Bill Raveis shares important information for buyers and sellers on how to evaluate facts and figures to assist with the home buying and selling process.

He summarizes key data points for both buyers and sellers.

 WASHINGTON, DC – Senator Chris Dodd’s legislation to extend the homebuyer’s tax credit and expand it to more middle class families passed the Senate tonight as part of a bill that will also extend unemployment insurance. Dodd was an original co-sponsor of the bill, which will provide 14 additional weeks of jobless benefits for Connecticut workers. 

“This is a double victory for families in Connecticut,” said Dodd.  “Extending unemployment insurance benefits will help Connecticut families make ends meet in a tough economy.  And thousands more middle class Connecticut residents may now be eligible to take advantage of the successful homebuyer’s tax credit.  By helping unemployed workers keep from falling further behind, and helping middle class families get ahead, we’re taking positive steps to get our economy back on track.” 

Dodd was joined by Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA) in support of extending the homebuyer’s tax credit.  The provision also expands it to cover people looking to buy a new home after having owned and lived in a home for more than five years. More than 70 percent of existing homeowners will now be eligible to take advantage of this program and use the credit to buy a new home. 

The House version of the bill provided a 13-week extension in unemployment benefits for workers in states where the three-month unemployment average was above 8.5 percent. Dodd co-authored the Senate version, which provides a 14-week extension for workers in all states, including Connecticut, and an additional six weeks for workers in states where the three-month unemployment average is at or above 8.5 percent. Connecticut’s three-month average is 8.1 percent. 

Summary of Dodd’s Homebuyer’s Tax Credit Provision: 

• Extends the $8,000 first time Homebuyers Tax Credit and creates a new $6,500 tax credit for qualifying “move-up buyers” purchasing a home before April 30, 2010.
• Qualifying “move-up” buyers include homebuyers who already own a home that they have used as a principal residence for 5 years or more. 
• Homebuyers with binding contracts as of April 30^th will also qualify for the credit so long as they complete the transaction within 60 days.
• Available to homebuyers with incomes of up to $125,000 for a single return or $225,000 for a joint return.
• Available for homes which cost less than $800,000.
• Provides authority to the IRS to do greater oversight while processing the return and requires that the taxpayer claiming the credit be 18 or older. 
• Members of the military, military intelligence, and foreign service who are on qualified extended official duty are not subject to the recapture fee and individuals who have been deployed overseas for 90 days or more in 2008 or 2009 can claim the credit through April 30, 2011.

William Raveis - Harrison Office

The real estate company, which recently expanded into Westchester County, is the largest family-owned real estate company in the Northeast, and the 10^th largest real estate company in the nation.* 

The Harrison location is the company’s 65^th sales office. “We are excited to open our second office in Westchester County”, stated Mr. Raveis. “Our purchase of the 7 Union Avenue property continues the long standing tradition of a local real estate office in this beautiful community. We are here to stay and are looking forward to growing our family business throughout Westchester County in the future.” 

According to Mr. Raveis, the company is committed to building premier offices that provide the ‘highest level of support and state-of-the-art technology’ that has made the real estate firm prominent in the adjacent Fairfield County community. “These capabilities, combined with our entrepreneurial spirit and proactive management, enable us to attract the best and brightest sales associates around,” he said. 

William Raveis Real Estate, Mortgage & Insurance is one of the top companies in the nation.  It was recently ranked by sales volume in REALTOR Magazine as the #1 family-owned real estate company in the Northeast, the #3 family-owned real estate company nationwide and the 10th largest real estate company in the USA.  The innovative firm is nationally recognized as an industry leader in technology, marketing and REALTOR^® education. Its award-winning website, raveis.com, will draw an estimated 10 million visitors in 2009. 

William Raveis began its New York expansion with the recent opening of the Rye office in Westchester County.  Future plans entail expansion into Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Presently, the firm has 2,100 highly trained sales professionals and 65 offices / two affiliates in Connecticut; Massachusetts; Westchester County, New York; and Rhode Island.

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“We are quite proud of this tribute,” said Mr. Raveis. “Being chosen as the ‘Best of 2009’ in real estate by the Commercial Record readers adds testimony to our commitment to provide the highest caliber service to the residents of Connecticut.”

The Commercial Record is a leading publication in Connecticut with a broad readership of the most influential people in the real estate, banking and mortgage industries. The statewide weekly newspaper provides detailed information vital to Connecticut’s real estate and lending institutions.

Thousands of readers responded to the annual BEST OF The Commercial Record Readership Poll 2009, which has quickly become popular and quite prestigious in the business community in Connecticut. The subjective survey measures the loyalty and satisfaction the publication’s readers have with service providers. It is an opportunity for the Nutmeg State’s financial and real estate communities to speak up for those providers they believe are the best.

All winners will be published in a special section of the October 23rd issue of The Commercial Record.

William Raveis Real Estate, Mortgage & Insurance is one of the top companies in the nation. It was recently ranked by sales volume in REALTOR Magazine as the #1 family-owned real estate company in the Northeast, the #3 family-owned real estate company nationwide and the 10th largest real estate company in the USA. The innovative firm is nationally recognized as an industry leader in technology, marketing and REALTOR® education. Its award-winning website, raveis.com, will draw an estimated 10 million visitors in 2009.

The company entered the Massachusetts marketplace in 2003 and, according to the 2008 closed sales volume in the Multiple Listing Service Pin, the company is now the largest independent brokerage in that state with 20 offices. William Raveis began its New York expansion with the recent opening of the Rye office in Westchester County. Future plans entail expansion into Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Presently, the firm has 2,100 highly trained sales professionals and 65 offices / two affiliates in Connecticut; Massachusetts; Westchester County, New York; and Rhode Island.
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A hush permeated the crowd of more than 250 people gathered at the William Raveis Shelton Headquarters on September 16, 2009. Bill Raveis, blindfolded and smiling, reached into the large glass bowl and pulled out the names of four very happy real estate agents who are now $10,000 richer.

The occasion was the third and fourth drawing in the company’s statewide marketing campaign called Target-20K, a program Raveis conceived to stimulate cooperation among agents, and to increase property showings. In the program, agents who have listed and sold Target-20K houses become eligible to win $10,000. Drawings are held when 50 houses are sold.

Sales agents from 47 different participating real estate companies attended the champagne event.

In his remarks, Mr. Raveis confirmed that, to date, the company has closed properties totaling more than $79 million in 82 cities with the most expensive property at $1,150,000. Based on statistics accumulated since the start of the program, Target 20K homes sell faster than regular listings. Mr. Raveis stated that Target 20K houses have an average market time of 87 days compared to 101 days for regular listings.

The happy winners of the first drawing are listing agent, Ann Mirrione, of the William Real Estate Trumbull Office, and Ken Caserta of William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty, who sold a Raveis Target 20K listing in Stratford to earn his place in the drawing.

The 2nd drawing produced both winners from William Raveis Real Estate with the listing associate being Adelaide Waring of the Norwalk Office and the selling associate, Carolene Mahnken of the Milford Office.

of buying in a recessionary period.

Ask Doris - Interview with Bill Raveis

The Mortgage Disclosure Information Act (MDIA), a government regulation introduced on July 30, 2009, requires all mortgage lenders to provide Truth in Lending (TIL) disclosures to borrowers according to a defined schedule. While the regulation gives borrowers additional time to review their mortgage documents prior to closing, buyers and sellers may have to push closing dates back to comply with the mandatory waiting periods imposed by this regulation.

Waiting Periods:
Closing documents cannot be signed earlier than seven days after the initial TIL has been issued.

If the annual percentage rate on subsequent revised TIL changes more than the limits of the regulation, then there is an additional three day waiting period to close from when the borrower receives the revised TIL.

Work with settlement providers who are familiar with each other to streamline your home buying process.

Choose a closing date that allows sufficient time for waiting periods.

Contact a William Raveis Executive Mortgage Banker to understand how you can avoid some common pitfalls and meet your closing dates.

William Raveis, Chairman and CEO of William Raveis Real Estate, Mortgage and Insurance, is most pleased to announce that the company website, raveis.com, has recently received a silver innovation award from the Connecticut Quality Improvement Award Partnership, Inc. (CQIA)

“We are proud to receive this honor from the Connecticut Quality Improvement Award Partnership,” said Mr. Raveis.  “This prize substantiates our efforts to make raveis.com the best website in real estate.  Each year, raveis.com becomes more robust and more popular as a result of our initiative to deliver leading-edge technology to our customers.”

Presently, raveis.com draws more than 10 million visitors annually.

The Connecticut Quality Improvement Award Partnership, Inc., America’s first state-level quality award, was founded in 1987 using the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for Performance Excellence criteria in an effort to advance innovative programs that improve quality, performance excellence, and marketplace competitiveness.

The Baldrige Award is given by the President of the United States to businesses and to education and healthcare organizations that apply and are judged to be outstanding in seven areas: leadership, strategic planning, customer and market focus, information and analysis, human resource focus, process management, and business results.

William Raveis Real Estate, Mortgage & Insurance is one of the top companies in the nation.  It is rated as the #1 family-owned real estate company in the Northeast, the #6 independent real estate company nationwide and most recently, rated by Realtor Magazine, as the 10^th largest real estate company in the USA based on sales volume.  The innovative firm is nationally recognized as an industry leader in technology, marketing and REALTOR^® education. Its award-winning website, raveis.com, is recognized as “the best website in real estate” and draws more than 10 million visitors annually.

The company’s Massachusetts offices were recently voted “the best residential real estate company” in Massachusetts by the readers of Banker & Tradesman in the Banker & Tradesman Best of 2009 Readers Poll. This is the second year in a row that the company received the First Place Gold Award.

William Raveis began its New York expansion with the recent opening of the Rye office in Westchester County.  Future plans entail expansion into Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Presently, the firm has 2,100 highly trained sales professionals and 63 offices / two affiliates in Connecticut; Massachusetts; Westchester County, New York; and Rhode Island.

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