{"id":277,"date":"2009-10-07T12:00:09","date_gmt":"2009-10-07T18:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.befrugal.com\/blog\/?p=277"},"modified":"2009-10-07T12:00:09","modified_gmt":"2009-10-07T18:00:09","slug":"take-advantage-of-the-first-time-homebuyers-credit","status":"archive","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.befrugal.com\/blog\/frugal-articles\/take-advantage-of-the-first-time-homebuyers-credit\/","title":{"rendered":"Take Advantage of the First Time Homebuyer Credit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-278\" title=\"for-sale-signs\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.befrugal.com:444\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/for-sale-signs.jpg\" alt=\"for-sale-signs\" width=\"427\" height=\"320\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Time is running out on the <strong>First Time Homebuyer Credit Program<\/strong>, set to expire at the end of November.\u00a0 To qualify for the $8000 credit, prospective homeowners\u00a0 must close on their loan before December 1st, 2009.\u00a0 With interest rates under 5%, now is a great time for those who qualify for the credit to purchase their first home.<\/p>\n<h3>Want to know if you qualify?<\/h3>\n<p>Here are some facts you should know about the First Time Homebuyer Credit:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li> The credit is for up to 10% of the home\u2019s purchase price (with a max. of $8000).<\/li>\n<li> The credit does not need to be paid back as long as the house remains your primary residence for 36 months.<\/li>\n<li> Taxpayers (including spouse, if married) who owned a principal residence at any time during the three years prior to the date of purchase are not eligible for the credit.<\/li>\n<li> Taxpayers are not eligible if the home is purchased from a close relative.<\/li>\n<li> Taxpayers are not eligible if their modified adjusted gross income is too large ($95K for single, $170K for joint).<\/li>\n<li> The credit is reduced based on your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI). For a married couple filing a joint return, the phase-out range is $150,000 to $170,000. For other taxpayers, the phase-out range is $75,000 to $95,000. This means that the full credit is available for married couples filing a joint return whose MAGI is $150,000 or less and for other taxpayers whose MAGI is $75,000 or less.<\/li>\n<li> If two unmarried people purchase a house and one of the purchasers is not a first time home buyer, the other purchaser is still eligible for the full $8000 credit.<\/li>\n<li> The credit is claimed using <a href=\"http:\/\/www.irs.gov\/pub\/irs-pdf\/f5405.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">Form 5405<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It\u2019s still uncertain whether the First Time Homebuyer Credit will be extended beyond the current expiration at the end of November.\u00a0 With mortgage loans typically taking 30-45 days to close, those looking to cash in on the deal need to act fast!<\/p>\n<p>For more information, see:<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.irs.gov\/newsroom\/article\/0,,id=204671,00.html\" target=\"_blank\">IRS.gov: First Time Homebuyer  Credit<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com\/2009\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\">FederalHousingTaxCredit.com<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dsnews.com\/articles\/white-house-wont-commit-to-homebuyer-tax-credit-economists-remain-split-2009-10-06\" target=\"_blank\">DSN News: White House Won't Commit to First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<h6>image courtesy of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/thetruthabout\/\" target=\"_blank\">TheTruthAbout...<\/a><\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.befrugal.com\/blog\/frugal-articles\/take-advantage-of-the-first-time-homebuyers-credit\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\" class=\"excerptimage alignleft wp-post-image tfe\" alt=\"\" title=\"\" \/><\/a><p>Time is running out on the First Time Homebuyer Credit Program, set to expire at the end of November.  To qualify for the $8000 credit, prospective homeowners  must close on their loan before December 1st, 2009.  With interest rates under 5%, now is a great time for those who qualify for the credit to purchase their first home.<a class=\"read-more\" title=\"Take Advantage of the First Time Homebuyer Credit\" href=\"https:\/\/www.befrugal.com\/blog\/frugal-articles\/take-advantage-of-the-first-time-homebuyers-credit\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[638,1108],"class_list":["post-277","post","type-post","status-archive","format-standard","hentry","category-frugal-articles","tag-first-time-homebuyer-credit","tag-mortgage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.befrugal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.befrugal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.befrugal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.befrugal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.befrugal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.befrugal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.befrugal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.befrugal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.befrugal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}