Great News Finally a Tax Credit that will help
Finally something that will help homes for sale in Everett. So get an Everett mortgage and start house hunting. It’s the new $6500 tax credit for “Move Along Buyers”. You can buy up, down or across it doesn’t matter what the new price is related to your current home. If you qualify for this credit and you have been thinking about buying another home you just might want to act now. You have until April 30, 2010 to sign a contract and till June 30, 2010 to close.
The qualifications are simple:
1) You must have been living in you home for 5 continuous years out of the last 8.
2) Make no more that $125,000 as a single person or $250,000 married filing joint.
3) The new home can not cost more than $800,000.
4) Qualify for a new Everett mortgage.
AND YOU CAN CLAIM THE CREDIT AS SOON AS YOU CLOSE! When you close in 2009 you can amend your 2008 tax return or if you close buy June 30, 2010 you can amend your 2009 return. You will use form 5405. Now I want you to do something nobody else tells you to do, but I have written about before. Check with your tax man BEFORE you buy to verify the tax impact on your personal return. Tax planning is legal, wise and best done before the purchase and not after it.
As I said you can buy up, down or sideways and buy a variety of dwelling types. A single family home, condo, mobile, manufactured home and even a houseboat all qualify for the credit. BUT the credit isn’t available for a second home or investment properties.
Big brother will be watching, IRS has been told to watch this credit far more closely than before. See my blog entry titled “Homes for sale in Everett generate fraudulent claims”. There has been a large amount of abuse for the early edition of the first time home buy credit.
Here is a great tip. The credit can be used without selling your current home. If you ever thought of gaining wealth the right way now is the time. There is nothing against turning your current home into a rental and buying a new personal residence. Tip: If you want to cash out refinance your current home and turn it into a rental you better refinance now. Then hold the money until March and look for something to close by end of June. You see when you refinance you state that this is your personal residence and you will live there. But it doesn’t say for how long. If you live there for 5-7 months you should be OK. Now when you buy your next home just move into it right after you close so there is no dispute as to which one is your home of record. If you want a deeper explanation call a good mortgage broker.
This is one government program that might actually help homes for sale in Everett. The only trick to buying another home and keeping the first is qualifying for an Everett mortgage. If your present home doesn’t have an FHA or VA mortgage you just might have a great deal in the making. If you can come up with 3.5% of the purchase price you can get an FHA mortgage. If you qualify for a VA mortgage you can buy with zero down. I am a great believe in real estate as a long term investment. I think it’s a safer investment than the stock market. But that’s a personal opinion and probably biased. Biased because after all I am in the Everett mortgage business.
