BOSTON HOMES BLOG

December data are down

— By: Marilyn Jackson

December home sales data reflect a slow market with soft prices, according to Timothy M. Warren Jr., CEO of the Warren Group, which publishes Banker & Tradesman. Its report was released Jan. 24. Home sales of single-family homes across the state dropped 5 percent in December in a year-over-year comparison, while condo sales dropped 15.75 [...]

City collects $9.4 million from non-profits

— By: Marilyn Jackson

The city has collected $9.4 million from non-profit, tax-exempt organizations for the first half of fiscal year 2012, a 24 percent increase from fiscal year 2011, Mayor Thomas M. Menino stated in a press release Friday. The city had requested $10.8 million. Guidelines for the PILOT or payment in lieu of taxes program were revised [...]

— By: Linda Goodspeed

Fannie Mae offers 'Deed for Lease'

Last week was good for homeowners of all kinds – struggling, affluent, prospective and current.

For the prospective, current and affluent homeowners, Congress extended and significantly expanded the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit. The original credit, part of President Obama’s stimulus package, was set to expire Nov. 30. It has been extended until April 30, 2010, and expanded to include current owners as well as more affluent buyers. 

This week I want to detail a new program announced by Fannie Mae that will allow struggling homeowners facing foreclosure to stay in their homes as tenants. The homeowner must transfer ownership of the property to the lender but can then rent the home at market rate (no more than 31 percent of the renter’s gross income).

The program, called Deed for Lease, is aimed at cutting down on empty, foreclosed properties – a target for vandals – that bring down the value of other properties in the neighborhood and community.

It should also give homeowners facing foreclosure, who cannot qualify for a loan modification, time to transition and get their lives back together by allowing them to stay in their home as tenants instead of just throwing them out on the street.

To be eligible, the homeowner’s mortgage must be guaranteed by Fannie Mae.(Fannie Mae does not make home loans directly to borrowers but buys about two-thirds of all mortgages on the secondary mortgage market.) Also, the borrower must not have been able to qualify previously for a loan modification or been able to renegotiate the mortgage.

To benefit from the new program, homeowners have to give up the deed to their home. In return, they will be able to rent the home for at least a year at market rate. Some leases might be renewable on a month-to-month basis. The home must be a primary residence, and there must be no other liens on the property.

Borrowers must be able to document the new rent is no more than 31 percent of their gross income. To obtain more information on the Deed for Lease program, visit Fannie Mae’s website at www.fanniemae.com.

  

 

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