The solution is here. Now all you need to do is get out your iPhone and type in the address and all of the information about the house in now at your fingertips. What a great Tool! You can do all kinds of searches for listings, including condos, townhouses, and even foreclosures. And you can search for home in Portland, Beaverton, Tigard, Lake Oswego, Clackamas – any city in the Portland Metro Area. This is a must have if you are buying a home in the near future.

There really is an app for everything.

To get your MLS iPhone app, just click on the iPhone in the sidebar to your right, download the app, and enter the code 6788.

As most of you know, the first-time homebuyer’s credit has been extended to the end of April 2010. This is great news for Portland home buyers. But the question is: who can get the credit?

The good news is that more buyers are eligible now than before. Even better news is that if you buy a home in 2010, you can claim the credit in your 2009 return. That means up to an $8,000 credit on last year’s tax return. Very cool.

Here is a summary of who can take the credit:

• Purchase must be your principal residence and you must live in the home for at least three years. If you sell or move before that, you must pay back the money to Uncle Sam. If you live in the home for over three years, the money is yours to keep.
• Must not have owned a home in the previous three years. If you have owned a home for the last five years and are buying a new home, you can still get a credit of $6500. Not bad.
• Married couple cannot have more than $225,000 adjusted gross income, and others cannot have more than $125,000 adjusted gross income.

Here are tidbits that are interesting about the credit:

• You can take the credit if you buy a mobile home with land.
• You can buy a home with seller financing (contract for deed, installment land sale contract, or long-term land contract).
• You can buy a duplex, but you can only get credit for the unit that you live in.
• You only need to be in a contract by April 30. You still have until July 1st to close.
• If you buy in 2010 (before the deadline) you can claim the credit on you 2009 taxes.

If you are thinking about buying a house this year, do not procrastinate. The credit will be gone before you know it.

I am not a tax expert or accountant and this is not tax advice, just an overview of the credit. Always seek tax advise from a professional  accountant. For more details about the credit, please go the IRS webpage about the credit.

But there is help on the way. The Home Affordable Alternatives Program (HAFA) has just released some new guidelines that are set to take effect in April of 2010. The new rules are designed to help homeowners get out of their property if they are underwater (they owe more on the mortgage than the house it worth). This is great news for all.

Here is summary of some of the points that will have the greatest impact.

• A homeowner will be able to get a short sale approval in advance. This is huge! In the past, the banks wouldn’t even look at a short sale unless there was a buyer with a signed contract. The homeowner, real estate agent and the buyer never even knew if the bank would consider the short sale. The new guideline allows the owner to receive a pre-approval from the bank that includes the minimum net amount it will accept.
• Lenders must respond within 10 days. If the net amount of the sale meets or exceeds the minimum stated in the approval, the servicer (or bank) will approve the sale.
• The banks cannot reduce the commissions of the real estate agents that are stated in the listing agreement (up to six percent).
• Provides new incentives for the borrower to complete the process. They are now given $1500 for relocation expenses.  This will make the transition much easier for the homeowner.
• Mortgage servicers will also get $1000 for each completed short sale.
• The homeowner is released of all liability for the loan. In some states, it is legal for the lender to come after the homeowner for any losses that they incur. This is called a deficiency judgment. This is not allowed any more. The borrower is free and clear after the sale is complete.

But there are some qualifications to these guidelines as well. The homeowner must be delinquent and unable to pay for his mortgage. The loan must be less than $729,750, made before January 1st of 2009, and the home must be the primary residence of the owner.

This is going to really help some homeowners in the Portland area, as well as other parts of the country. It is about time the government got serious and laid down the law to the banks!

If you want to read the official release (long), you can see it here: https://www.hmpadmin.com/portal/docs/hamp_servicer/sd0909.pdf