Tighter Limits for Wealthy Families in Obama’s 2011 Budget Proposal

The Obama administration proposes to raise $291 billion over the next decade by reducing the amount by which wealthy families can cut their tax bills by claiming itemized deductions for mortgage interest payments and other write-offs.

The Obama administration tried and failed to implement a similar change in last year’s budget, after running into opposition from a range of interests ranging from mortgage lenders to charities that benefit from the taxpayers’ ability to claim such itemized deductions.

Currently, individuals with incomes above $200,000 and families with incomes above $250,000 can lower their taxes by an amount equal to as much as 39.6 percent of their itemized deductions. The Obama administration wants to lower the cap to 28 percent — the level in place at the end of the Reagan administration.

Because families in lower tax brackets don’t benefit as much from itemized deductions, the system in place now provides a disproportionate benefit to the wealthy, the administration said in its proposed budget.

“Currently, if a middle-class family donates a dollar to its favorite charity or spends a dollar on mortgage interest, it gets a 15-cent tax deduction, but a millionaire who does the same enjoys a deduction that is more than twice as generous,” the Obama administration said.

The Mortgage Bankers Association issued a statement claiming the proposed tax increase would have a negative impact on housing markets by increasing the cost of mortgages for many potential homeowners, especially in high-cost states like California and New York.

The MBA also expressed disappointment that the budget “did not offer any indications of the administration’s plans for the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.”

The MBA “strongly supports” a proposed $18 million increase in the Federal Housing Administration’s budget to implement improved risk management systems, $20 million earmarked for the Department of Housing and Urban Development to combat predatory lending and mortgage fraud.

Source: Inman News

Share the wealth:

PrimeBenefit is Dedicated to Unions

The PrimeBenefit team of PrimeLending is committed to helping union members save money every time they buy or sell a home, refinance their current home, and more.  We have partnered up with www.Unions.org to offer special pricing that is exclusive to union members.  First let me tell you a little about us and how the program works.

Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, PrimeLending is a leading residential mortgage lender that provides homebuyers mortgages without obstacles. Established in 1986 by Chief Executive Officer Roseanna McGill, PrimeLending has grown from a staff of 20 individuals producing $80 Million in annual closed loan volume to a family of over 1,500 members producing in excess of $2.45 Billion annually.

In addition to the corporate office located in North Dallas, PrimeLending has expanded to over 150 branches across the United States including Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington and is licensed to originate and close loans in 49 states.

The goal at PrimeLending is to provide unsurpassed quality service and support throughout the entire mortgage process for every client and referral source. This proactive sales and operational philosophy simplifies and accelerates the loan process at all levels. The company’s knowledgeable mortgage professionals are dedicated to making every customer’s home loan experience a positive and successful one.

PrimeLending decided they could take it one step further and develop a complete PrimeBenefit program which would help union member save money throughout the entire buying process of a home.  This is why the PrimeBenefit program is so powerful.

I would like you to first watch the following 30 second commercial and then I will go through the savings in detail. Commercial The PrimeBenefit Program is broken down into 5 parts:

1)      Real Estate Rebate – Every time you buy or sell a home your will receive a 20% rebate check from your Realtor commissions for using one of our network realtors.  You don’t have to worry.  We only use the best and have to be proven producer and they work for large companies like Caldwell Banker and Chapman Richards for example.

2)      Lender Discounts – Just for participating in the PrimeBenefit program you get 20% off of all lender fees.  In addition to that you will receive an extra .25% off your origination fee.  PrimeLending as we have already covered is one of the nation’s leading lenders and when it come to rate and price we will make sure you get the best rate and program for your needs.  Every loan is a little different as everyone’s situation is a little different, but know this; we are not just here to earn you business today but to be your lending partner for life.

3)      Insurance Discounts – The next discounts you receive are through Liberty Mutual on your homeowners and auto insurance.  For first time home buyers, homeowners insurance is a new thing so we will make sure that you have this option for getting a good deal on insurance.

4)      Moving Discounts – We have partnered up with different moving services such as Van Lines and SAMS to offer you discount on moving when it comes time to move into your new home.

5)      Home Warranty – Finally we have partners with one of the leading home warty company companies to offer you a great price on a home warranty that will cover more for less.  This company will cover item most item that other warranties exclude like roof leaks, washers and dryers, and more.

As you can see this is a pretty inclusive package.  As a union member there is no reason you should not take advantage of it.  I know you have wondered; how much does this cost?  The answer to your question is NOTHING.  That’s right it’s free.  It’s our way of saying thanks for all the work you do for us.  To register for the program click here.  Make sure to email me if you have any questions or call (877)835-5588.

Sam Ashton

PrimeBenefit Specialist

(877)835-5588

sashton@primelending.com

I almost didn’t post this given it is a bit aged however, if you haven’t done a loan recently, or ever, it’s still relevant so I decided to post it after all, so here goes.

I wanted to make everyone aware of some very important and fairly recent changes that are taking place in the lending industry, about appraisals, that affects all of us in different ways and also the impact I have personally seen due to these changes.

Starting back on May 1 of 2009, most every lender in the country started using an outside appraisal ordering company called an Appraisal Management Company or AMC, for all Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans. The AMC’s role is to remove any ‘undue’ influence on the value of a property, that a lender, Realtor, or borrower may have on the value a home being  as collateral in financing a home purchase or refinance.

This new law, is a result of a lawsuit brought against Washington Mutual by the state Attorney General of New York. Washington Mutual was alleged to have systematically pressured appraisers to elevate home values at the risk of these same appraisers losing valuable future business from Washington Mutual if they didn’t comply. The practice was likely more widespread than in just New York state but probably not as widespread as it has been made out to be in the media reports. So Congress decide to act and they passed HVCC or Home Valuation Code of Conduct Act to address this issue for the future.

What this means is borrowers/homebuyers will now have to pay “up front” for appraisals. Lenders of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans now have to comply and be in compliance on all appraisal which now requires borrowers to authorize a payment method before ordering the appraisal. The authorization is then submitted to the “outside” service or AMC, who then randomly selects an approved appraiser from within their network of appraisers (with AMC’s, like the one I use, it’s a bit less random because the appraiser pool that an appraiser is selected from, is made up of appraisers that have been referred into the pool by either myself or one my colleagues, so we have an expectation that our pool has competent appraisers in it, and I am sure some others AMC’s feel the same as we do in this regard).

Lenders are not allowed to have any direct interaction with the appraiser, and borrowers and Realtors are only allowed to provide access to the property.  When I order an appraisal and interact with the AMC, I use a web-based system that allows us to share info, order the appraisal , and then download the appraisal, once it is completed.  It actually works pretty well.

From what I have experienced to date, the result of these changes have been higher appraisal costs, longer time frames to get the appraisal back to the lender, and lower home values (in some cases), which can sometimes lead to problems in financing for the customer.

These changes are very new to the industry, about 8 months now, and as a whole, will still take some time for everyone to get used to, but while not everyone is happy with the changes, the intent of the new law is good for the industry, it’s just that the borrower is being burdened with it’s cost.

As of this writing, there is still talk of HVCC being repealed. When and if  it does. I will have an update immediately.

By M.P. MCQUEEN

As buyers ease back into the battered real-estate market, they’re often hitting a stumbling block: fibbing by home sellers.

Eager to unload their abodes, some sellers exaggerate the size of their lots or their houses. Others minimize their property-tax or utility bills, conveniently forget about pests, or downplay flooding problems or noise.

Real-estate experts say that while such misrepresentations aren’t new, the tough market of the past few years has made buyers more wary, partly because they can’t expect rising home prices to bail them out of costly mistakes. As a result, deals are taking longer, and more of them are falling apart as buyers find properties sometimes aren’t all they’re supposed to be.

More than 30 states have disclosure laws requiring sellers to tell prospective buyers and agents about leaky roofs and other problems, according to the National Association of Realtors. But there’s often a gray area involving the disclosure of problems the seller may not know about, such as a long-ago flood or hidden mold.

States are also increasingly passing laws requiring homeowners to disclose environmental issues, such as the presence of radon gas, a contaminant linked to lung cancer, and underground fuel tanks. In California, the checklist of required disclosures is so long that a cottage industry has sprung up of firms that help sellers prepare the forms.

Given the complexity of disclosure laws, it’s not surprising that potential buyers don’t hear about every problem in a house. Besides the issue of fibbing, sellers may genuinely not know about problems. And even if they do, the laws generally don’t apply to bank-owned homes transferred in foreclosures, which now constitute a larger share of sales.

Buyers need to do their own due diligence and not rely exclusively on what sellers and agents say. They should hire an independent home inspector or home-inspection engineer, one not referred by the seller—and be aware that real-estate agents typically represent the seller.

Here are some of the common misrepresentations and white lies that buyers may hear as they shop for a house, according to real-estate experts and state regulators:

• “This house is on two acres.” Disputes about property dimensions—how many square feet in a house or condo, or its exact boundaries—are common. Sometimes buyers don’t learn the exact dimensions until the lender’s appraisal. 

Listing agents usually accept a seller’s word on property dimensions, says Diane Saatchi, a senior vice president at Saunders & Associates, a real-estate firm in Bridgehampton, N.Y. “We tell everyone to verify,” she says. Smaller dimensions also can cause an appraisal to come in lower than the agreed-upon purchase price. Low appraisals are a leading cause of ruined deals in today’s market. A properly worded appraisal contingency in the purchase contract would allow you to scuttle the deal or find other financing if the appraisal comes in low, says New York real-estate attorney Michael Xylas.

• “We don’t have pests.” A basic home inspection generally doesn’t include a peek inside walls or underground for termites and mold, which are among the top complaints. Inspections for mold and radon gas also generally aren’t included; usually buyers must order these inspections separately. Other inside-the-wall problems include faulty wiring and old plumbing, which also may require specialists.

James Holtzman, a financial adviser at Legend Financial Advisors Inc. in Pittsburgh, says sellers of the 1901 house he bought in August 2006 said its electrical wiring was completely upgraded, yet an electrical inspection revealed only one of three floors had been totally upgraded. The seller then knocked $6,000 off the sales price before they went to contract so Mr. Holtzman, 35 years old, could pay for the necessary work.

• “This place never floods.” Even arid states such as Arizona and New Mexico have occasional flash floods, and water and drainage problems aren’t always obvious. June Walbert, 52, a certified financial planner at USAA, a financial-services company, says her San Antonio house received a clean bill of health from a home inspector before she bought it six years ago. But 10 days after she moved in, the sewer backed up, flooding the house, and she had to fork over $2,800 for repairs. “It was a rude surprise,” says Ms. Walbert, who adds she asked her home inspector and the seller for compensation, but didn’t get it.

Bill Richardson, outgoing president of the American Society of Home Inspectors, says a general home inspection wouldn’t catch that unless the sewer line was visible from the basement or water backed up into sinks and tubs or toilets.

• “Taxes and maintenance costs are low.” Home buyers often gripe about tax and utilities bills that are higher than sellers said they were. Homeowner association and condo dues and assessments are also common complaints. Sometimes sellers simply underestimate the bills, or forget to include recent or expected increases, agents and brokers say. Taxes can also be deceptively low because of unrecorded improvements like decks and finished basements. Ask to see recent bills, and check with the tax assessor’s office for up-to-date information.

• “This is a quiet neighborhood.” Sellers may play down distractions that could drive you crazy, such as barking dogs or idling buses. A charming park by day could be a teen hangout at night. Your best bet is to view a property at different times of the day. “I can’t tell you how many times in my career buyers didn’t go there in the night time, even though I told them to. You spend more time in the house at night than during the day,” says Ms. Saatchi, the New York real-estate agent. Talk to neighbors and peruse the local newspapers and blogs to get a feel for a place, and check with police for crime.

• “There’s going to be a golf course, a pool and a party room.” Builders of many developments that broke ground during the housing boom ran out of money before the project was completed. Many homeowner and condo associations also are strapped because of delinquencies and defaults. Some states require upfront disclosures about this, but you should also ask neighbors, not just sellers, about any promised facilities. Also, check titles to be sure that specific parking spaces, storage units or other facilities are included in a property sale