The Evolution of the FTHB Tax Credit
This is most certainly a hot topic, and the source of much contention lately in both political and real estate circles as everyone throws in their two cents. Before I go down that road however let’s highlight what it is that we ended up with in the bill that should be signed into law today by President Obama.
The new and improved First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit is now $8000.00 (eight thousand dollars) and has become a true credit, rather than a no interest loan repaid over 15 years. This credit is still only available to first time buyers, or those that have not owned a home in the last three years. I’ve been asked if one spouse purchased the home before marriage or was the sole spouse used to qualify for the loan if the other spouse could be considered a FTHB under this new provision. The short answer is, not likely. The long answer is check with your tax preparer to see what kind of leeway they think you will have. What I know about this is that if in the past three years you have claimed your home you are out of luck. If you purchased your home prior to marriage but you did your taxes “Married Filing Jointly” then I expect that would flag your spouse as having owned a home during that time. If this were the case and you were filing seperately from your significant other… that is where I just don’t know.
I have seen a number of complaints among people (mostly online) lamenting that this measure doesn’t go far enough and should have been made to apply to ANY home buyer. While I do agree that offering incentives to all buyers, rather than just first time buyers, would be more beneficial to markets across the country; at this point I’m just happy to have SOMETHING. There isn’t going to be a magic bullet for stopping or reversing the housing crisis. Frankly, at this point I am just as interested to see what is going to happen to help home owners that are in trouble keep those homes. One of the bricks around the neck of many neighborhoods are the flood of short sale/REO property that drive down property values.
Housing will continue to be a prominent player in the state of the economic recovery here in the US. Hopefully we can get this problem under control sooner rather than later. The number of families affected is staggering.
If you would like additional information please don’t hesitate to contact me. There are fantastic First Time Home Buyer opportunity here in the Treasure Valley. With prices where they are and interest rates at such low levels it’s an incredible time to become a home owner and start building future wealth and security.
