Your First Home in Dutchess County

Do You Commute to NYC?

Randy Rutan — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 21:40:48 +0000

This home is first-time buyer friendly in terms of price and condition and it is only 3 miles to the New Hamburg train station.

You’ll enjoy the 2005-updated country kitchen featuring ample cabinets with pull outs, lazy susan & corian counters. Kitchen opens to spacious, private trek deck.

Other updates include central air and boiler. Property is amazingly close to elementary school, parks and recreation, mall shopping and more. $275,000

CLICK HERE to visit the virtual tour or Contact Randy Rutan for more information about this property or any other property for sale in Dutchess County.

Ideal first home in Poughkeepsie

Randy Rutan — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 20:18:00 +0000

New on market today, this 3 bedroom home has been completely remodeled from top to bottom: new roof, new kitchen, new bath, freshly painted, new carpet, new appliances. Plus, it has a spacious screened porch that could be enclosed someday for more space, full basement, shed and fenced backyard and is nicely located in the vicinity of Dutchess Community College. $215,000

For more information about this or any other property on the market in Dutchess County, please call or email Randy Rutan. 845-797-7842 randy@randyrutan.com.

How long does it take to buy a home?

Randy Rutan — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 20:33:43 +0000

You can spend a lot of time in the fact-gathering stage. Some of my buyers take a year or more to get their finances together while searching for homes on the internet. This actually helps the home buying process go more smoothly.

Once you have found a home and had your offer to purchase accepted by the sellers, it takes a minimum of 60 days to close. What takes so long?

The purchase offer is not a contract.
You’ll have a home inspection and possibly renegotiate the terms previously agreed to.
Next comes the mortgage application and loan process.
The sellers’ attorney will send the contract to your attorney – you’ll sign – then the contract goes back to the sellers for signatures. Now you have a binding deal.
Title will be ordered and processed. The town the property is in will be contacted for a property violation search.
Finally the lender will issue mortgage commitment – there may be conditions that have to be resolved.
At last a closing is scheduled and you’ll get the keys to your new home.

New York offers Cash to homebuyers

Randy Rutan — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 19:03:35 +0000

WHAT A GREAT DEAL! Effective January 1, 2010 New York State will offer buyers cash advances of up to $8,000 to buy a home. The money for the cash advance is based on the federal government’s first-time buyer tax credit. The cash advance can be used as part of the down payment or it can be applied to the closing costs. The cash advance is paid back when the federal government’s first-time homebuyer tax credit is received by the buyer. More good news…there is no interest charged on the cash advance. The only requirement is that the buyer must use a State of New York Mortgage Agency (SONYMA) mortgage to buy their home.

This is a wonderful opportunity for credit-worthy first-time homebuyers who struggle to save up enough money to cover the upfront costs of buying a home.

CONTACT RANDY for more details about the Tax Credit Advance Loan (TCAL).

Note:
Some SONYMA participating lenders may not offer down payment assistance programs. Please check with your lender before applying for financing.

CLICK HERE to view a list of lenders in Dutchess County who offer SONYMA mortgages.

SHOPPING for your first home

Randy Rutan — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 19:45:58 +0000

You can begin your home search on the internet. CLICK HERE to search through all of the properties on the market in Dutchess County. Searching on the internet will allow you to view virtual tours, map the properties, sort through photos and identify the type of home you want.

Next you will meet with your REALTOR and describe your wants and needs. Your agent will make arrangements to show you properties that fit your needs and search parameters. You may even have selected some from the internet to see.

While touring properties you may want to take along a camera and a notepad so that you can keep track of propertydetails such as home surroundings, extra features, etc. Then you will be able to rank the properties you’ve seen. After touring properties a few times, you will probably have a couple of favorites. You should then ask to see these properties a second time. This time you will look at things more closely. You should also ask your agent to provide you with information about other home sales in the area.

Once you have found the right home, your agent will help you prepare an offer to purchase!

Is this the RIGHT TIME to BUY?!

Randy Rutan — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 16:54:16 +0000

This is a great time to say goodbye to your landlord and buy your first home! Home prices have dropped. Mortgage rates are low AND you can take advantage of the Federal Government’s First-Time Buyer Tax Credit!

Look what you can buy! This is a list of 15 homes on the market in the Town of Poughkeepsie. Each has 3 bedrooms and at least 2 full baths.

To search all the homes on the market in Dutchess County CLICK HERE.

Consider an FHA Loan

Randy Rutan — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 16:33:04 +0000

A first time homebuyer is smart to explore an FHA loan. This is because this loan type takes into consideration that credit-worthy first time buyers usually have less upfront cash available to them. With an FHA loan the homebuyer only has to have a 3.5% down payment and the down payment money can come from outside sources such as gift money from a parent. In addition, closing costs for an FHA loan can be less than with other types of loans and FHA may allow you include some of the closing costs in your mortgage.

CREDIT SCORES are important!

Randy Rutan — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 20:27:05 +0000

Before you start shopping for your first home, you should check out your credit report. Thanks to the Federal Government, you are entitled to a free credit report once a year. You can get yours by going to AnnualCreditReport.com. Check the report carefully for mistakes and get them corrected if needed. The information in the credit report affects your credit score.

There are 3 types of credit scores. The one you want to know about is your FICO score because that is the one your lender will look at. You can purchase a copy of your credit score report for about $15. Scores can range from about 300-850, and the average score in the United States is about 680. High scores not only help you qualify for a mortgage but may also help you qualify for a lower interest rate.

Dutchess County Market Update

Randy Rutan — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:34:10 +0000

Nov 09 Market Update

Sales of single family homes in Dutchess County continued to outpace those of a year ago. According to the Mid Hudson Multiple Listing Service, there were 153 closed sales in November. This was 75.9 percent more than in November 2008. The rally in sales activity is being driven by first-time homebuyers who are benefiting from the drop in home prices. Home prices are below those of a year ago as reflected in both the median sales price which was $255,000 – down 14.7 percent and the average selling price which was $294, 228 – down 13.1 percent from a year ago.