Great News About the Real Estate Market From CNN!

Homebuilder confidence jumps
Signs of recovery – and perhaps a bottom – emerge in housing market report; largest monthly increase since 2003.

By Aaron Smith, CNNMoney.com staff writer
April 15, 2009: 1:00 PM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — In a strong sign that the housing market may be picking up, builder confidence in April made its most dramatic increase in nearly seven years, according to an industry report.

The Housing Market Index, a survey-based measurement of sales, as well as sales expectations, rose by more than 50% in April, according to the National Association of Home Builders, which compiles the index with Wells Fargo.

The index rose to 14 from its prior level of 9, which was the biggest increase since May 2003.
0:00 /3:54Dr. Doom’s predictions

“After a very long period of extreme distress, it’s given the builders some sense of reaching a bottom,” said David Crowe, chief economist for the association.

The index has had a volatile history. It was launched in January 1985 with a baseline level of 50. It fell to 20 in 1991 and then peaked above 70 in the bubble years of 1998 and 1999. The index fell below 50 again in 2001, then ascended gradually until June 2005, when it reached 72.

After that, the index fell into its most prolonged descent. There have been occasional lifts, but they have been temporary. Last April it was at 20 and then sank to the single digits in November, where it remained until this month’s increase.

The survey is a composite of ratings, based on builders’ perceptions of single-family home sales, their expectations for sales over the next six months and volume of prospective buyers.

Of these various components, the largest increase in April came from sales expectations for the next six months. According to Crowe, this is also the area that had suffered the steepest declines in recent months.

The market index rose in every region of the United States in April, with housing activity in the Northeast growing at twice the pace of the West. The index in the Northeast rose eight points, for a total of 16; the West gained four points, for a total of 9.
More housing reports on the way

Going forward, the government will release its monthly report on the construction market for residential housing on Thursday. The projections don’t paint as optimistic a picture.

The U.S. Census Bureau is expected to announce that building permits totaled 550,000 in March, according to a consensus of economist estimates compiled by Briefing.com. This would be nearly unchanged from the prior month’s tally of 547,000 permits.

The Census Bureau is also expected to report that housing starts totaled 550,000 in March, according to Briefing.com consensus. That would be a significant decline from 583,000 in the prior month. To top of page

Some of our listings are selling in days of being on the market!

Some of our listings are receiving multiple offers and they are not the cheapest house on the street!

76% of the offers that we received last week went under contract – compared to 50% only a few months ago would go under contract! – Buyers are becoming more realistic with their offers.

2 offers came back from the dead last week alone.

2 reverse offers are in negotiations from last week.

We have 3 unrepresented buyers this week – today is TAX day and Wednesday.

Inspections are a little troubling – please review Rhonda’s article and video on the Importance of Pre-Inspection.

No contracts have died due to financing in a VERY long time! The buyers are more qualified.

- Look forward to working on your contract soon!
- Stacey McDole

P.S. Please remember to call us so that we can get feedback on your second showings and do a reverse offer.

Let’s face it. Selling a home can be stressful. For sellers to keep their sanity during a strong buyers market, a pre-inspection of the home should be a prerequisite prior to listing. Every seller thinks they have the best house on the best lot in the best neighborhood, but they may not know what secrets lurk in their walls. A certified home inspector can do a thorough inspection of all major systems, building materials and structural stability of the home.

In a Buyer’s Market, there are more houses per buyer for sale. With so much inventory, this can give the buyer an unfair advantage over the seller once negotiations begin. If they don’t get what they want, they move on to the next house on the list.

During this time, seller’s can expect to see lowball offers. Every buyer wants the deal of a lifetime. Through the process of negotiating, this lowball offer could result in a closing. What happens in between is the second, sometimes hardest negotiations: the inspection negotiations.

Once a contract is binding, the buyers will have an inspection done on the home. They will go through the inspection report and ask the sellers for certain concerns be fixed. There is no limit to what they can ask for.

At this point, the seller probably feels they have given their house away for thousands below what they feel it should have sold for. While the seller is down, the buyer hits them again with a laundry list of repairs to be done. The emotional seller puts their foot down and ceases negotiating any repairs. The buyer walks. Now, the seller has no buyer and is not selling his/her house.

Some sellers have become so desperate to sell their house that they drastically reduce their price. This depletes the seller’s negotiation power and may leave them in a very bad position leading into the inspection negotiations. The seller, tapped out and a few thousand in the hole, becomes extremely uptight and frustrated and refuses to address any repairs. Again, what was an amicable business transaction results in the buyer walking.

Having a pre-inspection done can give the seller a competitive edge in a Buyer’s Market. The seller could have most of the repairs taken care of prior to selling or not be surprised by the items found in any subsequent inspections. Spending a little money now and being an empowered seller later can help reduce the stress of selling a home. It’s simple. Be smarter than the market and invest in a pre-inspection!

Article & Interview By Margarette Burnette • Bankrate.com and CNBC.com

In today’s economy, it’s tough enough to sell just one home in a neighborhood. But when there are multiple “for sale” signs on the same street, sellers often fear they’re in for an especially long, trying experience.

A crowded market creates visions of price wars among neighbors who’ve lived on the same block for years. Sellers may also worry that potential buyers will conclude that something must be wrong with the
neighborhood if everyone wants to leave.

Surprisingly, neighborhoods with multiple homes for sale may have a few unique marketing advantages, says Rhonda Duffy, owner and broker of Duffy Realty in Atlanta.

“As a buyer, it’s easier to visit a street that has several homes for sale than to make a trip to just one property,” she says.

When more buyers visit your street, there’s a better chance they’ll see your home. That may boost your odds of getting a good offer.

Here are seven things you can do to improve your odds of a sale when the neighbors are selling too.

Strength in numbers

Here are seven ways to boost the odds of selling a home when the neighbors are listing theirs too.

7 home sales secrets

1. Suggest a joint open house
2. ‘Sell’ your entire neighborhood
3. Give easy access to your home
4. Stage your home
5. Price your house right
6. Use creativity to boost buyer interest
7. If your neighbor sells first, celebrate

1. Suggest a joint open house

If the family next door and the people down the street have houses on the market, suggest hosting a combined open house on the same day, Duffy says.

“Try to work with the other sellers so that everyone is supporting each other instead of competing against each other,” she says. “You might even agree to distribute each other’s fliers.”

A combined open house can draw more people while also giving buyers a glimpse of how well neighborhood residents get along. If the interactions are positive, it reflects well on the sellers, Duffy says.

Lori McGuire, a real estate agent and president of the McGuire Team, a part of Remax Select One in south Orange County, Calif., knows it can be hard to get competing owners to work together.

However, she says tough market conditions often force sellers, and their Realtors, to give it a try.

For instance, McGuire has talked to Realtors about taking turns putting up “for sale” signs in neighborhoods with many homes on the market. That way, buyers who drive into the neighborhood “don’t see 20 [signs] on the same street.”

“That number may seem hard to believe, but it’s possible for that many houses to be up for sale if the home is in a newer neighborhood and it’s competing with other homes that the developer just built,” she says.

2. ‘Sell’ your entire neighborhood

These days, it’s not enough to simply sell your home; you also have to go the extra mile to promote your neighborhood.

“Help your buyer get past the fear that something may be wrong with the neighborhood by describing why your community is great,” says Duffy.

For example, in your brochures, consider including relevant information about an active community social calendar, friendly neighbors or mature, well-manicured area landscaping.

Chances are the neighbors who are selling their homes are sprucing up their properties to enhance curb appeal. That should make your job easier.

Another way to plug the neighborhood is to write a seller’s letter to potential buyers that anticipates and answers likely questions.

“Explain why you are moving, assuming it’s for a positive reason, and how you’re leaving something great behind,” says Duffy. “Give the impression that you’re happily moving away, not that you’re happy to be moving away.”

Make copies of the letter and place them alongside your fliers, brochures and other important sales material.

3. Give easy access to your home

When several of your neighbors are selling too, it’s best to be prepared to show the home quickly.

“If there are multiple listings in your area, you’ll probably have a higher number of impulse house showings,” says Myra Nourmand, a real estate agent based in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Shoppers may have overlooked your house while searching online listings. When they physically visit your neighborhood to see another house on the market, they might spot the “for sale” sign in your yard and ask their agent to show them your property too.

It’s reasonable to expect people to give notice before showing up on your doorstep, but don’t make potential buyers jump through hoops before they can see your home, Nourmand says.

Severely restricting the hours your residence is available for showings could cost you a prospect.

4. Stage your home

Home staging means decorating your dwelling in a way that appeals to a potential buyer, says Julie Dana, home stager and author of “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Staging Your Home to Sell.”

“When done right, your home can really stand out from the others in the neighborhood,” she says.

Dana’s top home-staging tips include:

Home-staging tips

* Make sure address numbers are clear and easy to see from the curb. Otherwise, buyers might drive to your neighbor’s house by mistake.
* Add lighting to make the house look great at night. “People often do an evening ‘drive-by’ before they decide to ask for a showing,” says Dana.
* Clean and de-clutter. Mail, bathroom toiletries and kids’ toys need to be out of view.
* De-personalize. The knickknacks that make a house a home can distract buyers from visualizing a property as their own so remove personal items such as family photographs, trophies and vacation pictures.
* Stylize the home with up-to-date designs. Doing something simple, such as placing a slipcover over an old sofa, can greatly improve a room’s appearance.

Home staging is essential because even in this tough market, buyers tend to choose a home based on emotion rather than price, McGuire says. “Consumers are price savvy, and they’ll make sure they’re getting a good buy, but it is the emotional appeal of a nice-looking home that seals the deal,” she says.

For sellers who want extra decorating help, Dana recommends hiring a professional home stager.

“One advantage that we have is we can give tips to a homeowner that the real estate agent might be reluctant to share,” she says.

For example, if a house smells bad, the home stager can break the news to the owner and offer constructive suggestions for eliminating the odor.

“I’ve often had to be the bad guy in many situations,” Dana says.

In most cases, the owner is grateful for the feedback, Dana says.

Fees for home stagers vary according to the level of service needed, Dana says. An initial consultation with recommendations usually costs between $100 and $400.

Danielle Babb, a real estate analyst in New York, suggests sellers who plan to stage their homes complete major cosmetic improvement projects, such as replacing worn carpet.

Buyers are more reluctant to take on even minor fixer-uppers in this economy, Babb says.

“People have tighter budgets, and lenders have even tighter loan restrictions, so buyers don’t necessarily have the extra $2,000 out of pocket to put into a new home,” she says. “The places that look like they’re in move-in condition will be more appealing.”

5. Price your house right

Since home values are falling in many markets, it can be hard to know what your asking price should be. A good way to determine the best dollar figure is to study recent sales prices of comparable homes in your neighborhood.

Real estate agents can look up these “comps” for you and suggest a fair value. Web sites such as Zillow.com and Trulia.com also provide data on recent sales.

Resist the urge to ask for more than what your home is worth, Nourmand says.

“If your asking price is higher than it should be, you’ll just help everybody else in your neighborhood sell their homes first,” she says.

However, if you’re convinced that you’re asking for a fair amount, don’t get into a price war with your neighbor, says Duffy. Instead, simply let the buyer know why your home is worth more than another one that’s selling for less.

“Justify the value of your home,” Duffy says. “If you’ve made upgrades, highlight them. Most buyers won’t know that your granite countertops were a $6,000 improvement you made in your kitchen unless you tell them.”

She says the same principle applies if there are foreclosures in your neighborhood. Let buyers know that your higher-priced home may be the better deal.

“A foreclosure usually has a different feel from a move-in ready home, so it will probably be priced a little lower,” Duffy says. “But it may require much more expensive work after it’s purchased.”

6. Use creativity to boost buyer interest

Houses are staying on the market longer, even when the seller does everything right, says Duffy. To keep the listing from appearing stale, it’s important for sellers to continuously tweak their strategies.

“Rewrite your sales ads every few weeks, and revisit your selling Web site and change the pictures a little,” she says. “Take pictures from the right side of the house and post them for a few weeks then switch them out with pictures taken from the left side or the front of the house.”

As buyers browse the listings online, they may stop at your description and give it a new viewing because they hadn’t seen that particular picture before.

If people visited your home but didn’t make an offer, check for any feedback. That information could let you know how your home compares with others in the neighborhood and whether or not you need to make any improvements.

7. If your neighbor sells first, celebrate

It might be disappointing to find out that your neighbor’s house has sold while yours still sits on the market with no offers.

Nourmand suggests looking on the bright side. “Tell yourself that the competition has removed itself from the market,” she says. “You’re now that much closer to finding the perfect buyer.”

Don’t forget, there are different styles of homes within neighborhoods. They have different features, so it makes sense that they will appeal to different buyers, Duffy says.

“Just focus your efforts on what you can control,” she says. “Give your house its best presentation on the market, and hopefully you too will find the perfect buyer.”

For more advice and tutorials on Selling Your Home – Click Here

Out of the blue, I was contacted by the Canadian Bureau de la concurrence which is the The Canadian Competition Bureau. The Canadian Competition Bureau is the equivalent of the Federal Trade Commission or the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division in the United States. I was asked to be interviewed about minimum services in real estate just as I had been involved with the Georgia Real Estate Commissioner’s Task force with the USDOJ. They wanted to know how my business model (Duffy Realty of Atlanta) works for both myself and for the client. They were very thorough and showed up with at least 4 pages of questions. The questions ranged from how I do things to how the customer responds in each instance. They came to my office for the interview and toured every department. Think of that, wow, they flew to Georgia to meet me – I really didn’t think too much about this until afterwards. They said that they researched me on the Internet – amazing the resources out in the public today.

Apparently, the Canadian MLS boards have very strict rules about what you can and can not do as agent members regarding listings. The MLS boards there are owned by the Realtor Associations just like they are in the U.S. This was odd to me as we as agents and brokers should be regulated by the U.S. and state laws, not the MLS boards who simply supply the tools. I don’t know how this has gotten so backwards. Well at least the DOJ is doing something about it now.

Anyway, all went well. They said that my real estate model would conform to the current rules of the Canadian MLS boards because we handle every aspect of the contract and we coach our clients on the selling side and that we appear to be as much of full service as any other full service company that they have in Canada or that they have researched in the U.S., although all of their interviews are confidential. We talked mainly about the selling side and briefly touched on the buying side and the buyer cash bonus that we give to our clients.

Thank you Canada for thinking of your consumers too! I personally appreciate all the work that the DOJ has done to protect consumers in the U.S. And I know that my clients appreciate it too. Saving over one billion dollars in listing commissions while getting a successful transaction done at the same time has really helped a lot of my clients with their personal transaction and help them uliminate their own personal recession.

- Rhonda Duffy

Properly preparing a home for sale can be a daunting, if not impossible task for homeowners to accomplish on their own. When you’ve lived in a home and have seen it every day, it’s extremely difficult to see the sometimes simple changes that can transform the space as a professional outsider would. Enter Simply Staged.

As Duffy’s preferred Home Stager, Simply Staged (www.TheSimplyStagedHome.com) specializes in re-thinking your home from a buyer’s standpoint to ensure it is as appealing as possible from the moment it pops up on the internet. Our proven home staging techniques go far beyond simply de-cluttering and de-personalizing. Simply Staged literally transforms each space from lived-in, personal style and decor to a diversely appealing model home that will generally sell faster and for more money than your un-staged neighbors. In fact, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found that staged home sell, on average, in 1/2 the time and for 3-10% net value above their unstaged neighbors. That speaks volumes.

How does Simply Staged do it? We work within each area of your house to create buyer-friendly rooms by rearranging furniture and accessories to accent the structural focal points of your home. Our goal is to ensure buyers instantly see the value of your home, rather than your personal things, and that every nook and corner is viewed as valuable real estate with a specific functioning purpose.

At each staging appointment, Simply Staged will implement tricks like swapping out furniture between rooms to better fit the scale of each space or the color scheme of the room, rather than your current arrangement that you set up for ideal tv viewing or as a great spot to read the paper. We will recommend soothing, earth-toned paint colors that give a seamless, inviting feeling to your home rather than some of the bolder colors you may have loved to live with. We give inexpensive fixes to issues that we know buyers will get stuck on, saving you hundreds if not thousands of dollars in the long run. Simply Staged recommends honest, reliable outside contractors to tackle any home preparation projects as quickly and inexpensively as possible, including painters, carpet cleaners, lawn maintenance companies, handymen and more. And we don’t take a dollar of commission in doing so. It’s just part of our value-added service to ensure your home preparation process is an enjoyable one.

Through a staging appointment, Simply Staged will give a professional, unbiased evaluation of your home, then we’ll work within your budget and availability to ensure your home shines to it’s best possible potential. We take the guesswork out of preparing your home for sale so you can feel confident that you’ve properly packaged your home as an appealing product buyers will want. Now let’s get started!!!

* Duffy clients receive a Verbal Staging rate of $300, and a Hands-On Staging rate of $500.

Hope this helps you get your goals met!
Tasha Moody

When will the buyers standing on the sideline get in the game? Interest rates are at all time lows. Sellers are being told this is a so called buyers market. Both buyers and sellers have heard all these stories by the so called experts. This trend will not last long so if you are a buyer and want to have an advantage you better get in the game.

- Bill Hanlin, Duffy Listing Team

Hi everyone,
I want to pass on a couple of bits of information I learned in a 2009 contracts class. Most people don’t realize that the GAR Purchase and Sale Agreement is improved every year along with varies other GAR forms. They are always making changes, some minor, but needless to say important. Do not assume if you bought a home a couple of years ago that the contract is the same… it’s not.You need to read the contract completely. Have your agent explain in detail and point out any changes. Ask questions if you don’t understand, once you go binding it might be to late.

For a buyer their are several important forms you should know about first- Protect Yourself When Buying a Home (form F13) this list 10 important suggestions to follow. Lets face it a home is one if not the largest purchase most of us will ever make. We should protect ourselves.

1. Read and Keep any signed contract.
2. Have the home inspected by a professional home inspector.
3. Inspect the neighborhood in which the home is located.
4. Have the home inspected for termites and other wood destroying organisms.
5. Thoroughly investigate issues of concern.
6. Get a survey of the property.
7. Make sure that an undeveloped lot can be developed.
8. Buy an owner’s title insurance policy.
9. Consider purchasing a Home Warranty.
10. Choose a buyers agent that can help guide you through the buying process.

Secondly, Reminder of Important Dates in Purchase and Sale Agreement.(form F76). Talk to your lender before you make an offer to find out your time-frame. How much time does your lender need to get an appraisal? In this changing market your lender might require more than one appraisal. You need a time-frame so you can estimate a closing date. Everyone gets this form the buyer,seller,listing agent,buyer agent and the lender. That way they all know when things are to be completed.

Third, An Appraisal Contingency Exhibit this is not new but very important in this changing market. As I said before lenders may do more than one appraisal and if they do they will use the lowest. You want to protect yourself if your purchase price is higher than the appraisal. Also, if you are buying a home in a community or subdivision you will want to have a Community Association Disclosure. This will inform you of special assessments that might be coming due.

For you Sellers out their we have a new great form. Source of Buyers Funds Exhibit (form F75). This form obligates the buyer to provide information describing in specific detail all the sources of the buyers funds to purchase the property within said days of binding agreement. You can get a loan commitment lender from the lender (this is not a pre-quail letter) Loan commitment means that the lender already has everything it needs regarding the buyer’s financial condition. Buyer also authorizes Seller and Listing Broker to communicate with any person providing information regarding Buyer’s source of funds.

Hope this information is helpful to you.

Happy buying and selling!

Mala Edwards

By Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine
Want to save a buck? How about a few hundred or a couple thousand?

We took a look at eight spending categories in your budget and identified dozens of ways you can keep more money. Whether you need to plug leaks in your spending, learn where to find the best deals or even trick yourself into shaving expenses, we’ve got something for everyone.

And here’s a bonus tip: Before you even start looking elsewhere in your budget to cut costs, start at the source with your paycheck. If you get a tax refund, that means you’re overpaying Uncle Sam from the beginning. Boost your take-home pay today by adjusting your tax withholding with your employer.

In that spirit of not overpaying anyone for anything, browse the sections below and keep more cash for yourself. Here’s how to save money on:

Investing.

Food.

Transportation.

Travel.

Utilities.

Phone service, Internet and TV.

Credit, debt and banking.

Entertainment.

Save money on investing
Enroll in a 401(k): Looking for a partner in wealth? Your company 401(k) is a smart choice because you defer paying taxes on your contributions, giving you a bigger paycheck now and allowing you to save more.

For example, if you contribute $200 per month, you’ll see only $150 less in each paycheck if you’re in the 25% tax bracket. (This assumes you’re investing in a traditional 401(k); if you invest in a Roth 401(k), you get no tax break upfront but all withdrawals can be tax-free in retirement.)

Plus, you’ll save even more money if your employer matches your contributions. A 50-cent-per-dollar match, for instance, is like getting an extra 50% return on your money.

(For more, read “7 hot 401(k) trends.”)

Open a Roth IRA: Any money you put into a Roth IRA grows absolutely tax-free. You won’t owe a dime now, nor when you cash it out in retirement.

If a 25-year-old contributes $5,000 each year until she retires and makes an average annual return of 8% on her investment, she’ll have $1.4 million saved by the time she retires at age 65. If she invested that money in a taxable account, however, she’d have only about $1 million if her earnings were taxed at 15% — that’s 28% less money.

(You can find out more by reading “Roth 401(k) brings tax-free retirement closer.”)

Look for inexpensive quality: Beating the market’s return consistently is a very hard thing to do, and few mutual fund managers can pull it off. So, if you can’t beat ‘em, why not join ‘em? Investing in dirt-cheap index funds and exchange-traded funds can be an inexpensive way to invest wisely.

Index funds simply track broad swaths of the market, and they don’t try to pick the best stocks. Yet investors come out ahead of most actively managed mutual funds.

Tax Credit for Home Buyers

First-time home buyers who purchase homes from the start of the year until the end of November 2009 may be eligible for the lower of an $8,000 or 10% of the value of the home tax credit. Remember a tax credit is very different than a tax deduction – a tax credit is equivalent to money in your hand, as opposed to a tax deduction which only reduces your taxable income.

The tax credit 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 home within three years.

Tax Credit Versus Tax Deduction

It’s important to remember that the $8,000 tax credit is just that…a tax credit. The benefit of a tax credit is that it’s a dollar-for-dollar tax reduction, rather than a reduction in a tax liability that would only save you $1,000 to $1,500 when all was said and done. So, if a home buyer were to owe $8,000 in income taxes and would qualify for the $8,000 tax credit, they would owe nothing.

Better still, the tax credit is refundable, which means the home buyer can receive a check for the credit if he or she has little income tax liability. For example, if a home buyer is liable for $4,000 in income tax, he can offset that $4,000 with half of the tax credit…and still receive a check for the remaining $4,000!

Phase-out Examples

According to the plan, the tax credit starts phasing out for couples with incomes above $150,000 and single filers with incomes above $75,000.

To break down what this phase-out means to home buyers who are over those amounts, the National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) offers the following examples:
Example 1: Assume that a married couple has a modified adjusted gross income of $160,000. The applicable phase-out to qualify for the tax credit is $150,000, and the couple is $10,000 over this amount. Dividing $10,000 by $20,000 yields 0.5. When you subtract 0.5 from 1.0, the result is 0.5. To determine the amount of the partial first-time home buyer tax credit that is available to this couple, multiply $8,000 by 0.5. The result is $4,000.

Example 2: Assume that an individual home buyer has a modified adjusted gross income of $88,000. The buyer’s income exceeds $75,000 by $13,000. Dividing $13,000 by $20,000 yields 0.65. When you subtract 0.65 from 1.0, the result is 0.35. Multiplying $8,000 by 0.35 shows that the buyer is eligible for a partial tax credit of $2,800.

For those tracking the math in the examples above, you may be wondering where the “$20,000” came from—that is, why you divide “$10,000 by $20,000” in the first example and “$13,000 by $20,000” in the second example. Here’s where the $20,000 comes into play:

The tax credit amount is reduced for buyers with a modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) of more than $75,000 for single taxpayers and $150,000 for married taxpayers filing a joint return. The tax credit amount is reduced to zero for taxpayers with MAGI of more than $95,000 (single) or $170,000 (married) and is reduced proportionally for taxpayers with MAGIs between these amounts.

In other words:

• $170,000 – $150,000 = the $20,000 in the first example
• $95,000 – $75,000 = the $20,000 in the second example

Remember, these are general examples. You should always consult your tax advisor for information relating to your specific circumstances.

Homes that Qualify

The tax credit is applicable to any home that will be used as a principal residence. Based on that guideline, qualifying homes include single-family detached homes, as well as attached homes such as townhouses and condominiums.

Jay Mitchell
Jay@LoansByJay.com