2.2 |
40 |
|
84116 |
60 |
6 |
2 |
1 |
22.6 |
2.4 |
69 |
|
84117 |
135 |
34 |
7 |
0 |
18.1 |
3.1 |
176 |
|
84118 |
115 |
11 |
3 |
1 |
28.4 |
2.3 |
130 |
|
84119 |
34 |
20 |
2 |
0 |
13.9 |
3.7 |
56 |
|
84120 |
49 |
29 |
4 |
0 |
10.8 |
3.9 |
82 |
|
84121 |
300 |
97 |
17 |
10 |
50.0 |
3.8 |
424 |
|
84122 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3.0 |
3.0 |
1 |
|
84123 |
98 |
16 |
6 |
0 |
10.5 |
2.4 |
120 |
|
84124 |
173 |
76 |
20 |
0 |
19.1 |
3.8 |
269 |
|
84126 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
4.3 |
4.3 |
1 |
|
84128 |
23 |
5 |
0 |
3 |
22.7 |
4.2 |
31 |
|
84138 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1.4 |
1.4 |
1 |
|
84147 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.9 |
0.9 |
1 |
|
84151 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
4.1 |
4.1 |
1 |
|
84152 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1.9 |
1.1 |
2 |
|
84157 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1.2 |
1.2 |
1 |
|
84158 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1.4 |
1.3 |
6 |
|
84165 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3.7 |
3.7 |
1 |
|
84170 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.5 |
0.5 |
1 |
|
84171 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1.9 |
1.9 |
1 |
|
Salt Lake |
3313 |
1227 |
312 |
105 |
152.0 |
4.2 |
4957 |
|
|
The local MLS (WFRMLS) gives you search capabilities you just can not get from public sites like realtor.com, utahrealestate.com, or redfin.com. It is nice to have a Realtor handy to do a search for you and then set that search to run automatically every day or week. Here are a few of my favorite searches that I like to run when looking for homes. If you want me to set up a variation of any of the following for you, let me know.
The just listed search. I will go back a few days on the search to see what has come on the market recently. This is a great way to keep on top of the market and on the lookout for fresh deals.
The listed for 90 days search. The opposite of the just listed search but with the same intent. You are looking for deals. And in this case you are hoping to find sellers that have been listed for a while and are now getting desperate.
The REO/Short Sale/Seller Financing search. You are looking for sellers with unique circumstances. Short sales, REOs, and Seller Financing deals, each have their risk and rewards. Being able to search for them on the WFRMLS can save you a lot of time narrowing down to the specific seller that fits your situation.
The sold search. This is the one I do when I figure out my absorption rates for neighborhoods in Salt Lake. I just look a the number of homes that have sold in a zip code in the last 30 days and divide that number by the number on the market. Then I have a great snapshot of current market conditions
The mother-in-law search. A handy search since there is no way to do this easily on public sites. I search for all homes with 2 or more kitchens and most of the time it brings up the mother in laws in the area. Unless the agent forgot to mark two kitchens of course.
Why This Market is the Perfect Move Up Market
If you are ready to be a Move Up like the Jeffersons then now is the perfect time. You can sell your home where the demand is high and then buy where the demand is lower. The result is you get into a great home at a discount while maximizing the return on your investment.
To get an idea of how demand is playing out in Salt Lake County, let’s look at some numbers from the WFRMLS. In the last 30 days, 497 homes sold in the $140,000-$280,000 price range. That is 59% percent of all homes that sold. But the total number of homes listed available on the MLS in that price range? Only 2534, or about 37% of the total homes on the market. In other words, you have 59% of all buyers chasing 37% of all homes.
For first time home buyers this can be a frustrating situation. You hear all day in the media how the market is taking a hit and then you put in an offer on a home only to find out you are in a multiple offer situation.
But for the Move Up buyer, you can sell your home in this price range and then go find a motivated seller and make a deal in the $300,000 price range. In order to pull this off I recommend a few tips: 1) Make sure your home is in top shape before you put it on the market. (buyers are only interested in the top ten percent of the market when it comes to condition and price) 2) Act quickly while you can take advantage of the low interest rates and the higher than usual FHA loan limits 3) Be open to all types of ways to sell your home like FHA down payment assistance, seller financing, and lease options.
The What, Who, Why, and Where of FHA Loans
What is FHA?
FHA is a program started back during the depression. This program allows the Federal Housing Authority under HUD to back and insure loans.
Who is the Best Candidate for FHA?
Those with a poor credit score but good job history and manageable debt to income ratios. Also, those who do not want to put a lot down. This loan is very popular with first time home buyers.
Why Would I Want FHA?
You will have a lower down payment than conventional. Your loan origination fee is capped by the government.
Where Do I Go to Get FHA?
To get a FHA loan talk with a loan professional that is FHA Certified! This is crucial because a lender that is not FHA certified may not tell you about FHA loans even when this could be the best loan for you.
