Certified Distressed Property Expert - You Gotta Get This!

Alex Charfen founder of the Certified Distressed Property Expert organization is rock'n and a rollin with the CDPE course that are all over the United States. All you need to do is to find a location and attend the two day event. If you cannot travel to the course then you have the option of attending it online. But being at the course you will walk away with so much more knowledge and meet some great people who all have the common goal and that is to help our neighbors, friends, family and new friends to know there are solutions and options regarding foreclosure.

I had the pleasure of meeting Alex at the 2009 STAR POWER Conference in Denver this past July and I was very impressed with his dedication, not to mention his wonderful smile. Tee Hee! Anyway, I was happy to hear they moved their headquarters to Austin, Texas recently, which I then saw on the tour schedule Austin will be holding a CDPE class and I am going.

Now you are probably wondering why would Kim Hughes a Real Estate Virtual Assistant needs to invest in the CDPE? Right now homeowner's need all the help they can get to resolve their foreclosure issues and by having this designation I can help my clients achieve their goals, which is to help today's homeowner's find a solution to their foreclosure crises. When you earn the designation of a CDPE you have so much given to you to market yourself as well as information to ensure you have the tools to successfully help resolve the problems.

Agent's today need to take advantage of the tools offered by the CDPE organization, which below is just a couple of things you need:

Set-up and manage their micro-site
Prepare and submit press releases
Incorporating the CDPE information to their website and marketing material

Today, the CDPE offers a micro-site for those that want to go a step further with their designation to become and Advanced CDPE, then there is RealPro Systems that offers Foreclosure and Short Sale Stealth Sites not to mention custom pages that you can add your own content regarding foreclosures and short sales. Pro Step Marketing recently got on the board to offer stealth site on the same.

Agents now have options on where they feel they will receive the most exposure and they do not have time to create the content, submit the sites to the search engines, etc., not to mention the marketing strategy that needs to be implemented. So, by attending the class I will gain the knowledge on the best way to assist my clients achieve their goals and that is to dedicate themselves in helping homeowner's resolve their current situation so they can relax and get their lives back track and start focusing on what it really important and that is their life and family.

To give you some idea of what the CDPE Advanced micro-site looks like visit Brian Schantz - www.stopnorthernvirginiaforeclosures.com.

If you would like to learn more about the CDPE please visit www.CDPE.com and then visit www.KimHughes.com to see how I can assist you.

The IRS Posts Ten Facts about the First-Time Homebuyer Credit

If you are an agent or maybe a first-time homebuyer you might be interested in what the IRS has to say about the 2009 Tax Credit. This article is from the IRS newsletter and could answer a lot of questions for you or your client.

Many taxpayers who purchase a home this year will qualify for an $8,000 federal tax credit. The refundable first-time homebuyer credit is a major tax provision in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. But time is running out to qualify for this credit.

Here are ten things the IRS wants you to know about the first-time homebuyer credit:

1.To be considered a first-time homebuyer, you – and your spouse if you are married – must not have jointly or separately owned another principal residence during the three years prior to the date of purchase.

2.You cannot claim the credit before there is a completed sale and purchase of the residence. The sale and purchase are generally completed at the time of closing on the purchase.

3.To qualify for the credit, the completed purchase must occur before December 1, 2009.

4.The home must be located in the United States.

5.The credit is either 10 percent of the purchase price of the home or $8,000, whichever is less.

6.The amount of the credit begins to phase out for taxpayers whose modified adjusted gross income is more than $75,000 or $150,000 for joint filers.

7.The credit is fully refundable. A homebuyer with no taxable income, who qualifies for the credit, may file for the sole purpose of claiming the credit and receive a refund. The credit will be paid out to eligible taxpayers, even if they owe no tax or the credit is more than the tax owed.

8.The credit is claimed on IRS Form 5405, First-Time Homebuyers Credit.

9.Taxpayers can claim the credit for a qualified 2009 purchase on either their 2008 or 2009 tax return. For those who have filed a 2008 return, a Form 1040X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return can be filed in order to get a refund in 2009.

10.The credit for qualified 2009 purchases does not have to be repaid, as long as the home remains your main home for 36 months after the purchase date.

Qualified taxpayers who have been considering a main home purchase may find extra incentive from this tax credit to buy now so they can complete the purchase before the December 1 deadline.

For more information on this and other key tax provisions of the Recovery Act visit the official IRS Website at IRS.gov/Recovery.

Links:

• First-Time Homebuyer Credit
• YouTube Video - First-Time Homebuyer:
• Audio File for Podcast - First-Time Homebuyer Credit 2009
• The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009: Information Center
• Form 5405, First-Time Homebuyer Credit (PDF)
• Form 1040X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return (PDF)