Kristen Wahl

Since I tend to work with a large number of first-time home buyers, I have gotten quite a few questions about the first-time home buyer tax credit enacted in the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. I thought it would be useful to address it here.

Firstly, I want to direct anyone who is interested to visit the National Association of Home Builders' First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit page. They have a fantastic overview of both the credit and the entire recovery act.

I'll also summarize it myself. In a nutshell, the tax credit provides first-time buyers with an interest-free loan up to $7,500, which they will be required to repay over 15 years. No, it's not "free money" as the name may imply, but it can be a great impetus to help buyers with the costs of homeownership. You simply claim it on your federal taxes that year.

It's official. I'm taking the plunge and entering the wonderful world of blogging. I've been putting this off, because I was afraid I wouldn't have enough to write about or wouldn't be interesting enough, but I'm finally ready. I've realized that not every post needs to be deep and insightful.

So, starting today, I'm going to do my best to share information with my readers that I would want to read myself. Community events, real estate jokes, local market statistics... it's all fair game!

I suppose the first thing to do is share a little bit about myself. I grew up in Macedon, NY and attended Palmyra-Macedon Schools (aka Pal-Mac!). I then went to Nazareth and received my BA in Psychology and my MS Ed in Literacy Education. After moving to Northern New York and teaching high school special education for 2 years, I realized that I belonged in the Rochester area. Being unable to find another teaching job, I stumbled across a career in real estate, which had been an interest of mine since high school. Lo and behold, I loved it, and have been enjoying this career path ever since.

I specialize in the Eastern Suburbs of Rochester, especially the communities of Macedon, Palmyra, Walworth, and Gananda. I also enjoy working with first-time home buyers. Maybe it's still the teacher in me, but I have fun helping them to understand the process and begin their journey to homeownership!

That said, I hope you'll stick with me through my journey into the world of blogging! Thanks for "tuning in"!