first time home buyer – owner loan

January 7, 2011

First Time Home Buyer Stimulus

Sonia Less asked:




The first time homebuyer stimulus is a recently approved Tax Credit bill. The proposed $15,000 homebuyer tax credit between the House and the Senate did not prosper, but recently President Barack Obama signed into law a smaller measure to help revive the real estate market.

The tax credit for first time homebuyers is equivalent to getting a tax return of $8,000.00. This works great if you do not owe any money from the government and you usually get a tax return. When you purchase a home for the first time, the government is going to send you a tax refund of $8,000.00.

This is only good for the year 2009, so if you are planning to buy a home, do it now to avail of this tax credit refund.

Who can qualify for this? Below is some further information of the First Time Home Buyer Stimulus Tax Credit.

1. All US Citizens who file for taxes can qualify. First time homebuyers mean that he or she has not owned a residence for at least three years before purchasing a house. The date of transfer is considered the actual date of purchase.

2. Only homebuyers who purchase a home between January 1 and December 1, 2009 can qualify for the credit. Those who purchase a home before the specified date will not be able to avail of it.

3. The home purchased must be used as the main or principal residence. This includes all kinds of houses such as townhouses, single-family detached homes, manufactured homes or mobile homes, condominiums and houseboats. The home buyers must live in the home for the next three years to fully take advantage of the tax credit.

4. The cost of the home should be at least $80,000.00 or more. According to the plan, a homebuyer receives ten percent of the home purchase. To receive the full $8,000.00 credit, the home should be bought for $80,000 or above. Married couples who file separately will receive a maximum of $4,000.00.

5. The tax credit has income limits attached to it. To qualify for the full credit, single buyers must have a gross income of $75,000.00 or less and $150,000.00 or less for married ones. Those earning more may qualify only for reduced credits.

6. The tax credit is refundable, so buyers can take full advantage of it even if they have lesser tax liability.

7. In order to capitalize on the credit, buyers have to maintain ownership of the home for at least three years. This means that you do not sell your home within those years. If you do sell before the three-year term is up, then you have to return the credit back to the government. There are exceptions however, such as divorce or death.

If you qualify, you can claim for the tax credit when you file your income tax return. For the tax credit, you can claim when you file your income tax return. Take into consideration that when you purchase a home this year, you will only see it reflected after you file your income tax in April 2010.

Jeanette

October 27, 2009

Do I get the first time home buyer tax credit this year or next year?

Jane S asked:


Under the new stimulus first time home buyers get something like $7500 tax credit. If I bought a home in 2009, could I see the benefits in my tax refund when I file this month? Or will I have to wait until I file in 2010?

Francis

August 12, 2009

Does the first time home buyer tax credit provide a refund if you dont use all of it? And if not does it carry?

Jack S asked:


Does the first time home buyer tax credit provide a refund if you dont use all of it? And if not does it carry forward into the next year if you dont use all of it?

Kristen

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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