Austin, TX

The $8000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit - Extended, Expanded, and Modified - Part 2

11-07-09

Donna Harris, REALTOR® & ASP - Hill Country Austin Lakeway Homes

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Office: (512) 592-7127

More information for the $8000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit that has been extended, expanded, and modified. I wrote about most of the changes on my previous post about the Tax Credit, so read that for a description of the most common circumstances.

Within the new law, there are some other changes that some people might want to be aware of in case it effects you.

$8000 first time home buyer tax credit All active members of the military have a different deadline to follow. If you were/are active military overseas for more than 90 days in either 2008 or 2009, your extension goes through April 30, 2011 instead of 2010. You get one extra year to buy a house!

You can now claim the credit if you are obtaining Seller Financing even if the Seller retains title to the property. This would include a land contract or a contract for deed. In order for this to work, the IRS would want proof of several things including the ability to show possession, proof of paying property taxes, holding insurance on the property, and a few other things.

With the new $8000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit law, you must actually show proof that you purchased a home, fancy that! It's hard to believe, but the United States Government was issuing tax credits to people solely on their word that they bought a house. No proof was required, just the word of honest Americans... and there's a reason this was modified as even a four year old tried to file claim to the tax credit!

It was rumored with the previous law that you could claim the tax credit prior to closing, but you absolutely CANNOT do this! The IRS has begun prosecuting people who claimed the credit prior to closing or without actually buying a property.

As mentioned, the above are special circumstances and will not effect the majority of people, but it's always good to know for the just in case.

Email or call me with further questions and don't let this last chance at a tax credit slip past you. I highly doubt it will be extended again as the government just doesn't have anymore funds to be giving out.

**Are You Packed Yet?**

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.com
Donna@DonnaHomes.com

Austin TX Real Estate and the surrounding areas of Lakeway, Bee Cave, West Lake Hills, Cedar Park, Round Rock, Spicewood, Circle-C, Steiner Ranch, and everywhere in between... Hill Country Austin TX Real Estate and beyond. Whether you're buying or selling an Austin home, I'll be with you every step of the way.

For real time Austin TX listings, click here.

** #1 Agent in my Office for all of 2008 **

Copyright© 2009 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* The $8000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit - Extended, Expanded, and Modified - Part 2 * was first published on donnahomesblog.com

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$8000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit - Extended, Expanded, and Modified

11-07-09

Donna Harris, REALTOR® & ASP - Hill Country Austin Lakeway Homes

view my blog
Office: (512) 592-7127

The $8000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit has been extended, expanded, and modified. It is no longer just for First Time Home Buyers, but it's also for Move-up Home Buyers.

There are many rules you need to know in order to comply with this credit, and yes, it truly is a credit as long as you're in the house for a minimum of three years. If you sell prior to three years, you will have to pay it back.

$8000 first time home buyer tax credit First Time Home Buyer means someone who has not owned a primary residence in the last three years. This means you could own an investment property and still qualify, but not a homesteaded property. If you are married and your spouse has owned a primary residence, but you have not owned one, you do not qualify for the tax credit. However, something new is that if you have a parent who has owned property and they co-sign for you, you could still qualify.

This tax credit is mostly referred to as the $8000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit, however, not everyone gets $8000. The number is the maximum number you are allotted for the tax credit and it's based on 10% of the purchase price, not to exceed $8000. In plain English, that means if the house you purchase is $80,000 or more, you will get the $8000. If you buy a $73,000 property, you would only qualify for $7300. Make sense?

Move-Up Home Buyers are a new category for this tax credit, and there are more rules. You must have owned a primary residence for five consecutive years out of the last eight years. That means, if you have owned a property that is currently being used as a rental, but you lived in it for five consecutive years prior to renting it within the last eight, you qualify. If you bought an investment property that you rented out a few years ago, but now currently have lived in it for five years, you qualify. Simple enough...

The Tax Credit for the Move-Up Home Buyer is limited to $6500 and not $8000. Same rules apply where it's 10% of the sales price, not to exceed $6500.

The income requirements have changed as well, and the limits are the same whether a First Time Home Buyer or a Move-Up Home Buyer. Single tax filers can receive the entire tax credit up to $125,000 whereas they can receive a partial credit from $125,001 to $145,000. Joint tax filers can receive the entire tax credit up to $225,000 whereas they can receive a partial credit from $225,001 to $245,000. Above these income limits, home buyers are not eligible for anything.

There has also been a purchase price cap added to this new law which was not part of the previous one. The cap is $800,000. That's a lot of house, but if you can afford that much house, you probably have bigger things to worry about than this small tax credit.

Of course there is a deadline for everything, and this new law actually has two deadlines you need to pay attention to. The first one is that you must be under contract with a property by April 30, 2010. The second deadline is that the property must close and fund prior to June 30, 2010. That way, no one can wait until the last minute to purchase homes and then hope they close on time. There is a two month buffer, but that actually means you only have less than six months to find a property and get an executed contract!!

The above does not cover every single rule in this new law, but the above takes care of 99% of the cases. There is a rule that you cannot buy a house from a blood relative and receive the tax credit, but you can buy a house from a step-relative and still receive the credit... and others that are very rare circumstances.

Email or call me today for further questions, and let's get you into a new house before six months come and go! The time will move faster than you think! And if you have a house to sell to be one of the Move-Up Home Buyers, we need to get that house on the market ASAP!

Here is the link for The $8000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit- Extended, Expanded, and Modified- Part 2.

**Are You Packed Yet?**

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.com
Donna@DonnaHomes.com

For real time Austin TX listings, click here.

** #1 Agent in my Office for all of 2008 **

Copyright© 2009 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* $8000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit - Extended, Expanded, and Modified * was first published on donnahomesblog.com

5 Comments

Saturday Football and Food

11-07-09

Taylor Shults

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Office: (512) 667-4738

Mobile: (512) 667-4738

What better way to spend a Saturday than relaxing with your loved ones. For me; that consisted of football, playing with the dogs, cooking, eating, and . . . repeat. Of course, I did a bit of real estate as well (I'm blogging aren't I?). I posted my listings on craigslist, replied to emails from interested home buyers (those are always exciting to get!), went over an inspection with a current home buyer, called back renters interested in seeing homes, and now I'm blogging! It's always nice that we Realtors can do a lot of our work right from our own home!

My man and I were watching the Food Network, Man vs. Food (anyone watch that?) and he was choosing between two different hot dog venues; which had the best chili cheese coney. So, what did we have to make for lunch while we watched the UT Longhorns add another win to their record? Chili cheese coneys! Home-made chili compliments of yours truly. :)

Hot dog

Few things beat delicious food and good company (and your college whooping it in football!).

Hope everyone had a fantastic Saturday!!

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Senna Hills - Austin TX - Homes for Sale

11-07-09

Donna Harris, REALTOR® & ASP - Hill Country Austin Lakeway Homes

view my blog
Office: (512) 592-7127

Senna Hills - Austin TX - Homes for Sale are going strong. There are usually a very wide variety of homes for sale within the community, but there are currently only eight houses for sale.

How do those eight houses compare? You could get an older home that is already about fifteen years old for $455,000 or you could get a brand new home built in 2009 for a mere $739,900.

Why do people like Senna Hills Austin TX? The community offers a lot. There are views from many properties. There is a community park, pool, tennis and basketball court. They even have community happy hours during the summer so neighbors can get out and get to know each other.

Another huge benefit?? It's outside the city limits. Some people refer to Senna Hills as being in Austin while others refer to it being in Bee Cave or West Lake Hills. But, it's actually not within the city so there are no City of Austin, City of Bee Cave, nor City of West Lake Hills property taxes. BONUS! Most residents do use Austin TX as the postal address for mail.

Email or call me today for further information about Senna Hills and making Senna Hills Austin TX your home.

**Are You Packed Yet?**

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.com
Donna@DonnaHomes.com

For real time Senna Hills Austin TX listings, click here.

** #1 Agent in my Office for all of 2008 **

Copyright© 2009 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* Senna Hills - Austin TX - Homes for Sale * was first published on donnahomesblog.com

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Martha Stewart - Goodie Package of Crafts

11-06-09

Donna Harris, REALTOR® & ASP - Hill Country Austin Lakeway Homes

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Office: (512) 592-7127

Martha Stewart sent a goodie package to one of my neighbors so she threw crafting party last night. We had a blast trying to figure out how to use some of the tools. To an extent, we felt like fools reading the instructions for a paper cutter that cut the design into the sides, a glue stick, and other things that weren't completely obvious to use.

Martha Stewart sent three different kits. One was a card making kit, one was an ornament kit, and one was a box kit.

My Card was the guinea pig card as I was the first to try to figure out how to use the paper edging, through trial and error as you can see... definitely not "perfect" by any means. But it was still fun. The foil embossing for the "Happy Birthday" was tricky, but turned out cool.

martha stewart birthday card

My ornament also didn't turn out the greatest. Note to self, decide what you want on it before you start! Also, it probably would have made more sense to start with the background, and then written "Alyssa" on top of that... I tried it the other way around...

martha stewart ornament

Some of the other ornaments that others made turned out good...

martha stewart ornament

I think I made the best box! Again, I used the paper edger, but this time, I had figured it out and it came out perfect on both sides. I even stuck two cupcake stickers on it instead of just one. It's called a "Cupcake Box", but it's currently holding my glitter ornament.

martha stewart cupcake box

As I mentioned, these came as kits, so you don't have to go to the store and try to coordinate anything. The kit comes with matching colors and accessories, like the zinnia flower on the card and the cupcake for the box. I'm not sure if they're exclusive, but they were pushing Michaels Arts and Crafts pretty heavily, and also gave 50% off coupons to buy anything from Martha Stewart's collection.

Not really sure crafting like this is something I could do all the time, mainly because I don't have the patience for it, but thanks to Martha Stewart, we had a great Mom's Night In last night and it was a lot of fun!

**Are You Packed Yet?**

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.com
Donna@DonnaHomes.com