The President has signed and it's official! Home Buyer Tax Credit Extended!

I as well as many others have been waiting - impatiently - to see if the home buyer tax credit would be extended. With great pleasure I am happy to announce:

The home buyer tax credit extension is now a done deal! This isn't just an extension of the first time buyer tax credit, it is also a tax credit for qualified current home owners!

This new bill extends unemployment benefits for over a million Americans ( which is at a 29 year high) and extends the first time buyer tax credit of up to $8,000 on transactions through April 30, 2010. Find your home and place an offer by April 30, close the transaction by June 30th and you get up to $8,000 in tax credit! The income restrictions have been loosened too!

For current homeowners there is a $6,500 tax credit for qualified parties! You must have owned your home for 5 years or lived in the home you owned for 5 of the last 7 years and you may be eligible for the $6,500 tax credit! There are income restrictions.

Some of the details:

Amounts:
- The first-buyer credit remains 10 percent of the cost of the home or $8000, whichever is less.
- The credit for existing homeowners is 10 percent of the value of the new home or $6500, whichever is less. (Limit of $800,000 purchase price)

Definitions:
- A first-time homebuyer cannot have owned a home during the past three years.
- Existing homeowners must have owned and lived in their current home five out of the preceding eight years.
- Only principal residences qualify. No second homes or investment properties.

Income limits:
- The measure raises the income limits for those claiming the credit to $125,000 a year for individuals and $225,000 for couples, up from $75,000 and $150,000 in the previous first-time buyer credit. After that, the value of the credit phases out.
- The cost of the new home cannot exceed $800,000.

Cost:
- Expanding the home buyers' credit will cost about $11 billion. The total cost of extending the first-time buyer credit and adding the existing owners' credit is $16.7 billion.

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You can find great local Milwaukee Wisconsin area real estateinformation on Localism.com April Hayden-Munson Realtor, Southeastern Wisconsin is a proud member of the ActiveRain Real Estate Network, a free online community to help real estate professionals grow their business. Serving Milwaukee, Waukesha, Washington counties and the surrounding area.