Stan Suther's Real Estate and Stuff

With Congress and the President signing the extension of the first time home buyer tax credit and the expansion of tax credits to include some repeat buyers, details are starting to be published on both of these programs.  The first time home buyer program continues to pay up to $8,000 for purchase of a primary residence and the repeat buyer program will pay up to $6,500 for purchase of a primary residence- both for purchase contracts dated before July 1, 2010.  Under some circumstances, HUD will allow these funds to be used for the required 3.5% minimum down payment.  In other cases, they require those funds to come from the buyer, but allow the tax credits to go toward additional closing costs and pre-paid fees normal to a closing.  These funds are accessible for these front end charges though short-term loans.

The National Association of Home Builders has put together a great site with Frequently Asked Questions on both programs.  You can see that site HERE.  Of course, details matter, and these FAQs contain info on who qualifies.  HERE is another very good sight recently published by Coldwell Banker United, Realtors.

I have been working with clients using the first time buyer tax credit, and they chose to make purchases  solely because of the tax credit.  Hopefully, this will continue to move some real estate and get our housing industry, and our economy moving again.  Lenders may be slow to lend to business, but they are lending to credit-worthy home buyers.

Let me know if the availability of these real estate tax credits can help you decide on your next move.