Home Is Where the Tax Credit Is | The Big Money

Home Is Where the Tax Credit Is The Big Money

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This opinion piece was titled, "Just let the homebuyer tax credit die", when I saw it this morning on the MSNBC homepage.

Recently, there has been an increase in media coverage of the Federal Housing Tax Credit, which is to be expected, given the proposed end of this program on November 30, 2009.

The incentive to first-time homebuyers is not exactly a bad idea, but, other than the issues mentioned in this piece, there are other caveats to be aware of. For instance, in a recent article written for real estate professionals, one real estate broker commented that he is telling buyers this is a tax REFUND. Come April 15, he is probably going to get numerous angry phone calls from buyers when they find out they're not getting a huge refund!
It's a simple case of understanding how the IRS defines "credit" and "refund", which I strongly suspect are the same in ANY dictionary.

For the REAL info, all first-time homebuyers are urged to visit this site for accurate information on the Housing Tax Credit:

www.FederalHousingTaxCredit.com

Along with qualifying criteria for this tax credit, such as income limits and length of ownership requirements, pay close attention to the deadline of November 30.

IMPORTANT: If you are a first-time homebuyer looking to buy distressed real estate and get the benefits of the tax credit, STOP looking at SHORT SALES. You will not close by November 30. Look instead at properties that are truly available for timely close: bank-owned (aka foreclosures) and regular sales are where you should focus your time at this point.

Great deals are out there and they aren't confined to SHORT SALES or even FORECLOSURES. There are numerous motivated sellers in this buyers market.

Check out my weekly list of bank-owned properties in this local area- updated each week!

www.MyPinellasParadise.com

FHA Cash to Drop Below Mandated Levels

Personal comment: No surprise there. Since the credit freeze in conventional lending markets led to the push for more FHA loans, this was bound to happen. This will be the next financial crisis as FHA loan default rates continue to climb.

FHA Cash to Drop Below Mandated Levels