first time home buyer – owner loan

October 24, 2010

February 23, 2010

First Time Home Buyer Stimulus: Are You Ready to Claim Your Tax Credit of Up to $8,000?

Safiur Rahman asked:


Buying your first home is a big, life changing decision regardless of the economic climate. The decision becomes even more bold in an a recession where job cuts are rampant and the housing market has been in a slump for over a year. Nevertheless, if you are confident in your financial future, this is actually the best time to buy a house thanks to the federal government’s first time home buyer stimulus package. The stimulus package awards first time home buyers with a tax credit of up to 10% of the purchase price of their home with a ceiling of $8,000. In layman’s terms, this is a grant which does not need to be repaid unless you sell the home within the first three years. More specifically, this is a dollar by dollar reduction in taxes owed or an increase in your tax refund. It is also referred to as “refundable” tax credit because you can claim it regardless of your federal income tax liability.

For those who are unfamiliar with this program, here is a quick summary of the key requirements. Firstly, you must be a first time home buyer as required by the current legislation. You meet this definition if you have not purchased a home as your principal residence in the three prior to your current purchase. If you are married, this applies to both you and your spouse. In other words, If either of you do not meet the definition of a first time home buyer, neither of you qualify for the tax credit. A primary residence does not include vacation homes and the specific type of home (e.g. townhouse, condominium, mobile home, etc) does not matter. Secondly, the purchase must take place between January 1st, 2009 and April 30th, 2010. The deadline was extended recently which gives you a few more months to close on your purchase. (The previous deadline was December 1st, 2009). Technically, you have until June 30th, 2010 to complete the sale but a binding agreement must be entered into by April 30th, 2010. Thirdly, you must fall within certain income limits. Single tax payers must not make more than $125,000 annually if the sale occurs after November 6th, 2009 and not more than $75,000 if the sale occurred between January 1st, 2009 and November 6th, 2009. Married couples filing jointly must not make more than $225,000 annually if the sale occurs after November 6th, 2009 and not more than $150,000 if the sale occurred between January 1st, 2009 and November 6th, 2009. The income limits were also raised as part of recent changes. There are other caveats in the legislation but these are the main requirements.

If you feel that you qualify for this tax credit, you are likely wondering how you will claim it. You do so on your federal income tax return. You must first complete IRS Form 5405 to determine the amount of your tax credit. You then enter that amount on line 67 of the 1040 form on your 2009 tax return or line 69 on your 2008 tax return. No other applications or special forms are required. It is as simple as that.

If you are serious about buying your first home by April 30, 2010, the best advice anyone can give you is to plan ahead and plan accordingly, get in touch with mortgage brokers, file your taxes on time, and make the provisions of the first time home buyer stimulus package work for you. Most importantly, do all your due diligence and do not procrastinate! The law may change from time to time so make sure you stay current on all the latest developments. If you do all that, you’ll be well on your way to owning the home of your dreams.



Tamara

August 18, 2009

Claiming the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit: Don’t Miss Out On the Opportunity to Receive Up to $8,000 from the Federal Government!

Safiur Rahman asked:


If you are currently looking to buy your first home or the first one in three years, you have likely heard of the federal government’s first time home buyer credit which can award you with 10% percent (up to $8,000) of the purchase price of your home.  If you meet the regulatory definition of a first time home buyer, fall within the specified income limits, and are not otherwise disqualified from receiving the credit you are likely wondering how to go about claiming it.  This is what I will describe in this article.

Claiming the credit is a relatively straightforward process but it is important to follow all the steps carefully to avoid making silly mistakes and filing for it in a timely fashion.  The first thing you should bear in mind is that you cannot claim the credit for an intended purchase at some future point in time.  The credit can only be claimed for completed purchases and you will need to submit a copy of your HUD-1 settlement form as proof of the completed transaction.

You essentially claim the credit on your federal income tax return.   You first need to complete IRS Form 5405 to determine the amount of your credit.  Next, attach a copy of your HUD-1 settlement form to Form 5405.  Then, enter your eligible credit amount on line 67 of the 1040 income tax form for 2009 returns or line 69 for 2008 returns.   Lastly, package all your documents, mail it in, and you are done!   No other special forms or pre-approval is necessary. If you qualify for a refund, the only thing left to do is to sit back and wait for your check to arrive.



Luis

July 26, 2009

Are You a First Time Home Buyer? Here’s $7500……

Marlon Baugh asked:


Have you ever heard of the Housing and Recovery Act of 2008?  Well today we are going to focus on one of the benefits, the $7500 First Time Home Buyer IRS Tax Credit.

Even with interest rates at historical lows and with a wide selection of discounted homes on the market, people still weren’t buying, so the government came up with this tax credit to stimulate and provide financial assistance for First Time Home Buyers to buy now rather than wait.

The $7,500 First-Time Home Buyer IRS Tax Credit only applies to first-time home buyer purchases of a primary residence between April 9, 2008 and July 1, 2009. It is important to understand that this is a TAX CREDIT and not a TAX DEDUCTION.  Now a tax credit is a reduction in income taxes owed! In other words, when a buyer files their income taxes for the year the home was purchased (April 2008 – July 2009), they may be able to subtract $7,500 from the amount of federal income tax liability, which will either put more money in your pocket as you will get an increased tax refund or reduce the amount of tax still owed.

However, this tax credit is not FREE. Yes, this is not a hand out from Uncle Sam; it is a loan that has to be paid back. Repayment will begin 2 years after the credit is claimed, and must be repaid within 15 years. So that’s a $500 payment per year. It’s an interest-free loan for 15 years.

Now before you get turned off by this “LOAN,” lets take a look on the benefits this $7500 tax credit may provide.  Majority of first time home buyers have walked away from the closing table with an empty savings and or checking account once the purchase of their home is complete.  Now they have a home to decorate, furnish and in some cases repair and paint.  Majority of these first time home buyers will now turn to their credit cards to pay for these expenses, which will come with pretty high interest rates.  So when compared to have a credit card payment which comes with interest charges, versus and an interest free $7500 loan…..it now seems a little more attractive.

Now for those of you first time home buyers that are a little more well off financially, this can still benefit you….here’s how.

Let’s assume a $200,000 mortgage was needed in the home purchase at 6.0% interest rate fixed for 30 years. What if the $7,500 tax credit was a refund which you used to pre-pay the mortgage?  Using simple math that would be an annual interest savings of $437.50;  which is actually less than the $500 payment per year on the $7500 Tax Credit Loan.

The main benefit here is not just the payment savings but the outstanding mortgage balance will be reduced by $7,500 and each future mortgage payment results in savings in mortgage interest and increased reduction in principal mortgage.  As each monthly mortgage payment go to reducing the mortgage balance and less is applied to interest. Together these savings will exceed the $500 cost of repayment of the tax credit. The benefit over the long term in interest savings and principal reduction will be quite amazing.  Talk about good old Uncle Sam helping you payoff your mortgage early!



Lorraine

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