Frederick County Homebuyer Assistance on the way

Homebuyer Assistance is on its way for Frederick County. The Neighborhood Conservation Initiative receive only half of what the originally applied for, but half is way better than nothing at all. Here are some of the details emailed to me by the County. Give me a call if you are ready to see what you can buy in today’s market.

Frederick County Homebuyer Assistance Loan Programs

Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD)

520 North Market Street

Frederick, MD  21701

APPLICATION FOR ASSISTANCE WITH DOWN PAYMENTS AND CLOSING COSTS

The following are applicable to all programs:

• A ratified sales contract must be submitted with the application.
• House price caps may exist depending on funding source (e.g., FHA, USDA, CDA, Fannie Mae).
• Loans have 0% interest and are deferred.
• The home must be the primary residence and in Frederick County.

• DHCD prepares and records lien documents to secure repayment to the BOCC.  The lien documents are recorded after settlement with DHCD and disbursement of the funds.
• The lien documents require repayment on: 1) the earlier of the sale, refinance or transfer of title on the property; or 2) when the property is no longer the primary residence of the owner.
• Income limits apply to all programs and are a percentage of the Washington area median income (AMI) limit set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and updated annually.

Programs may be used together, if applicable.
Neighborhood Conservation Initiative (NCI)

1. Have a total gross income at or below 120% HUD AMI.
2. Purchase a foreclosed home.
3. Purchase a home in a ZIP code area of 21701, 21702, 21703 or 21716.
4. Complete a 16-hour homeownership education and counseling program through the Frederick Community Action Agency (FCAA); 8 hours before settlement.
5. Obtain a home inspection and home warranty.
6. Have an Energy Audit completed before settlement (provided by FCAA).

Homebuyer Assistance Program (HAP)

1. Have a total gross income at or below 70% of the Washington AMI.
2. Be a first time homebuyer.

American Dream (used with USDA mortgage only)

1. Household income is subject to income, credit, and affordability criteria of the HOME program and USDA.
2. Be a first time homebuyer.
3. Purchase a home located outside of Frederick City in a rural area of the county as determined by USDA.
4. Use the USDA determination of house price limits.
5. Complete a homeownership counseling program.

Government release new website Making Home Affordable

If you are looking to modify your loan or refinance your mortgage, the government created a new tool to help you.  The problem with some home owners is that they make the payments months in and month out, but it keeps getting harder as the economy continues to strain every dollar they have.  The Making Home Affordable Program is suppose to make that easier.  Since today is the first day, we will have to wait to see how successful it really is.  Some programs that have been created are only “feel good” programs to make the public think that home owners are being saved.  Most programs only affect a very small portion of the the troubled home owners.

The other home owner this is trying to help is the ones that cannot make the payments on a consistent basis.  The idea is to help you to re-modify the loan and lower your payments.

Everyone wants to make their home affordable today.  We really need to stop the bleeding first.  I just hope this really helps owners stay in their home and not go to foreclosure.   Click the website and see if you qualify. Let me know how it works out for you.

On Edit:

I went through the website for the loan modification section and it qualifies you based on a few questions.  Then it tells you to make sure you have the following documents and information available;

CHECKLIST

• Information about the monthly gross (before tax) income of your household, including recent pay stubs if you receive them or documentation of income you receive from other sources.
• Your most recent income tax return.
• Information about your savings and other assets
• Information about your first mortgage, such as your monthly mortgage statement.
• Information about any second mortgage or home equity line of credit on the house.
• Account balances and minimum monthly payments due on all of your credit cards.
• Account balances and monthly payments on all your other debts such as student loans and car loans.
• A letter describing any circumstances that caused your income to be reduced or expenses to be increased (job loss, divorce, illness, etc.) if applicable.

It then tells you to contact your mortgage servicer.  It also directs you to the original preforeclosure help website call “Hope Now“  Obvisouly with the bail out of the lenders by taking over 750 billion dollars of bad loans by the government, they are allowing the banks to work a little stress free on their notes that they service.

Frederick County Recycle Program has a new website for pick up times

DEPARTMENT OF SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT

Office of Recycling

9031 Reich’s Ford Road • Frederick, Maryland 21704

www.co.frederick.md.us/recycling

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 20, 2009

CONTACT: Annmarie Creamer

Recycling Outreach Program Coordinator

301-600-7405 or acreamer@fredco-md.net

TTY: Use Maryland Relay

County Offers Larger Carts for Recycling Enthusiasts

Website Features Are Also Part of New Program Benefits

FREDERICK, MD – Many residents have shown such enthusiasm for the new single-stream recycling program that the Office of Recycling is offering larger carts to households currently participating in curbside collection. The largest containers available are 95-gallon, wheeled carts which offer 32% more recycling capacity than a standard-sized 65-gallon recycling cart.

Dawn Adams, Frederick County’s Recycling Program Manager, said, “We are pleased with the early success of the single stream recycling program and wish to thank residents for their support of this important endeavor. When comparing recent rates to the same timeframe a year ago, many more residents are now participating in the program. In addition, initial observations indicate that increased quantities of materials are being recycled by many households.”

Residents who regularly produce large quantities of recyclables may exchange their recycling containers for a larger capacity model. This may be done by placing a request with the residential curbside service provider, Allied Waste, via email at frederickrecycles@republicservices.com or by telephone at 301-694-6498.

For occasional surpluses of recyclables, or for households awaiting delivery of a new cart, materials may be set out next to a county-issued cart or bin in paper bags, cardboard boxes, plastic totes or any container approximately the same size as an 18-gallon blue bin. To conserve space, corrugated cardboard can also be placed alongside carts and bins. One key benefit of the new recycling program is that cardboard no longer needs to be broken down prior to collection.

County Offers Larger Carts for Recycling Enthusiasts – Page Two

New “When Do I Recycle” Website Feature

The county’s recycling website is continually updated with information in response to frequently asked questions by residents. One recent addition is a web page where residents can enter their street address and receive information on the recycling collection schedule specific for their neighborhood. Residents are invited to visit http://www.co.frederick.md.us/WhenDoIRecycle to take advantage of this new user-friendly website search feature.

Helpful information about what to recycle, who can recycle and other details relevant to residential recycling and waste reduction can also be found at the county website, http://www.co.frederick.md.us/recycle
or by calling 301-600-2960.

The Frederick Board of County Commissioners and the Department Solid Waste Management officially launched single stream curbside collection of recyclable materials in January for residents in existing service areas. The benefits of this program will be extended to new service areas this spring, with all single-family homes in the county being offered curbside pick-up of recyclables. Residents who have never had curbside service can look forward to receiving recycling carts and program information in the coming months.

The single stream program aims to make recycling an easier, more efficient process in order to increase recycling rates. More materials are now accepted and less pre-processing of recyclables is required. Residents no longer have to sort items, effectively making recycling as easy as throwing something away— but with the benefit conserving resources and protecting our environment.

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What does the Stimulus Package mean to me – the first time home buyer?

You can read over the stimulus plan for yourself it is all right here (House Bill part A) and here (House Bill part B) for your entertainment. It is broken into two sections because it is HUGE (don’t open links if you are on dial-up, the package would of expired by the time you got to read it.) I think they want to bore the public to death with all the verbiage to hide all the garbage that is going elsewhere. But I am not here to talk politics; I vowed not to bring politics into this little blog of mine. I don’t need the endless bantering about the democrats and the republicans.

I just want Frederick First time home buyers to know what’s in it for them. You have heard of that old radio station WII FM (What’s In It For Me.) Well here’s the low down on it.

• $8,000 Tax Credit
• You got less than one year! This offer expires 12/01/2009
• Must be your principal residence.
• This is a tax credit and you can get a refund for unused amount when you file.
• You can’t earn more than $75,000 by yourself or $150,000 jointly
• First time buyer is defined as not owning a home in the last three years
• No repayment unless you sell before owning for three years
• Effective date 1/1/2009 – NOW!

Here’s the document that outline the changes from the previous credit. You can see it for yourself.

Now what do you need to do? Well, get off the fence first of all. Everyone has been waiting for the golden opportunity. Unfortunately without Madame Cleo Tarot card, we can’t look into the future. (That’s a joke, her cards didn’t work either.) If we knew when the market was going to peak or stop tumbling, we would all be Warren Buffet, but we are not. We are sitting close to the Perfect Storm for buyers. The sellers had their day in the earlier part of this decade. You have near rock bottom prices on homes, a tax credit worth 8 grand, interest rates at the best they ever been and an inventory full of possibilities.

• Contact a local lender and get pre-approved
• Contact me to send you a list of homes that meet your needs
• Contact your friends to show them your new home

Have a great day

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