If you're a tenant, there is some good news for you. A new federal law now protects tenants from being kicked out of their homes if their landlord has gone into foreclosure. The new law says it the tenant has a valid lease, the foreclosing bank must honor the term of the lease. If there is no lease, the bank must give the tenant 90 days notice to vacate. Before, some tenants who had been faithfully paying their rent found themselves being evicted because the landlord did not pay the mortgage.

   

            

             Work is finally underway to convert the old Albertson’s supermarket to a new Publix store on North Ninth Ave. in Pensacola.

            The Albertson’s store next door to Toys R Us was one of 49 stores in Florida that the Publix chain bought from Albertson’s last year.

            The Ninth Ave. store is the last of the Pensacola stores to be remodeled.

            A former Albertson’s manager says he understands the Ninth Ave. Store will be the “Taj Mahal” of the Publix markets in Northwest Florida.

            Construction workers have completely gutted the building and it appears to be due for a complete overhaul.

            The new Publix is expected to open late this year.

             If you are a first-time home buyer in Florida, you will soon be able to borrow, up-front, the income tax rebate you would get back later for buying a home.

            Starting July 1, 2009 in Florida, those who quality for the federal tax credit of as much as $8,000, will be able to apply for down payment assistance before they close on the purchase of their home. They can then repay the amount borrowed when they get their tax refund. The program will operate through local county housing administrators, although the details are still being worked out.

            To qualify as a first-time home buyer, you or your spouse cannot have owned a home in the past three years and must meet certain income guidelines. However, those guidelines are quite generous. You then qualify for an income tax rebate of 10%, up to a maximum of $8,000.

            The availability of this down payment loan makes it an absolutely perfect time to buy a home. Prices have dropped to affordable levels, mortgage interest rates are still around 6%, selection of homes is great and the tax rebate is available.   

As soon as the details of the down payment help become available, I will post them here on my web site.

            Well, there is even more good news now for first time home buyers who want to take advantage of that federal tax credit of as much as $8,000—they soon will have another option if they want to use that tax rebate as a down payment on a home.

On the tails of a similar Florida program, the federal government is starting its own FHA down payment assistance program in the next few weeks which will allow lenders to credit homeowners up to $8,000.

HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said they want to enable FHA borrowers to access the homebuyer tax credit funds when they close on their home loans, so that the cash can be used as a down payment,

He said FHA approved lenders will be allowed to make the tax credit available by using short-term bridge loans.
           Essentially, that means buyers can borrow against their anticipated tax credit to use the money for a down payment on a home instead of having to wait until they file income tax returns to get the money.

First time home buyers and their spouses are people who have not owned a home in the past three years. They must meet certain income guidelines, but the guidelines are very generous.

        

      There is some extra good news now for Florida first time home buyers who want to take advantage of the federal tax credit that could put as much as $8,000 in their pockets.
 First-timers who qualify, now will be able to borrow that money upfront and use it for the down payment on their new home.
     The Florida Legislature has created the Florida Homebuyer Opportunity Program to provide down payment loans to first time buyers before they actually get the money back from the IRS. Participating home buyers will have to assign their tax refund to the Florida Housing Finance Corporation which will operate the loan program. The corporation will charge market rate interest beginning 18 months after the buyer closes on the purchase. If the loan is paid off before 18 months, there will be no interest charged.
     The loan program is intended to help more buyers take advantage of the tax rebate and is scheduled to start July 1, 2009.
     The federal tax credit program gives first time home buyers a tax rebate of 10% on the purchase price of a home, with a maximum rebate of $8,000. If the new home price is $70,000, the rebate will be $7,000. If the price is $90,000, the rebate will be only $8,000, the maximum allowed.
     To qualify, buyers, or their spouses, cannot have owned a home in the past three years and must meet income guidelines which are fairly generous.

            I was surprised recently to discover that a lot of people still do not know about the free tax gift of as much as $8,000 that the Federal government is offering to first time home buyers.

            In general, here it is—it applies to the purchase of a primary home between January 1 and December 31, 2009. You (and your spouse) cannot have owned a home during the previous three years. You must meet certain income guidelines, $95,000 single or $170,000 couple, based on modified adjusted gross income. The tax rebate is 10% of the purchase price with a maximum of $8,000. If the home costs $70,000, the rebate is $7,000; if the home costs $100,000, the tax credit is only $8,000.

            The rebate remains a gift as long as you live in your new home for three years. If you sell the home within three years, you will have to re-pay the tax credit.

            There is also a tax credit for homes purchased between April 8, 2008 and December 31, 2008. But it has different guidelines and you should make sure you understand them.

            With this tremendous tax gift, mortgage interest rates at all-time lows, huge home inventories and falling price, this is an ideal time to buy a home.

            If you are in the market for a new home, this “perfect storm” of incentives will help you get the most value for your dollar.

Here is a link to more information about the tax credit—

http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/2009/index.html

Here is a link to the IRS tax credit form—

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f5405.pdf

You may want to consult a financial professional for additional information.

Be sure to visit my web site www.PensacolasBestHomes.com for more home buying information.

 

 

           

Well, it's finally here and open....the new Famous Dave's Barbecue restaurant is now open on Bayou Boulevard near Cordova Mall.
The franchise operation bought and remodeled the old Smokey Bones building and is now serving up some of the best food in town.
Owners and employees along with the Pensacola Area Chamber of Commerce held a "rib cutting" ceremony to launch the restaurant. If you're in the mood for some mouth-water ribs, this is the place!


         

      Pensacola residents will have a chance to take part in a Tax Day Tea Party on April 15. The Pensacola Tea Party will be held at 7100 N. Davis Highway from 3-6 pm.  That is the location of University Mall. The tax-and-spend protest will be in the area along Davis Highway between Sears and Firestone. Tea parties are sprouting up in big and small cities across the country as a way for citizens to voice their frustration over the federal government's economic policies. The April 15 tax deadline has become a symbol of the consequences American taxpayers will face because of what they believe are gross excesses, negligence,  mismanagement, corruption and greed in our new gigantic, bloated government.The Tax Day Tea Party is open to everyone.

         If you are a first time home buyer (have not owned a home in past three years,) you may be wondering how to take advantage of the Federal Government’s $8,000 tax gift.

         There has been some confusion about how the tax gift works and when it is available. The IRS is trying to clear things up and you can read about it right here….

A new mandatory mediation program in Northwest Florida may produce a big reduction in the number of foreclosure lawsuits that are filed against homeowners who are facing financial problems.

The mandatory foreclosure mediation was ordered by Judge Kim Skievaski for the First Judicial Circuit Counties of Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa and Walton in Northwest Florida.

The order, effective April 1, 2009, requires banks and other lenders to send foreclosure cases to mediation before they can actually file a foreclosure lawsuit. The order affects only homeowners who live in their homes and not second homes, investment or commercial property owners. The mediation part of the program will be administered by the Collins Center for Public Policy, a Florida non-profit organization that played a major role in mediating Florida hurricane insurance claims.

Mandatory mediation has two major goals—to help financially beleaguered homeowners and to help reduce the rapidly increasing number of foreclosure court cases.

While banks have teams of legal experts at the ready, homeowners are almost always unrepresented and are often overwhelmed, intimidated and unequipped to deal with the legalities. The Collins Center will hire professional, certified mediators to represent homeowners in the mediation. The service will be free to homeowners and will be paid by fees of $750 on lenders.

As Florida faces extreme budget cutbacks, the court system is faced with declining revenue and escalating case loads. There were more than 385,000 foreclosure filings in Florida in 2008 and the rate continues to climb in 2009, according to RealtyTrac, a national foreclosure tracking company.

The Collins Center says the initial mediation case load is estimated to be 16 foreclosures per day when the program starts. There will be about a dozen “workout options” or resolutions to foreclosures that will be available to the homeowner and lender. Among the possible solutions are a short sale, deed in lieu of foreclosure, rate reduction, loan modification and a mortgage assumption.

At the end of March 2009, there were nearly 700 foreclosured or pre-foreclosure homes listed on the Multiple Listing Service in Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties.

           What is not clear just yet, is how many foreclosures will be resolved by mediation. A similar program in Ohio is producing a resolution rate of more than 50%, according to the Collins Center.  A similar rate in the First Judicial Circuit would cut in half the number of homes being foreclosed and going on the real estate market.