It’s Official: Some First-Time Home Buyers Can Use the $8,000 Tax Credit Now
By: Katie Curnutte, Zillow PR Manager | May 29, 2009
The Federal Housing Administration today announced that first-time home buyers can use the $8,000 tax credit sooner rather than later, as long as they’re using an FHA-insured mortgage and can come up with a down payment of 3.5% (before help from the tax credit). According to the seattlepi.com, home buyers can use the credit to either plump up their down payment, or for closing costs, instead of waiting to see the money until after they do their taxes next year.
Think you might want to take advantage? The FHA has a site where you can find FHA-qualified lenders.
The FHA is going to monitor this pretty closely. From their Web site:
Homebuyers should beware of mortgage scams and carefully compare benefits and costs when seeking out tax credit monetization services. Programs will vary from organization to organization and borrowers should consider whether the services make sense for them, as well as what company offers the most suitable and affordable option.
For every FHA borrower who is assisted through the tax credit program, FHA will collect the name and employer identification number of the organization providing the service as well as associated fees and charges. FHA will use this information to track the business closely and will refer any questionable practices to the appropriate regulatory agencies, as necessary.
The National Association of Home Builders estimate that the plan could stimulate 160,000 home sales across the country. That would be a much-needed boon for the real estate industry.
Do you qualify for the $8,000 First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit?
Answer these questions to see if you qualify for the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit. Or, if you have a Web site or blog, add the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit widget to your site. It’s free and fun content to keep your visitors engaged, plus you get free co-branding.
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Comments
14 Comments so far
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FokusLop on May 29, 2009 4:15 pm
Good article, Thanks. my name Philip.
toto toilets on May 29, 2009 4:39 pm
Ugh, i hope i dont miss out on that even though i won’t be able to buy a house for a couple years :/
-Jack
Randy on May 30, 2009 4:27 pm
that about what I would expect considering the way the trend has been moving for the last 10 years.
Daily Digest for 2009-05-30 | Joe Spake - Memphis Real Estate on May 31, 2009 12:27 am
[...] Posted an item Joe Spake: It’s Official: Some First-Time Home Buyers Can Use the $8,000 Tax Credit Now | Zillow B… [...]
Aaron Catt | Boise Real Estate Soup on June 1, 2009 7:21 am
In Boise, ID, we have been using a loan product where buyers can get their money upfront. There is a $250 fee of which $100 is refundable once the loan is paid back.
Top 5 real estate posts of the day Monday 6/1/2009 on June 1, 2009 7:24 am
[...] 3) First time home buyers allowed to use $8,000 tax credit for closing costs or additional down payment - Heather Barr, Justin McHood, Brad Pevehouse, Zillow [...]
Nick Wilson on June 2, 2009 10:22 am
This changes nothing. Sellers have been paying for most of this for a while now (up to 6% of the sales price).
This does not open up the market to additional first time home buyers, but it does provide an opportunity for people to earn fee income by loaning money against the tax credit.
Real Estate News You Don’t See on the News – from The Cutting Edge - June 2, 2009 | Memphis Real Estate Buzz on June 2, 2009 3:07 pm
[...] Official: Some First-Time Home Buyers Can Use the $8,000 Tax Credit Now | Zillow Blog - http://www.zillow.com/blog…; [...]
Jason H on June 24, 2009 1:25 pm
The only problem is the lender has to front them the money in hopes that they will get paid back once the buyer gets the tax credit money back. Most lenders do not have these means to loan them the 8,000 dollars up front to get paid 6 months down the road. This still does not help they need to let them apply for this money up front towards their down payment if it is ever going to really help.
Jose on June 24, 2009 3:49 pm
The website in this link is old. still lists Cw and wachovia…
Tawney on June 25, 2009 12:33 pm
I am really curious to find out all of the stipulations to this whole tax credit…I have never owned a home and dont have the best credit…would I be eligible for this or not? Anybody know….
FHA To Allow New Home Buyer Tax Credit To Be “Monetized” | justinmchood.com on July 2, 2009 9:13 pm
[...] did an excellent job of announcing and covering this plan, but I figured that it was big enough that we could talk about it in at least one more blog [...]
james on October 11, 2009 5:00 am
i am concerned about making more than 75 thousand this year,i i am buying a home but i am sure of getting the tax credit, is is there a way to still get some money if you make about 80k
thank
Ms Brown on November 6, 2009 7:07 am
James, I’m a tax preparer & one of my clients made $92,000 last year and purchased a new home in 2008 for $100,000+. She received a $1057 first-time homebuyers credit instead of the $7500.