Land O Lakes Homes

HUD: Tax Credit Can Be Used on Closing Costs FHA-approved lenders received the go-ahead to develop bridge-loan products that enable first-time buyers to use the benefits of the federal tax credit upfront, according to eagerly awaited guidance from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on so-called home buyer tax credit loans that ...

HR 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, increases the $7,500 limit on an existing tax credit for first-time homebuyers to $8,000, extends its sunset from July 1 to Dec. 1, and eliminates a requirement to repay the credit. A first-time buyer is defined as someone who hasn't owned a principal residence in the last three ...

A bill that embraces the need for righting the housing market—the first big step toward economic recovery—was introduced Friday in the U.S. House of Representatives. H.R. 384, The TARP Reform and Accountability Act, was offered by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), chair of the House Financial Services Committee. The bill would require the ...

WASHINGTON – Oct. 8, 2008 – Pending home sales activity surged as buyers took advantage of low home prices and affordable interest rates, according to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR). The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI), a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in August, jumped 7.4 percent to 93.4 from an ...

Realtors and home builders are pleased Congress recognizes the need to stimulate the overall housing market, not just help borrowers facing foreclosure. The House included a tax credit for first-time home buyers in the housing measures that passed May 8. The tax credit would induce many Americans who don't own a home "to at least take a ...

"Dual-income customers should definitely buy a home now," says George Kaiser, vice president of banking operations for Northbrook Bank and Trust and West America Mortgage Co., its sister company. "People with assets in reserve and a credit score of at least 680 should buy as well. Anyone with a credit score less than that will have ...

Homeowners reluctant to sell because prices have fallen should do the math and realize that the market downturn could work in their favor, say real estate practitioners in hard-hit, but still pricey Boston. Their reasoning may work in many other parts of the country as well. “People are finding houses at prices they thought they’d ...

LOS ANGELES – April 8, 2008 – Canadians, especially those who live in U.S. border areas, are snapping up vacation homes in the U.S. as the Canadian dollar gains value against the declining American dollar. Developers in the finger lake areas of Washington State say more than 80 percent of buyers are Canadian. “The Canadians are ...

ORLANDO, Fla. — Nov. 28, 2007 – Disruptions in the mortgage market and tightening credit continued to impact Florida’s housing sector in October. Statewide, sales of existing single-family homes totaled 9,165 last month while 12,846 homes sold in October 2006 for a decrease of 29 percent in the year-to-year comparison, according ...

Euro Breaches $1.40 Mark LONDON - Weakness in the dollar catapulted the euro above the $1.40 level on Thursday for the first time in the European currency's five-year history. Speculation that Saudi Arabia could break the rial's peg to the dollar sent the greenback down against most major currencies, allowing the euro to break through the ...