In honor of President's Day I thought I'd talk about the stimulus plan recently signed by President Obama. While every bit of the stimulus bill affects all of us, because my career is Real Estate I pay most attention to the housing portion. (Just as an auto manufacturer would pay most attention to the auto industry bailout.) Here is a brief summary of the new housing tax credit:
The tax credit in the Stimulus Bill has been scaled down to $8,000 from its previous level of $15,000, or 10% of the value of the home for any first time homebuyers who purchase homes from the start of the year until the end of November. It starts phasing out for couples with incomes above $150,000 and single filers with incomes above $75,000, and buyers will have to repay the credit if they sell their homes within three years.
This is an improvement on the Bush administration's $7500 tax "credit" that was really a loan. The new credit is truly a credit and only needs to be repaid if the home is sold within three years. Hopefully, anyone buying a home has plans to keep it for longer than three years anyway, as with any investment wealth is built over long periods of time. Also, it's important to point out that a "first-time homebuyer" is not necessarily a first time homebuyer. The term refers to someone who has not purchased a home in at least three years.
In addition, there's news that the Obama administration is trying to hammer out a new program to subsidize mortgages to fight the credit crisis. The plan would seek to help homeowners before they fall into arrears on their loans, whereas current programs only assist borrowers that are already delinquent. There are no details yet on this plan, but I will be monitoring this news in the weeks ahead.
If you'd like to learn more about how you can benefit from the new housing tax credit, call us at 360-609-6775 or visit the "Contact Us" page at www.MyRealtorIsJamie.com. We are here to help!
Comments (0)Subscribe to CommentsComment