There’s still time to take advantage of the first time homebuyer credit. You wonder why I keep talking about this program? Because it’s important!
I ‘so’ remember what it was like when I was trying to buy my first home. It seemed then like there were so many obstacles in my way that I then felt like I’d never have a house of my own. I’d been single and struggling for years and a new marriage brought hope but it also had bills to pay. Coming up with that down payment hurt. We struggled for ages to come up with it.
Today, with the current but soon to expire tax credit, more and more people can get that first home in a much easier fashion that in years past.
If you haven’t already started looking, well, you need to do so now. In order to participate in the program you need to have the home under contract by the end of April. You also need to finish the closing process by the end of June. Doing so will give you the advantage of thousands of dollars of tax credits.
The first time homebuyer tax credited were created in the stimulus plan. That plan has since been extended as well as expanded to including existing homeowners in the Worker, Home ownership and Business Assistance Act of 2009. That Act was signed into law this past November.
The Act provides for ‘qualified’ homebuyers to obtain up to $8000 in tax credit as a first time purchaser and for those upgrading the credit extends all the way up to $6500.
Many savvy people are now considering purchasing that first home (or upgrading.) Whether you’re looking for your first home, a starter house, upgrading to a bigger residence or downsizing, you’ll want to take advantage of this program. It will either reduce your tax bill or increase your refund, dollar for dollar.
You can read more about the program at: Housing Stimulus
Tags: homebuyer credit
This will get some interresting comments haha
Please allow me to define a “good paying job” as $50,000 annual salary. If we divide the next stimulus tranche of $180 billion (assume the money is allocated to jobs rather than projects) by $50,000, the result is 3.6 million jobs for one year. If government continues to invest $180 billion per year on jobs for a 10 year period, solely to pay for W-2 income, the average unemployment rate is cut in half for a decade. (Please don’t hesitate to check my math here). If the aforementioned plan is enacted tomorrow on an annual reimbursement basis (job creation and W2 income must be proved before government reimbursement), the government would immediate stimulate healthy businesses to fill job shortages that they wouldn’t otherwise initiate by themselves, with no year 1 cash outlay to the government (reimbursement begins in year 2). Does this plan make sense to anybody? Does it also make sense to prioritize jobs over projects and reinvest the corresponding year 1 payroll tax revenue?