With the extension and expansion of the $8000 first time home buyer tax credit, lots of our readers are happy. But some are rather angry. Some of the people that would have benefited from the expansion of the tax credit have purchased homes and won't get the benefit of the tax credit. Others want clarification to see if they will qualify for the "new and improved" home buyer tax credit.

Since Senate negotiators announced they had reached an agreement on extending and slightly expanding the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit, my inbox has been filling up with questions about the credit and who will qualify for it. I’m also getting lots of comments from people irritated that they purchased this past year and would have qualified but now get nothing.

Q: Love your advice column. When is the compromise bill going up for vote? We could sure use the $6500 credit.

A: The vote happened this week. Senator Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) was able to attach his legislation as an amendment to S.1699, the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2009.

Since the current $8000 first-time home buyer tax credit expires on November 30, 2009, real estate industry professionals felt it would be helpful to know the extension and expansion is in place before then. If people believe the tax credit is coming, but don’t know when, they might push back their closing, or decide not to bother shopping for a home at all. At least that’s what real estate agents think.

Q: When my husband and I married in 2007, he owned a home in which I lived, but my name was never put on the deed. In July 2009, a mobile home was purchased and the title is in my name. Do I still qualify as a "first time home owner"? I have not owned a home in the last 3 years.

A: Do you own the land on which the mobile home sits? Is it permanently attached? Is it titled as real estate or a vehicle. The answer to your question depends in part on how you answer my questions.

As far as buying a home because your home isn’t in your name, the answer is no. The IRS means test treats a husband and wife as one unit, even if one spouse has never owned property.

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