Amerifirst Mortgage Lending for FHA 203K Loans

The FHA 203k can help finance required repairs as well as desired improvements whether you’re buying a house or you’re willing to refinance to pay for the work you want done. This home improvement loan option is great for first time home buyers, step-up buyers, refinancing homeowners and almost any other real estate category.

For about $6 a month added to the mortgage payment, you can add $1,000 in home improvements. So a $20,000 remodeling project would add about $120 to your monthly mortgage payment. The nice thing is that the interest paid is part of your mortgage – tax break!

So what kind of work can you finance using the FHA 203k? The list is long. It’s almost easier to ask what you can NOT finance. That’s basically luxury items like a spa or tennis courts, or items that wouldn’t add value to the home like and LED HDTV. With that in mind, here’s a look at 10 ideas for home improvement projects you could finance with the FHA 203k mortgage option.

1. Energy efficient windows. Not only would they look nicer than the old rotting wood ones there now, but it will save on your heating and cooling bills!
2. Exterior paint. Cracked, faded or just plain ugly – it’s time to repaint the house. Paying for a professional job beats hiring the neighbor kids who will probably make a huge mess anyway (I can say that – I’ve been one of those neighbor kids!).
3. Roof repair or replacement. You don’t really want to climb up there and do it yourself. But if the house needs a new roof (or repairs), then it’s a must-have. You don’t want an inadvertent sunroof in your home, do you?
4. Flooring replacement or upgrades. FHA requires flooring in a home. You probably require that, too. All new carpet, laminate or tile – your choice.
5. Kitchen remodeling project. Everything but the kitchen sink…well that’s not exactly true. You can get a new sink, too. Plus appliances. A new kitchen? That makes everyone happy.
6. Convert/add a bathroom. Who couldn’t use another bathroom? I live with 2 daughters and a wife. I could use a few extra bathrooms.
7. Build a deck. What better place to spend the summer and fall than on the deck in the evening? Build or repair a deck with the FHA 203k.
8. Add a porch. If the mosquitoes could carry you off your deck, maybe a nice porch is just the ticket. Heavy duty screens could make the difference between looking at a nice deck outside from the comfort of your kitchen…and experiencing the nice outdoors.
9. Lead-based paint abatement. Get rid of lead-based paint and have new, safer paint in its place.
10. Mold issues/damp basement. Who wants to live in a moldy home? Finance the mold removal and basement water-proofing with an FHA 203k.

While one or two of these projects may not warrant an FHA 203k, add up a few of them and you have yourself a pretty pricey list of work. The 203k requires a licensed contractor perform the improvements, so you’d have the benefit of a professional doing all the work.

Learn more about this option with “The FHA 203k Survival Guide“. The guide walks you through the process and explains industry jargon in terms we can all understand.

Get your free copy today!

Countless accidents still occur in homes across the U.S. and globally where codes are poorly understood or used improperly. The expanded Building Safety Month will help bridge these gaps and provide a broader platform to share the sphere of knowledge among architects, engineers and skilled industry veterans so that families, businesses and communities can be safe, strong and sustainable.

Wikipedia describes a building code, or building control, as a set of rules that specify the minimum acceptable level of safety for constructed objects such as buildings and nonbuilding structures. Building codes have a long history. What is generally accepted as the first building code was in the Code of Hammurabi which specified:

• 229. If a builder builds a house for someone, and does not construct it properly, and the house which he built falls in and kills its owner, then that builder shall be put to death.
• 230. If it kills the son of the owner, the son of that builder shall be put to death.
• 231. If it kills a slave of the owner, then he shall pay, slave for slave, to the owner of the house.
• 232. If it ruins goods, he shall make compensation for all that has been ruined, and inasmuch as he did not construct properly this house which he built and it fell, he shall re-erect the house from his own means.
• 233. If a builder builds a house for someone, even though he has not yet completed it; if then the walls seem toppling, the builder must make the walls solid from his own means.

The Law of Moses stipulated a specific construction requirement which is also an early form of a building code. The Bible book of Deuteronomy, chapter 22 verse 8, states:

• “In case you build a new house, you must also make a parapet for your roof, that you may not place bloodguilt upon your house because someone falling might fall from it.”

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I’m a proud member of the American Society of Home Inspectors – ASHI. In May ASHI members will be available to help answer questions and promote residential building safety. We at SafeHome Inspections are proud to be a part of that important initiative where we’ll help create community-wide recognition and understanding of building safety and sustainability. To that event we’re sharing the Building Safety Month Toolkit as seen on www.buildingsafetymonth.org.

Listen to Danny Lipford @ Homefront Radio with Jack Armstrong

2011 Building Safety Month Public Relations Downloadable Toolkit:

Tips On How To Have A Successful Building Safety Month Event – Video

Public Relations Toolkit Cover Sheet

2011 Building Safety Month Logo

2011 Building Safety Month Poster - Download Low Res | Download High Res

Letter to the Editor Template

News Release Template

2012 Proclamation Template

Step by Step Support for Building Safety Month

Strategies for a Successful Building Safety Month Event

What is Building Safety Month? - Download Low Res | Download High Res

2011 Building Safety Month Children Activities:

CODiE & CODEtte Children’s Activity Book

CODiE & CODEtte Children’s Sticker

2011 General Building Safety Brochures and Publications:

Benefits of Building Permits

Building Codes: How do they Help You?

Building Green – Living Better

Building Technology: Then and Now

Careers in Code Administration

201Flood Cleanup: Safety & Salvaging

Mold: Tips on Prevention and Control

Prevent Accidents, Save Lives: Pool Spa and Hot Tub Safety

Safety First – Disaster Preparedness: Tips for Your Home & Family

Safety Tips from Your Building Inspector

(Carthage, MS – September 24, 2010)– Mississippi is helping build momentum to make the 2010 American Solar Energy Society (ASES) National Solar Tour the most successful grassroots solar event in history. The more than 650 tours featured in this year’s tour is nearly triple the number of tours featured in 2009, and more communities continue to join the movement each week.

The National Solar Tour provides citizens the opportunity to tour solar-powered homes and businesses from Alaska to Florida. Last year, 150,000 people across 49 U.S. states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico participated.

“The appetite for solar in America’s southeast is growing, and Mississippi Solar’s Will and Carolyn Hegman are serving up some mouth-watering, cost-effective ideas to feed that hunger during their “Down on the Farm Solar Tour,’” said ASES National Solar Tour Manager Richard Burns.  The tour is part of the non-profit American Solar Energy Society’s National Solar Tour, the world’s largest grassroots solar event.

The “Down on the Farm Solar Tour” takes place October 2, 2010 from 9 am to 4 pm at 211 Popes Road, Carthage, Mississippi, 39051. Guided tours, which run every two hours beginning at 9 am, will highlight three distinctly different grid-tie installations. The first is a 2.4 kW solar carport ready for Tennessee-made electric vehicles rolling off assembly lines next year. Also featured is a ground-mount system with battery back-up.

The Mississippi tour site that’s really stirring up some excitement is the 8.4 kW, electricity-generating solar PV solution on a chicken house at Spencer Pope Farms.

“Poultry farming is an energy-intensive business,” said Mississippi Solar co-founder Will Hegman. “Enormous tunnel fans are required to ventilate chicken houses. Lighting adds to the cost. There are close to 8,000 poultry farms in the State of Mississippi. If we were able to solarize all those businesses, we could offset around ten percent of the entire state’s energy needs,” he said.

More importantly, says wife and Mississippi Solar co-owner Carolyn, solar can help poultry farmers reap federal tax credits of up to 30% while saving money on their electric bills.

“Solar can really change the life of a poultry farmer, who has astronomical electric bills, particularly in hot Mississippi summers,” Carolyn explained. “This technology has the potential to benefit everyone,” she noted, “Solar can cut costs for home owners, farmers, boat houses, horse barns — and now chicken houses.

She says the folks at Spencer Pope Farms have been so satisfied with the results, they’re looking to quadruple the solar capacity powering their chicken houses.  Coupled with the federal tax credits available for solar, that’s no chicken feed.

“We’re in the business of solar, but here in Mississippi we’re also in the business of educating. That’s what this tour is about,” said Carolyn. “There are so many myths we’re battling, like there’s not enough sunshine to make solar viable – or that solar is just a fad. Truth is, all production figures for our solar installations have exceeded forecast projections thus far.”

Carolyn says Mississippi Solar’s been working to get the people who know education best involved: teachers from surrounding schools. “They’re now sponsoring their own solar day at school. The schools have taken the torch and now the teachers are carrying it for our kids,” she said.

In addition to learning why solar is a good business investment and how easy it is to get started, highlights at the “Down on the Farm Solar Tour” include the opportunity to meet the celebrated solar race car team from Choctaw Central High School, first place winners of the recent Hunt-Winston Solar Car Challenge. Their solar-powered car won the divisional race from Texas Motor Speedway to Boulder, Colorado. Grilled chicken legs will be served throughout the day.

This is the second year the Hegmans have participated in the National Solar Tour. Now in its 15^th year, the annual American Solar Energy Society (ASES) National Solar Tour features open house tours of thousands of solar-powered homes, businesses, and public agencies. It’s neighbors introducing solar-hungry neighbors to the technologies they are using to 1) slash monthly energy bills, 2) reduce environmentally harmful carbon emissions, 3) assert their energy independence and 4) enjoy rich tax credits and cash incentives as they improve their property values.

“Interest in the solar industry is cooking, and consumers across the nation are eager to sample its wares, which bring enticing tax credits, cash rebates, improved property values and cleaner communities to home and business owners across America,” said the American Solar Energy Society’s (ASES) National Solar Tour Manager Richard Burns.

“The ‘Down on the Farm Solar Tour’ is a great way for folks to see for themselves the innovative technologies available to harness the sun’s energy. It’s also a great chance to learn how solar works, how it’s installed, what it costs — and how Mississippi businesses and property owners can realize big tax credits while supporting local small businesses,” said Burns. “Today’s solar technology has improved to the point where there’s something for everyone – it’s a job-building, money-saving clean energy alternative whose time has come.”

The “Down on the Farm Solar Tour” is Mississippi’s exclusive 2010 tour. Tennessee has eleven tours slated for October 2, 2010. Carolyn Hegman says getting into the business of solar has changed their lives in ways they couldn’t have imagined. “The people who’ve come to view our solar solutions have been great,” she declared.

“One was a retired gentleman who came ambling along to see it for himself. He said he thought he’d have to drive all the way to California to see a solar array like the one on the chicken house at Spencer Polk Farms,” Carolyn recalls him saying. “‘If I were younger, I’d be doing it myself,’ he told me. ‘I’m telling all my grandkids that this is the way you gotta go.’”

ABOUT MISSISSIPPI SOLAR: Mississippi Solar is a licensed Solar Installer/Commercial Electrical Contractor and Residential Builder who designs, installs, and services commercial and residential solar systems that are efficient, easy to use, and will produce electricity for the next 20 years and more. Learn more at www.mssolar.net.

ABOUT THE AMERICAN SOLAR ENERGY SOCIETY: Established in 1954, the nonprofit American Solar Energy Society (ASES) is the nation’s leading association of solar professionals and grassroots advocates. Supported by more than 12,000 members, ASES advances research, education, and policy. ASES publishes the award-winning SOLAR TODAY magazine, presents the National Solar Conference, rallies citizens to build a Solar Nation, and leads the National Solar Tour – the world’s largest grassroots solar event.  www.ases.org.

# # #

Contacts:     Terri Steele for

ASES National Solar Tour

(619) 303-9310

tsteelehere@cox.net

Carolyn Hegman

Mississippi Solar

(305) 807-0323

Carolyn@mssolar.net

This program is scheduled to begin April 22nd, 2010.

Eligible Appliances under SEEARP:

• Dishwashers
• Room Air Conditioners
• Refrigerators
• Clothes Washers
• Freezers
• Gas Storage Water Heaters
• Tankless Water Heaters
• Geothermal Heat Pumps
• Heat Pump Water Heaters
• Air Source Heat Pumps
• Gas Furnaces
• Central Air Conditioners

Can the tax credit be carried over to future years?

The tax credit for products at 30% up to $1,500 CAN NOT be carried over to future years. You can’t even carry forward tax credit dollars from 2009 to 2010. But you can take part of the $1,500 in 2009, and the rest in 2010 – if they are for separate purchases (ex: you spend $3,000 on windows in 2009 and get a $900 tax credit on your 2009 taxes, then spend $2000 on an air conditioner in 2010 and get a $600 tax credit on your 2010 taxes).

The tax credit for the following products at 30% with no upper limit CAN be carried forward to future years:

· Geothermal Heat Pumps

· Solar Panels

· Solar Water Heater

· Small Wind Energy Systems

· Fuel Cells

You can carry forward the credit as long as the credit is still in effect. In this case, the credit is in effect through 2016. The energy efficiency tax credit is technically “non-refundable” which means at the end of the year, you can’t get back more in credits than you paid to the government in taxes throughout the year. If you are unable to claim the entire 30% of your purchase for the above products, you can carry forward the unclaimed portion to future years through 2016.

The tax credit for insulation, windows, doors, roofs, HVAC, biomass stoves, and non-solar water heaters CAN NOT be carried over. These credits are for 30% of the cost, up to $1,500 in 2009 and 2010.

source: www.energystar.gov

We’re able to help you with an energy rating which will also help you qualify for a tax credit. Contact us today!