Short Sales and Foreclosure Specialists Contact
(239) 225-3172
$8,000 Tax
Credit
| If you are buying a home this year, it
is important to know whether you qualify for the $8,000 Tax
Credit for First Time Home Buyers.
- Must
purchase a home (close and receive title) on or after January 1, 2009
and
before December 1, 2009.
- Must
be
a first-time home buyer, which means you cannot have owned a home for
the past
three years prior to purchase.
- Must
use as a primary residence. The home cannot be used as a vacation home
or
rental property.
- Cannot
purchase a home from a close relative such as your spouse, parent,
grandparent,
child or grandchild.
- Must
make less than $75,000 for a single taxpayer or less than $150,000, if
filing
jointly.
About the $8,000 Tax Credit:
- Use
as downpayment or closing costs
-- Initially, the
tax credit was designed as a refundable credit on buyers' tax return
next year
-- either up to $8,000 or 10% -- whichever came first. Now, a new HUD
initiative allows qualifying first-time
home buyers to receive these funds upfront to be used as a down
payment or money towards closing, as announced by U.S. Housing and
Urban
Development Secretary Shaun Donovan. This has been referred to as a
bridge loan.
- FHA-approved
lenders, only
-- At this time,
only the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has issued guidance
regarding the
monetization of the first-time home buyer tax credit. Home buyers using
FHA-approved lenders can apply the tax credit to their down payment.
- Home
buyers must pay the 3.5 percent
-- While the $8,000
tax credit can be used for the down payment or closing costs, home
buyers must
still come up with FHA's required 3.5% down payment on their own.
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