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Today I saw a friend whom I haven’t see for three months and with whom we last discussed his dismal mortgage situation and trying for loan modification. And today, he said:”Guess Who's Got His Loan Modified!?"

I could not be happier when he told me yes, he got his loan modified!!! And with Bank of America no less (BofA has a not so great reputation when we negotiate short sales for our clients although I have seen a lot of improvements lately)!

This is a very nice young man who bought his house at the top of the market two years ago, got a 100% interest only loan and his interest adjusted to 7+ and 8+% respectively. Due to the decreaes in equity, he was not able to refinance. His mortgage was $4,000 a month when we talked last time, and he could hardly get by.

He bought this house to make a home for his young family and he wants to keep it, he does not want to short sale the home! He was quite worried.

He told me triumphantly that his new mortgage now has an interest rate of 3% for five years and then adjusts to 4% for the rest of the loan (25 years). His new mortgage is $2,000 a month!!!   The amount is less than what he would have paid in rent!

I asked if he had to pay somebody for this service, and he said that the good fellows at Marin Family Action helped in with all that and they did not charge him anything.

Marin Family Action is a volunteer organization with a new HOME SAVE PROJECT to help residents saving their homes. They also work closely with Marin Housing Authority, HUD; and their goals is to help prospective or current homeowners in housing related issues. 

Note that the service is FREE for low-income families and some fee might be charged depending on the income level to help subsidize the volunteer program. NEVER PAY UPFRONT for these kind of services without any guarantee from the service providers -there are just to many scams out there - we, the Realtors, being in the frontline, hear a lot of stories!

MAKE SURE YOU LOOK FOR HELP ON LOAN MODIFICATION FIRST before you short sale your home; contact organizations such as Marin Family Action or myself for help if needed.

I will be very glad to help you keep your house!

The previous CA Home Buyers Tax Credit program was so successful, Governor Schwarzenegger signed Assembly Bill 183, the Homebuyer Tax Credit legislation, into law to stimulate housing market for first time homebuyers who purchase either existing homes or new constructions.  

AB 183 will provide $200 million for home buyer tax credits, allocating $100 million for qualified first-time home buyers of existing homes and $100 million for purchasers of new, or previously unoccupied, homes.

The eligible taxpayer who purchases a qualified personal residence on and after May 1, 2010, and on or before Dec. 31, 2010, or who purchases a qualified principal residence on and after Dec. 31, 2010, and before Aug. 1, 2011, pursuant to an enforceable contract executed on or before Dec. 31, 2010, will be able to take the allowed tax credit.

The credit is equal to the lesser of 5 percent of the purchase price or $10,000, in equal installments over three consecutive years. Under AB 183, purchasers will be required to live in the home for at least two years or forfeit the credit (i.e., repay it to the state).

The positive impact of the federal home buyer tax credit is clear. Nearly 40 percent of first-time home buyers said they would not have purchased a home if the federal tax credit for first-time home buyers was not offered, according to C.A.R. research conducted last year.

The state’s previous home buyer tax credit program was so successful that it ran out of tax credits by the end of June 2009, eight months before it was set to expire and just as housing markets appeared to be turning a corner. Unlike last year’s legislation, AB 183 adds a tax credit for the purchase of an existing home by a first-time home buyer.

AB 183 will significantly contribute to the effort to stimulate jobs-creation within California's housing market by helping to incentivize first-time home buyers to purchase homes that have been abandoned, foreclosed upon and returned to the lender, or have been sitting on the market for extended periods of time. It is these homes that will require substantial rehabilitation by the new owners, which will in turn generate a tremendous increase in jobs and accessory purchases connected to home improvement activities.