You probably saw it in the news. The home buyer tax credit will be around for another 6 months. If you felt that you missed out on the $8,000 gift from your government, you have another chance.
Buy one of the wonderful Columbus HUD homes we see listed each week! Not only will you get a great residence below market value, but you will also receive cash back after closing, complements of the IRS. Time to double your benefits!
Here are the new rules for the home buyer tax credit and how the program was enhanced:
- The tax credit for first time home buyers is still $8,000 (up to 10% of the purchase price).
- There’s a new tax credit for move-up/repeat home buyers. It’s $6,500 (up to 10% of the purchase price) for existing home owners who want to move up or buy a new home. You basically must have owned and lived in your home for 5 years (out of the past 8 years).
- The deadline has been extended until April 30, 2010. You may even close as late as June 30, 2010, as long as you signed a binding purchase contract by April 30, 2010.
- The purchase price must be under $800,000 and the buyer’s income must be less than $125,000 for single taxpayers and less than $225,000 for married couples.
You can read more about the Home Buyer Tax Credit Here.
I believe this is an incredible incentive. I also believe that this will be your last chance to claim the tax credit. Most likely it will not be extended a second time, as we see continued improvement in the housing market. According to a survey by Move.com 5% of Americans plan to buy a home in 2010, because they believe that the market has bottomed out and home prices will increase next year.
Here’s my advice. Take advantage of the winter buying season. The coming months – November, December and January – are usually very slow. There will be plenty of good Columbus houses on the market at even lower prices than we saw last summer.
Keep your eyes open and follow our blog for the best HUD homes in Central Ohio. I can help you find a great deal in the next couple of months, so you can take full advantage of this once in a life time gift from your government.
Thanks for reading our Columbus HUD Homes Blog
Posted by: Susanne Novak, ABR, FIS, GRI
Columbus Realtors specializing in
HUD Homes, Shortsales, Investment Real Estate
(614) 975-9650
