Another One Bites the Dust...

by joswald 26. May 2009 15:40

Memorial Day weekend is officially over! Bummer, I know. I hope
you had as much fun this weekend as me and the family did. The
weather was amazing and made it that much more enjoyable.

I received a couple items in the mail last week I thought would
be good to share.

1. Tax Assessments - This week both Canyon and Ada County mailed
out the 2009 property tax assessments. It looks like the
assessor's office of both counties realize that values are down.
Make sure when you receive your assessment notice you review it
carefully. There is a short time period where you can dispute
the value with the assessor's office if you don't agree with the
value. Both Ada and Canyon only give three or four weeks to
dispute the value of your property with their office.

     What to do if you feel that the assessor's value of your
property is too high?
Contact a local appraiser or Realtor to
verify your suspicions. Even though you're a super good person,
the county assessor's office probably won't just take your word
that the value of your property is less than what their
appraisers are suggesting. You'll need to get recent (within the
last 90 days) comparable sales in the immediate area of your
property. Make sure the comparables are actual sales or pending
sales. Active listings will help support your case but
ultimately they won't support your value suggestion since they
have not been 'proved' in the market yet. Make sure you take
three or more sold comparables with you to the assessor's office.
This will make sure you're armed in your defense.

     If my property value is down for 2009 does that mean my
monthly mortgage payment will be lower?
The short answer is -
YES! However, Idaho homeowner's pay their taxes in arrears,
which means that you won't see the actual savings on your
monthly mortgage payment until January 2010. See, our property
taxes are paid in June and December each year for the preceding
6 month period. So for example, on June 20th we'll be receiving
our tax bills for July thru December 2008. The mortgage
companies will assume your taxes will continue the same for 2009
and will continue to collect the same monthly amount. Then in
December 2009 when they pay for January thru June 2009 the lower
tax amount will be paid and at that time they'll adjust the
escrow amounts down.

2. New Idaho Boating Sticker Requirement - The Idaho Legislature
passed a new law this year that requires all boat owners to
participate in Idaho's Invasive Species prevention. The boater's
participation requires the purchase of a sticker to be attached
on to each boat. The cost is $10 for motorized vessels and $5
for non-motorized boats. I spoke with the Sheriff's Deputies out
at Lake Lowell last week and they said they will begin enforcing
the new stickers June 1st.

For more information check out this site.
http://parksandrecreation.idaho.gov/idahoinvasivespeciesfund.aspx.

 

Have a great week!

Tags:

General

My Brother is Lame!

by joswald 26. May 2009 15:14

Normally I wouldn't post these type of pictures here...but you see, I have a brother who is really lame.  He doesn't have a Facebook account and his email has a little, tiny limit so he can't receive my pictures.  So, in order to show him how much fun he's going to be missing out this weekend I'm going to post the photos from my birthday fishing trip with Brandie here.

It's time to stimulate MY wallet!!

by joswald 19. May 2009 09:51


I've had a lot of people ask me questions about the federal economic stimulus package and how it could affect their current home loan.  Everyone wants to take advantage of the 30 year lows on interest rates right now, but not everyone knows if there's a program out there to get them the rate...I'm sure you've had some of those same thoughts, am I right?

The stimulus package has spurred three main ways that could affect you.

1.  If you've been thinking about buying a house.  If you're a first time home buyer or have not owned a home for the last three years then you could qualify for the $8,000 tax credit.

    Here are some of the highlights:
        -  Available only to first-time home buyers
        -  The tax credit is not a loan and does not require repayment*
            *If the home is sold within 3-years, the $8,000 tax credit must be re-paid
        -  The tax credit reduces the home buyer's tax liability; if the buyer's liability is less than $8,000, the remaining credit will be issued as  a check
        -  Home purchase must be for a primary residence
        -  The credit is available on home purchases between January 1, 2009 and December 1, 2009
        -  If you are single and make $75,000 or more, or are married and make $150,000 or more, you do not qualify for the tax credit
        -  The credit is not eligible if the seller is a relative of the buyer

Click HERE to see additional information on the New Homebuyer's Federal Tax Credit.


2.  If you've been current on your mortgage and wanted to refinance but couldn't because of lower house values.  There are two programs that could help you almost regardless of your current home value.  The first is the DU Refinance Plus offered by Fannie Mae for some loans owned by Fannie Mae.  The other program is similar but is offered by Freddie Mac for loans owned by them.  To see if your loan is owned by either Fannie or Freddie go to my blog and follow the links.

This is a huge deal right now.  Especially since there is a big group of people suggesting that the rates will raise significantly by the end of the year.  You don't want to miss the boat on this one.

To see if you're loan is owned by FANNIE MAE CLICK HERE.

To see if you're loan is owned by FREDDIE MAC CLICK HERE.


3.  Lender specific incentives.  Many of the bigger lenders have taken their bail-out money and actually did something with it (other than buy new corporate planes or sent people to Vegas).
There are a handful of banks that have offered their own form of streamline refinance.  If you currently make your payment to Wells Fargo, MetLife (formally First Horizon), US Bank, or Flagstar Bank you need to call me immediately.  There is a huge opportunity for you to save money today
!!!

Tags:

General | rates

We're Back!

by joswald 6. May 2009 12:11

After a brief sabatical from the blogging and emails we're officially back in the saddle. 

We took some important time off to re-align ourselves and make sure that we were not becoming 'just another lender' out there.  We genuinely want to be unique and offer premium services.

We're confident you'll be happy with the results.

Tell your friends, tell your family, tell a co-worker...the important thing is that you tell SOMEONE about what you see here!

Tags:

General