The Boise Valley

Coldwell Banker kicked has just kicked off a national ad campaign to keep the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit on the radar of those who want to make the move to home ownership this year.  Many prospective buyers do not know the details of this program such as you must have something in contract by April 30th, you will not be able to file electronically if claiming this credit, or even that current owners are elegible for a tax credit as well.  Please visit my website at TheBoiseValley.com for more details or simple drop me a line and I'll be happy to shed light on this wonderful opportunity!

Applications for Home mortgages fell sharply last week to the lowest level in 9 years.  I think this was mostly due to buyers waiting out the eventual extension of the "Tax Credit".  Now that it has been extended and expanded, I suspect we'll see the mortgage activity begin to climb.  With the expansion including existing home owners we should actually see the application activity rise above anything we saw over the summer.  For a full explanation of the new criteria go HERE to see an excellent chart from the National Association of REALTORS.  There is also some excellent FAQs HERE.  If anyone out there is contemplating moving to The Boise Valley, or you already live here and have questions...give me a call, we'll chat!

So, we have a new name to go along with a new deadline...and even "new" criteria.  The "Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act" of 2009 extends the $8K for qualified "first-time" buyers and even expands to offer a credit of $6,500 for "qualified" buyers who are not first timers!  For complete explanation as well as some very good FAQs just click HERE.  While there has been some concern that this program is stealing sales from the near future...frankly that is above my pay grade.  As a REALTOR here in The Boise Valley, it's my responsiblity to concern myself with what's in my client's best interest.  I just have to have hope that smarter people than me have their hands on the wheel when it comes to the bigger picture.

I guess this is a perfect topic for me to write my first official blog post!  While there have been "rumors" for some time concerning an extension to the First Time Buyers Credit it appears that we should see something within the next week.

Senator Reid and other senior Democrats in the Senate have apparently reached an agreement to extend the expiring $8K tax credit for first-time home buyers, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd said Tuesday.

This is great news as "New Home" sales were down 3.6% last month.  My feeling is this is a direct result of the credit program sunsetting.  While the home inventory here in The Boise Valley is slowly coming down this is great news and will hopefully buoy the local market through the slower winter months.