Do you plan to buy one of the many Columbus OH homes for Sale and take advantage of the home buyer tax credit? If you do, you should read this article from beginning to end. Otherwise, you may miss out on one of the best incentives home buyers ever had from the US government.
The deadline for the tax credit is April 30, 2010. On that date you must have a binding contract. Then you still have 2 months to actually close the purchase.
These days, many Columbus OH homes for sale are listed as shortsales. This means that the seller owes more than the home is worth and asks the lender to accept a payoff less than the full mortgage amount, so he/she can sell the property.
Shortsales present excellent opportunities for home buyers. I personally completed more than 200 shortsales over the past 5 years.
But there’s a catch! Because you need the approval of the mortgage lender or maybe even 2 lenders, if the seller had a first and second mortgage on the house, you can’t predict when the transaction will close. It all depends on how soon the lender responds and approves the payoff.
Most shortsale approvals take a minimum of 30 days. If more than one lender is involved, there is a lot of back and forth between the seller and both lenders, and it may take much longer. We listed shortsales that did not close for more than 12 months, despite the fact that I had 2 or 3 offers on the property. The bank just would not respond!
With most shortsale transactions the seller has financial difficulties. This means that they may be behind on car payments and credit cards. Therefore, liens other than the home mortgage could be recorded on the property. It is almost impossible to get rid of them.
Here is my recommendation: If you want to take advantage of the home buyer tax credit, which will expire at the end of April, you should not gamble on shortsales.
Your best bet is buying a HUD home. Why? Because HUD homes have a bidding deadline and you will know if your offer was accepted or rejected the next day. You also know, that the government is the owner of the property and has free and clear title.
Another excellent choice is the regular, retail purchase from a home owner. You Columbus real estat agent should make sure that there are no contingencies in the contract, that are out of your control.
Thanks for reading the susannenovak.com Blog!
Posted by: Susanne Novak, ABR, FIS, GRI
Columbus Real Estate Agent helping First Time Buyers.
(614) 975-9650