By Elizabeth Weintraub, About.com Guide

It’s not uncommon for a first-time home buyer to say to me, “Gosh, just last week I called you about buying a home and now I’m in escrow! How did this happen so fast?”
The answer is it didn’t. First-time home buyers start the search long before most even realize it.

Here’s what you can expect from your home shopping experience.

As part of its plan to stimulate the U.S. housing market and address the economic challenges facing our nation, Congress has passed new legislation that:

  * Extends the First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit of up to $8,000 to first-time home buyers until April 30, 2010.
  * Expands the credit to grant a $6,500 credit to current home owners purchasing a new or existing home between the date the bill is signed by President Obama and April 30, 2010.

Who Qualifies for the Extended Credit?

  * First-time home buyers who purchase homes between November 7, 2009 and April 30, 2010.
  * Current home owners purchasing a home between November 7, 2009 and April 30, 2010, who have used the home being sold or vacated as a principal residence for five consecutive years within the last eight.

To qualify as a “first-time home buyer”  the purchaser or his/her spouse may not have owned a residence during the three years prior to the purchase.

Which Properties Are Eligible?

The Extended Home Buyer Tax Credit may be applied to primary residences, including: single-family homes, condos, townhomes, and co-ops.

1. Don’t take on any new debt! Wait to buy furniture and appliances till after you close.

2. Don’t use any funds out of your bank account after the statements have been given to lender for verification on funds to close (very important) don’t switch banks or move money around

3. Don’t change jobs, this may only be ok as long as it can be verified and the new job is in the same line of work.

In October 2009, FHA announced that its capital reserve fund had fallen below the congressionally mandated level of 2 percent. The drop in capital reserves has lead Congress and the Administration to call for changes to strengthen FHA.

The complexity of property investment lies in the fact that the prices change from time to time. Picking out a home is not that difficult if you know what you're looking for. The challenge here is to determine the perfect time to pursue the investment to get the best price. We can never deny the fact that the Florida real estate market is one of the hardest hit during the economic decline that gripped the United States of America a couple years back. One of the cities is Miami Beach. Despite being a popular attraction in this tropical region, quite a lot of homes ended up in foreclosures as prices continue to go down.

We hear everywhere about green building but do not understand the intricacies and implications. Here is a list of most myths about green building.

HUD homes are government owned foreclosures. These can be excellent investments for owner occupants and investors because its low closing costs and only 3% of the property value as down payment.

A short sale is an attempt from the borrower to avoid a foreclosure and thus partially salvaging their credit rating and lifting the burden of heavy mortgage debt. The debt is reported to the credit bureaus as a settlement.