There has never been a better time to look into purchasing your first home. After May showed a large decline in the sales of new and existing homes, legislators pushed forward a new bill that would extend the deadline for the tax credit from June 30 to September 30—a full three months extra. The bill continues to provide an $8,000 tax credit for first-time buyers, and $6,500 for existing home buyers. The bill was passed into law unanimously with no changes.
The bill does not extend the date by which buyers had to sign a purchase agreement for the home, which was April 30. Instead, it provides relief to those who were unable to close the deal before the deadline of June 30. According to the National Association of Realtors, this will affect from 180,000 to 200,000 homebuyers—a worthwhile number by any means.
In order to qualify for the credit, home buyers must fill out tax form 5405: “First-Time Homebuyer Credit and Repayment of the Credit”. Buyers must also include either: a copy of the settlement statement with all appropriate signatures; a copy of the retail sales contract for mobile home purchasers, again with all appropriate signatures; a copy of a certificate of occupancy for a new home; or, for buyers qualifying for the existing home credit, proof that they lived in the house for 5 consecutive years in the last 8 years. While this paperwork may seem overwhelming, the rewards are well worth it. Hopefully this will encourage Congress to continue working on improving the housing situation in America, so that the hundreds of thousands of people who find themselves homeless each night will no longer have to suffer without hope. Write to your local senators and representatives to let them know you support these initiatives.
Posted on July 13th, 2010 by admin
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