The Stimulus Package

Today may be the day that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (aka the Stimulus Package) is passed; the Senate is voting on it right now. It is anticipated that it will be on President Obama’s desk to sign into law this weekend. While we don’t have all of the information about this Act, here are some highlights:

Contains a record-setting $10.472 billion in funding for the USDA Guaranteed Rural Housing Program to insure Rural Housing mortgages. These funds are in addition to funds the program has already received through the Continuing Resolution, as well as additional funding expected from Fiscal Year 2009 Appropriations legislation or further Continuing Resolution legislation. Again: WE HAVE NEVER STOPPED CLOSING AND FUNDING USDA RURAL HOUSING LOANS AND WILL CONTINUE TO DO THEM EVEN WHILE OTHER LOCAL LENDERS HAVE STOPPED AND ARE TELLING YOU THEY ARE OUT OF MONEY! There was a rumor that the USDA guarantee fee was going up as part of the Stimulus Package; it will remain unchanged at 2.0% for purchase transactions. There was a tax credit increase requested by the Senate; it has since been scaled down to $8,000 (or 10% of the value of the home, which ever is lower) from $15,000, which is still $500 above where it currently is. This is for any first time homebuyers who purchase homes from the start of this year until the end of November. It starts phasing out for couples with incomes above $150,000 and single filers with incomes above $75,000. Buyers will have to repay the credit IF they sell their homes within three years.

 More details will be provided to you concerning the impact of the Stimulus Plan once we go through the final version that is signed into law. Until that time, none of these are in effect yet.