$8000 first time home buy tax credit
 

Last year there was a $7500 tax credit for first time home buyers, but it was basically just a interest free loan as far as I know. I don't really care if you give me $7500 now if I have to pay it back, still a decent deal but now I heard that if you are a first time home buyer and purchase a home this year you get $8000 and you don't have to pay it back as long as you have the home for 3 years.

I read the federal website about it, and it looks like a pretty good deal. I'm a little confused on when it is paid out. It appears if I bought a house now, I would have to wait till next tax season to get it, but I'm not sure.

I found a cool house in Eastern Shawnee for 150K with a nice finished basement. I plan on living in the finished basement and renting out the top 3 rooms to a few friends so they can pay my mortgage for me. I'm pretty sure I can still get the tax credit even if I claim rental income from the property, but not sure.

Anybody else planning on planning on buying a house in the near future or know about this?

Anybody else own their own home and rent it out to people? Can you get away with not claiming the income or only a portion of it? I know if you can write alot off for your home if you rent it out because it's a rental property, but just don't know to what degree. Basically, I live in the same scenario right now but I don't own the house, but I'm responsible for renting it to other people. They pay me, and then I pay the landlord. So it looks like I'm making $1200 a month in rental income, and not claiming it. Wonder if I'll get audited?

Anyways, thought this credit was a great deal and hopefully will revitalize the housing industry. On the flip side, I'd be pretty poed if I bought a home last year and still have to pay the $7500 back.

If anybody has any tips or legal info about renting out your own home free rep to you.


http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/

These tax credits are misleading though. It encourages people to take on loans they can't afford just so they can take advantage of a tax credit. Not saying that is what you are doing, just that people will do this.

How about those of us who bought a ****ing house we could actually afford? When do we get OUR reward?

I somewhat agree. I made 54K last year and plan on renting out 3 rooms for $425 a month. I should have a ton of money left over to pay the $1200 or so mortgage and utilities I would think? But I'm sure alot of people just scraping by will look at this as just getting a free 8 grand to spend on whatever they want. What if they blow the 8 grand and get their house foreclosed before they are in it for 3 years. The government is going to want their money back. Could make for alot of problems.

Don't get me started on that one. heh Irritating isn't it?:cuss:

in fairness alot of people like me didn't understand what an Arm loan is. Now that rackett has to stop right now, that shit should be legal

It comes with the plan. You get to pay for all the dumb****s that overextended themselves.

I have an ARM and it is a great loan. I am 5 years into it and it is at 5.25%. Was at 4.25% when I got it.

ARM's aren't bad if you do your homework first and don;t get one designed to **** you over.

Exactly and that's what pisses me off to no end...:cuss:

I helped a relative buy her first home this week. We talked about affordability, additional and unexpected expenses, taxes, association fees, repairs, insurance etc. When this topic came up I talked with her about the importance of using the money wisely. Put it into the house with either a large mortgage payment, or into improvements to the home...carpet, tile, fixtures..whatever. I'm glad it will help her.

Spending that money on shoes would be stupid.


Now.....where do I line up in the "I'm screwed for being fiscally responsible" picket line?


I wondered about "selling" our house to the wife for what we owe plus a private note for home repairs, and qualify with this and a better interest rate?

This country was built on credit and everyone living beyond their means for the past 25 years!

I was one of the beneficiaries of the $7,500 credit. I didn't buy the house because I'd get the credit. That was just a nice surprise when I did my taxes. I bought the house because 2 years ago it was worth $600,000 and I got it for half of that. Unfortunately I'll have to pay mine back, but it definitely helped us get rid of debt and build savings, which was not what the government hoped I would do with it obviously.

You know what pisses me off?

The notion by people who think they should stop paying their mortgage because "the house isn't worth as much as I owe".

If the dumbasses would think about it, and keep paying their bills, eventually, things will work back up, and they'll be on top again. If you can't afford it, you shouldn't have bought a house you shouldn't have been in anyway.

This is exactly what happened to my Sister in law and her husband about a year and a half ago.

They bailed on their house.

To be fair, this credit is paying for new buyers only - not those who got themselves into trouble. The latter are being addressed by another plan in the works, though.

Which will also be funded with our tax dollars...

It sounds like a goddamned handout to me, why don't they just call it that?

so when are they gonna give people money that are doing what they're supposed to?

I'm planning to buy a house in the next few months, have a decent down payment, and am spending far less than the bank wants me to. I probably wouldn't have bought if they hadn't given me free money, so I guess I'm doing what they had hoped. :shrug:

no i mean give money to people who are actually paying their mortgages and taxes. the people who would actually put the money to good use.(i'm more talking about the buyout bullshit)

if they just used the money to pay off people's mortgages that would sure help the economy IMO

New buyers can buy things they cannot afford too.

Currently the same deal here is 24,000 (AUD) until June 30th.

And for those complaining that it isnt fair because they didnt get it when they bought their house, this practice actually promotes property values so it isn't all bad - your house will increase in value.

When they help people buy new homes, some of those are going to be first time buyers etc...there is trickle down effect to.

My guess is they assume that this $8k, most often will be used to buy new lazy boys, beds, big screen TVs and dishes and coffee makers etc...

Of all the things in this bailout crap, this one offends me less.

And the end result of that...higher property taxes. I can hardly contain my enthusiasm.

Yeah. Im not sure when they give you the cash over there, but here it's actually when you're doing the deal, and lenders will (I believe) allow you to include it in the deposit.

Which is good, means if you're spending 500,000 then you've only gotta have 26000 saved for a deposit rather than 24000.

It doesn't promote irresponsible OMG PEEPL ARE BUYING HOMEZ THEY CANT AFFORD because mostly, Australian law prevents such lending pracitces.

If you plan to buy in 09 you can claim the credit on your 08 tax returns and get the 8k back this year. If you don't claim the credit until the 09 return you will have to wait for your money. The only problem you run into is if you claim it on your 08 and end up not buying in 09, then you'll have to file an amended return and pay some penalties, interest, etc.

You are correct that the 8k credit that passed with the newest stimulus bill does not require repayment if the homeowner stays in the home for 3 years. Whereas before the $7,500 was like a no interest loan repayable at the time of sale or in 15 years the $8k does not require repayment as long as you meet the 3 year requirement.

The wife and I were looking at buying before and had placed a June 30th deadline on our search, now we have all of 09 to find something and a better incentive.

I'm not a fan of how the government is handling the economic situation and bailing out everyone and their dog, but if there's money on the table for me for once, I'm not turning it down.

Good call. It says it has to be your principal residence. So, obviously I assume if you don't live in it you can't use the credit. I'm planning on living in it and renting out a couple rooms. Would I still qualify? I just want to make sure they won't fuck me at the end of the year when I'm waiting for my 8 grand.

Claim it on your 08 return and you won't have to worry about waiting. If you've already filed 08 file an amendment and get it now. I think you'll be fine renting out a couple rooms if it's your principal residence still. It might be worth giving an accountant a quick call on though. Cash always makes things easier with a situation like that too as it's a bit harder to track if you catch my drift.

In fairness ignorance isn't an excuse. And you admit now that you didn't know what you were getting into yet you still took the mortgage. Amazing. And here we are left to bail you people out. So the lesson is...If you're a dumba$$ you get free money, but if you know what you are doing and actually pay your mortgage you get stuck paying for the dumba$$es.:banghead: