2010 Homebuyer Tax Credits Are A Great Deal For Anyone Buying First Home

I was having lunch with some colleagues from work when the topic turned to financial matters. One of my colleagues has been renting for the past 8 years or so, and he was wondering if the current downturn in home prices was the buying opportunity he had been looking for. He was in the market but was wondering if he should buy quickly, or take it easy and buy later.

I told him it was difficult to figure out whether prices were at the bottom or still had a little more to go. But, I told him he should not worry about the price so much because of the tax credit that he would be eligible for if he bought within the next couple of weeks. I was obviously referring to the 2010 homebuyer tax credit the government is providing to people like him buying first home.

My colleague was curious about the details of this tax credit because his real estate broker had not been clear about the details of the tax credit. I told him that I had come across this website that has good details on the tax credit, especially for people like him, buying their first home. In particular, this site explains the income limits and limits on the prices of the houses eligible for the tax credit in the form of an easy to use table. The table also contains other information pertinent to the the tax credit, including the deadlines for buying a house (contract signing by April 30, and closing by June 30, 2010)

The site also has a YouTube video on it explaining the tax credit as well as the importance of housing in the overall economy. Some of the statistics about the importance of housing for the overall economy were somewhat interesting. For instance, the video mentions that every home sold adds about $60,000 to the local economy! In addition to such statistics, the video also explains the conditions associated with earning the tax credit, as well as some details about who benefits, how much the program is supposed to cost the government, etc.



I told my colleague he should explore the site fully for more details. The site also has links to other sources of information that one can use to further one's knowledge of this tax credit. I told my colleague that if he has been considering buying a home this may be the best time to do so just because of the tax credits. Do it before the deadlines, and the government will pick up up to 10% of the price of your home! Sounds like a good deal to me!!