Well the “Cash for Clunkers” program is over but there is still time to take advantage of another of the Obama stimulus programs. This other program, we’ll call it “Money for Mortgages”, offers a cash assistance of up to $8000 for a first time home buyer, as defined by the IRS, but this program ends December 1, 2009 and all of your paper work must be completed by November 1, 2009.
The news of the day is that for the home prices have increased. Prices were up quarter over quarter for the first time in three years, according to the latest S+P/Case-Shiller data. The 20-city index rose 1.4 percent from May to June. Although down 15.4 percent since the previous June, this is an improvement from -19.1 percent in the first quarter. Cleveland, San Francisco and Minneapolis had the strongest performances from May to June, up more than 3 percent each. The only cities that declined in June were Las Vegas and Detroit. The Case-Shiller home price indices are calculated on a monthly basis with a two month lag time and published on the last Tuesday of every month. Economists Karl Case, Robert Shiller and Allan Weiss developed an approach to calculate the indices from data on repeat sales of single family homes. The data published from these Case-Shiller home value indices typically covers the 20 Metropolitan Statistical Areas used by Standard and Poors in the S&P/Case Shiller Home Price Index.
The dynamics of the housing market may seem to have a language of their own -- median value, appreciation -- it's hard to know where to start. It's a great time for buyers who waited patiently for prices to come down. Why continue to rent when you can buy for 10 or 20 percent less than you would have paid a few years ago? For sellers, it could be time to consider trading up.
There are a lot of questions that you should have regarding this program and I am limited to the amount of space I have here nor time that you should take to make sure you have all of the answers, the following website offers the answers to most of these FAQ’s:
http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/2009/faq.php
The long and short of the program are as follows:
· the tax credit is for first-time home buyers only. For the tax credit program, the IRS defines a first-time home buyer as someone who has not owned a principal residence during the three-year period prior to the purchase.
· The tax credit does not have to be repaid.
· The tax credit is equal to 10 percent of the home’s purchase price up to a maximum of $8,000.
· The credit is available for homes purchased on or after January 1, 2009 and before December 1, 2009.
· Single taxpayers with incomes up to $75,000 and married couples with incomes up to $150,000 qualify for the full tax credit.
I believe that now is the time to step into the market and claim your share of the housing deals of today whether or not you are a first time buyer. With or without the $8000 assistance homes are less expensive than they have been in years with many being sold for 50% of their value 2 years ago. During the great depression of the 1930’s the individuals who profited were the ones who stepped out in faith and invested in real estate, stocks and all the material things that represented investments. The losers were the ones who kept their money in the mattress. Our economy will turn around when the people start spending money again and regain their faith and trust in our country. Maybe you don’t have the stomach for the stock market but you have been living in a rented apartment or house waiting for the time that you can buy a home of your own. NOW IS THAT TIME.
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