Housing "Rescue" Bill

There is a lot to the new Housing Bill, some good, and so very bad. I will have a few posts over the next few days explaining it as I get through the lengthy bill myself. The first provision I would like to discuss is the one I see as being a huge issue.

The new bill eliminates seller down payment assistance for FHA loans. These were the last 100% financing loans that were still available. I realize that eliminating these may help down the road, let's look at the current predicament that we're in. Currently, the majority of homes being purchased under $225K are FHA loans. We were finally starting to see a turn in the lower end market with a lot of homes selling with multiple offers in this price range. Once these entry level homes start to sell, the sellers are then able to "move up" into larger more expensive homes and thus helping the current market tremendously. The higher end homes can NOT start selling until the entry level homes start to sell and by eliminating the FHA seller contributions you're eliminating tens of thousands of first time buyers.

I will be talking about more aspects of this bill down the road, including the $7,500 tax REBATE/LOAN for first time buyers. If you have a home under $250K and you're thinking about selling, I'd recommend getting on the MLS immediately to take advantage of the influx of buyers would should see over the next 30 days (bill goes into effect Oct. 1, 2008).

As always, Sell your home on the MLS & Realtor.com only $295 www.295List.com