Zillow Advice: Home Buying - To quaulify for the $8000 rebate does house have to be FHA approved and what does that mean?

NO! The home does not ...

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 03:13:00 GMT

NO! The home does not need to be FHA approved so no reason to try to explain what it means. The property just needs to be your primary residence (so if you have not owned a home in 3 years you might possibly use this for a motor home or a yacht if they are going to be your "primary" residence.

As with any new program, be careful that some bean counter doesn't change the interpretation along the way (and sometimes retro actively).

You can find a great video ...

Tue, 26 May 2009 19:02:00 GMT

You can find a great video on YouTube that explains this at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeDp_w3oiqg.

Hope this helps...

Regards, Tom Ashworth
http://tomashworthrealestate.com

You can't have owned a home ...

Sun, 24 May 2009 23:05:00 GMT

You can't have owned a home in the three years prior to purchasing a home. There is no three of five rule.

Q. Who is considered to be a first-time homebuyer?A. Taxpayers who have not owned another principal residence at any time during the three years prior to the date of purchase. irs.gov

http://www.irs.gov/newsro ... 1,00.html

There are additional rules to qualify. Follow the link

The home does not have to ...

Sun, 24 May 2009 22:04:00 GMT

The home does not have to be FHA approved in order to receive the 1st-time home buyer tax credit. To qualify as a 1st time buyer you can not have owned a home 3 of the last 5 years.

You must CLOSE the transaction no later than Nov 30, 2009 to receive the credit. There are ways to use this credit as part of your downpayment. Talk to you professional lender.

FHA mortgages allow less down payment - as low as 3.5%. The interest rate is usually slightly higher than conventional financing. Your mortgage professional can discuss which is best for your situation.