Potential home buyers may have more opportunity and purchase power than they knew...Why? FHA-insured loans only require a 3.5% down payment, not 20-30% like typically thought. Not only that, but funds don’t have to be your own; they can come from a family member, friend, or employer in the form of a gift. Having a hard time asking for a gift? Tell them there is a tax deductible gift allowance of $12,000 annually. ($100,000 a lifetime). Makes it a little easier. Some may get excited there until they think about their less than perfect credit and FICO score. Well, good news there as well, you don't have to have a credit score of 800, or 750 or even 650 to qualify. If even you have bad credit, it's actually easier for you to qualify for an FHA-insured loan than a conventional loan. Sweet! What's the catch? Some fees of course FHA does have some fees, they charge a onetime 1.75% premium on the total loan amount, but that can financed into the loan, it is NOT paid up front. What does that equate to? Say your loan is $200,000, (humor me) a fee of 1.75% is $3,000. You going to complain? I didn't think so. So what are the loan limits and rates? Loan limits were just raised to the current amount of $729,750 for a single family residence. $934,200 for a 2 units, and $1,403,400 for a 4 unit building. Within range of current listing prices. Today, 4/27/09 a FHA 30 year fixed: up to $1,00,000 4.375% RATE 4.878%ARMTo help you calculate your possible monthly mortgage payments clink on the link below and enter your info: http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/mortgages/mortgage-calculator.aspx
Looking like a really good time to buy huh? Now, stop waiting for the bottom to drop out and be proactive.
For more information Visit HUD at: http://portal.hud.gov/portal/page?_pageid=73,1827594&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL
You need to re-word the language regarding the "tax-deductible gift allowance" of $12,000 - it is imprecise and bordering on factually incorrect.
ReplyDeleteThere is no such thing as a "tax-deductible gift allowance." Gifts in the hands of the recipients are exempt from tax on the value of the gift, however a person who makes a gift (i.e. the giver) may be subject to the Gift Tax. Now, there is a provision in the Internal Revenue Code that provides for an annual exclusion from the gift tax. I think that is what you were trying to get with the "Tax-deductible gift allowance" - however you may want to check with the IRS because I believe the $12,000 figure is outdated - the IRS periodically adjusts the amount of the exclusion for inflation in increments of $1,000. However, for the sake of this post let's assume that $12,000 is the annual exclusion amount. Every person may make a "gift" of up to $12,000 (or whatever the annual exclusion currently is) to any other person per year before being subject to the Gift Tax (i.e. the annual exclusion operates on a per person/per year basis).