If you are a first time homebuyer, you can still qualify to obtain the First Time Home Buyer Credit up to $8,000. You must close on your first home on or before November 30, 2009. December 1st will be too late.
Here are some steps that could insure that you can get your home closed on or before November 30th:
1. CREATE GAME PLAN AND TIMELINE: Meet with your Realtor and prepare a reverse timeline that includes each step in the buying process up to closing day. Remember you must close before Dec 1.

2. ASSEMBLE YOUR TEAM: Ask your Realtor now for recommendations for a good lender they have worked with in the past, an attorney, and home inspectors so there is no delay when you do find your property. Determine now what home inspections you will want including general, radon and/or termite.

3. FINANCING: Make sure you have your mortgage ready to go. Check with your lender in advance about what paperwork they will need from you and get it done now. Ask your lender to insure that your property can close by the deadline. Many good lenders can get a conventional mortgage closed with in 2-3 weeks. FHA can take longer. Make sure you check with your lender about timing. TIP: There are both conventional and FHA lenders that can underwrite and fund mortgages out of their own offices. Most lenders cannot and therefore the process before closing can often take twice as much time. If you are going to use an FHA mortgage, make sure your lender is an FHA Designated Endorsement lender.

4. LOOK FOR YOUR HOME: Define your criteria and start looking with a Realtor right away. Narrow down to search to price range, neighborhoods and size. Schedule blocks of time with your Realtor for showings times now.
Do not look at short sales. You do not have enough time.
Ask your Realtor when making appointments to ask the listing agent if the sellers are willing to move before Dec 1. If they cannot, ask if they would consider closing before Dec 1 but renting back for a week or two.

5. OFFER and CONTRACT: Once you have successfully negotiated a contract on your new property, be ready to SNAP your plan into action for loan applications and inspections. It will be critical to give the lender everything he needs immediately and to stay on schedule. Again, your Realtor will help you with this.

Click here to watch me discuss the credit on WGN Money Matters.

From the time you get a contract, the expedited mortgage/inspection process can take 2 ½ – 3 weeks so act now.

If you have any questions, please contact
Dean Rouso, Broker, ABR, CRS, GRI, Certified Negotiation Consultant at
Prime Property Partners.
Office 708-354-7355
Dean@PrimeAnytime.com

Insuring your home with the proper coverage is so incredibly important since your home is almost always your biggest investment – and it is where you stay dry and warm. Following are some things every person who is looking to purchase a policy should know:

• Always insure your home for 100% of the cost to rebuild. To figure out that number you can go to buildingcost.net to use their free calculator.
• Flood, earthquake, war and nuclear accident coverage is extra beyond what your basic policy will cover.
• The contents of your house is usually covered at 50% of what the value of the structure is. You must make sure this is adequate coverage for all of your belongings by making an inventory. Use knowyourstuff.org’s free home inventory software to determine this number.
• Take pictures of all of your valuables in case you do need to file a claim. Pictures make the process so much easier.
• Make sure you buy enough liability coverage – you need enough to match your assets.
• Always buy “riders” for any expensive artwork or jewelry that you own. If it is worth more than $2,000, you may consider buying a separate policy for it.
• Shop around as prices vary dramatically. Start with your car insurance company, because they often give discounts to multiple policy owners. You may also go to insure.com to compare prices. 
• Keep your deductible high. Starting with a $1,000 deductible is wise, as most people do not make claims for less than this amount as there are insurance companies that will drop you if you make more than two claims per year.
• Always ask about discounts. Many insurers have them, but you must ask for them. Discounts for installing smoke detectors, an alarm system or a fire-retardant roof are common. Also, if you are 55 years of age or older, mention that as you are considered low-risk – and can get a price reduction.
• Keep your policy up-to-date! Changes to your home, such as a re-model, need to be covered.

Baby boomers are making the reverse mortgage more popular than ever, but just know the potential pitfalls before you consider one.

1. 1. Repayment Rule: If you sell your home or for some reason must live at a hospice, a nursing home or you simply plan to use the home as your second home, you will have to repay the cash you received from the reverse mortgage as well as interest and other fees back to the lender.
2. High Closing Cost and Interest: Don’t forget to shop around and compare prices. Many seniors fail to do this, as they are not as familiar with the reverse mortgage as they are with a traditional mortgage. If offered, reject the adjustable interest rate option. There are many fixed rate reverse mortgage programs available to choose from.
3. Maintenance and Taxes: Always ask the bank to be clear what your monthly payment will be per month, less your escrow payment. Make sure you know the lender’s policy on the home’s maintenance. You might consider taking enough money up front to have for future repairs, so that your monthly payment will always be the same.

Every home needs maintenance repairs over time, but if you are putting your house on the market you may want to know the top four places to put your money so that you will get the biggest return out of it. According to a survey done by HomeGain, in order to get the highest return on your investment, spend your repair dollars on the following in this order:

1. Cleaning and de-cluttering
2. Lightening and brightening
3. Home staging
4. Landscaping

Obviously the monetary returns may vary slightly based on where you live in the country, due to the cost of a repair and the importance of each particular improvement to buyers in that area. HomeGain estimates that making the above repairs and spending between $5,000 and $8,000 on them, you may see a price increase in the West as high as $22,762, in the East as high as $23,532, in the South as high as $21,740 and in the Mid-West as high as $20,279.

Other things never to overlook when putting your house on the market are dirty windows, electrical repairs, plumbing problems, old carpeting, old paint and damaged floors.

To learn more about home improvements go to HomeGain.

Most people keep safety knowledge filed away in their heads, but what every household really needs is an actual checklist that can be posted and referred to yearly to keep everyone safe. Here are some tips and reminders about some of the things that may not be so obvious:

• Fire Safety includes keeping pot and pan handles turned away from the outside of the stove when cooking, so they can not be bumped into.
• Keep all space heaters at least one foot away from anything that is flammable, such as furniture, draperies, even people.
• Never store propane tanks indoors.
• Electrical safety includes never putting electrical cords across doorways or under carpets.
• Never plug major appliances into extension cords; separate outlets only.
• Consider an electrical inspection for your home. 400,000 fires per year are due to faulty electric wiring.
• Test smoke and carbon monoxide alarms periodically and change batteries yearly.
• Devise a home fire escape plan that includes more than one exit and that every family member knows about.
• Teach children to call 911 from a neighbor’s phone in the event of a fire.
• Affix rugs to the floor to avoid slipping.
• With children in the home, always attach brackets to bookshelves.

Monday, March 3, 2008:  The National Association of Realtors 2008 Conventional Finance and Lending Committee passed the following motion:

" That NAR suppport a permanent national conforming loan limit no less than 50 percent higher than the current conforming loan limit ($625,000 or higher).  In addition, that NAR support making the temporary loan limit increase for high cost areas as porvided in the economic stimulus legislation permanent.  Accordingly, for high cost areas, the conforming loan limit should be increased to 125 percent of the local median home sale price, not to exceed $729,750".

If passed, the greater Chicago metro area (considered a non-high cost area) which currently has a conventional loan limit of  $417,000,  would be increased to $625,000 giving relief to home buyers and sellers who are currently subject to a minimum of a1% higher (unconventional or Jumbo) interest rate for mortgage loans which can greatly pressure affordability and therefore stunts new construction and higher priced existing homes in much of suburban Chicagoland.   

This new NAR policy proposal will be presented to the Senate Banking committee on GSE reform on Thursday, March 6, 2008.  There is hope that Congress’ new willingness to raise conforming loan limits by enacting a temporary increase as part of the economic stimulus lesgislation will drive them to consider this permanent and effective modification to the the legislation.

Dean Rouso, Broker-Owner, Prime Property Partners and Committee Member of NAR Conventional Finance and Lending Committee.