Live on the Red Line - Real Estate

Get your $8,000 First-Time Buyers Credit Up Front

The Obama administration has put out the official word: Starting soon, first-time home buyers will be able to turn their $8,000 federal tax credits into cash for use at closing if they use Federal Housing Administration mortgage financing.

But in its final guidelines to lenders and buyers issued May 29, the Department of Housing and Urban Development clarified that purchasers obtaining FHA loans through private lenders will have to invest at least some of their own funds -- whether from personal savings or gifts from relatives -- in the form of a minimum 3.5 percent down payment.

Read more by going to the article link here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/04/AR2009060404629.html

Time to Invest: Don't Miss the DC Homeownership Expo and Foreclosure Clinic

The DC Department of Housing and Community Development, in partnership with the Greater Washington Urban League, the DC Housing Finance Agency and the DC Housing Authority, will hold the "DC Homeownership Expo and Foreclosure Clinic" on Saturday, June 20, 2009 at the Washington Convention Center.

 

This event, which will be held from 10 am - 2 pm, will provide residents with access to a variety of housing resources.  During the event, attendees will be able to receive free credit reports, as well as free credit and foreclosure prevention counseling.  Click here for more details:

http://newsroom.dc.gov/show.aspx/agency/dhcd/section/2/release/17119

Workshops at the Expo include:

• "Facing Foreclosure: What to Know, Who to Talk To and What to Avoid,"
• "Giving Seniors the Housing Resources They Need,"
• "The Ins and Outs of Home Rehabilitation,"
• "The Nuts and Bolts of District Programs for Homeownership," and
• "Battling Blight:  Best Practices from District Neighborhoods."