$7500 Tax Credit for First Time Homebuyers

First-time home buyers are now eligible to receive a tax credit of up to $7,500 when buying a home sometime within April 9, 2008 and June 30, 2009. Here are the specifics:

1. First-time Home Buyer is: A buyer who has not owned a principal residence in the prior 3 years of purchase. For married couples, this rule applies to both the buyer and their spouse. It is okay if you already own rental property or a vacation home, as long as it is not your primary residence.

2. Types of Homes that Qualify: As long as the home will be used as a primary residence, almost any type of home will qualify; this includes: single-family detached homes, townhomes, condominiums, manufactured/mobile homes and houseboats.

3. Income Restraints: First-time home buyers are eligible for the full tax credit as long as their income is less than $75,000 for single taxpayers and $150,000 or less for married couples. A partial tax credit may be available for people with an income greater than the limit, for more information on this please visit: www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com.

4. Payback Provisions: The tax credit is essentially a zero-interest loan and must be paid back over the following 15 years or when they sell the home, whichever comes first. However, the homeowner does not begin making payments until two years after they have bought the home. Say they bought the home in 2008, then the first $500 payment would be due in 2010. If the homeowner sells the home before all the payments have been made, the rest of the credit would be paid back from the profit of the sale. If there was a loss on the home, the remaining credit payback would be forgiven.

I hope this information has helped you better understand this first-time homebuyer program offered by the federal government. If you have any questions or would like to buy a home, especially in Walton, Barrow, or Gwinnett county, I hope you will contact me. I would love the opportunity to help you through the journey of purchasing your first home. With incredible amount of inventory for sale and the incentives the government is giving, now is the time to buy!

*The information for this post came from www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com. Please reference that website for more in-depth information.