Gary Woltal - Associate Broker REALTOR® Dallas Ft. Worth

Much has been written on the extension of the first time homebuyer tax credit and the credit for existing homeowners. A few frequently asked questions with answers to go along with all of that:

Question: Existing homeowner credit: Must the new house cost more than the old house?

Answer: No. Thus, for example, individuals who move from a high cost area to a lower cost area who meet all eligibility requirements will qualify for the $6500 credit.

Question: I am an existing homeowner. On October 25, 2009, I signed a contract to purchase a new home. I have lived in my current home for more than 5 consecutive years and am within the new income limits. I will go to settlement on November 20. If President Obama has signed the bill by the time I go to settlement, will I qualify for the new $6500 tax credit?

Answer: Yes. The existing homeowner credit goes into effect for purchases after the date of enactment (when the bill is signed). There is no reference to the date of contract for the new credit. The provision looks solely to the date of purchase, which is generally the date of settlement.

Question: I am a first time homebuyer but was not within the prior income limits at the time I entered into my contract to purchase on October 30, 2009. I will be covered, however, by the new income limits. If the new rules have been signed into law by the time I go to settlement, will I be eligible for a credit?

Answer: Yes. The new income limitations go into effect as soon as the President has signed the bill.

The income limit and other eligibility rules will look to your status as of the date of purchase,

which is the settlement date. So if the new rules have been signed when you go to settlement,

you should be eligible for the credit (or a portion of the credit if you're within the phase-out

range).

Question: I am an eligible existing homeowner. I have a fair amount of equity in my home. I have found a home with a non-negotiable price of $825,000. Will I be able to use any of the $6500 tax credit?

Answer: No. The $800,000 cap on the cost of the purchased home is firm at $800,000. Any amount

above $800,000 makes the home ineligible for any portion of the credit. The $800,000 is an

absolute ceiling.

Question: I owned my home for 10 years, but sold it two years ago year and have been renting since. If I purchase a home, will I be eligible for the $6500 tax credit if I meet all the other eligibility tests?

Answer: Yes. Because you lived in the home for more than 5 consecutive years of the previous 8, you

will qualify for the $6500 credit. For example, Say John and his wife bought a home in 2000

and lived there until 2008 when he got a divorce. Whether John has been renting or bought in

the interim, he WOULD INDEED be eligible for the credit because he owned a home and

occupied it as his principal residence for 5 consecutive years out of the last 8 years. The

keyword here is "consecutive." As long as he lived in that house for 5 years straight what he

did since 3 years doesn't impact eligibility.

Question: I am an eligible first-time homebuyer. I entered into a contract to purchase on November 1, 2009. Do I have to go to closing before December 1? How does the extension date affect me?

Answer: You do not have to close before December 1. Once the legislation has been signed, it will be as

if the Nov 30 date had never existed. Therefore, so long as the contract settles before April 30

(or July 1, worst case), the purchaser will be eligible for the credit.

Most consumers are fairly familiar with Realtor.com for home search from the National Assn of Realtors. Now they have come up with another consumer site.

HouseLogic

It is currently in Beta version, so take a peek. It is intended for homeowners to protect, maintain, and enhance the value of their homes PLUS provide business-building tools for Realtors. How about that? Something for consumers AND their Realtors.

The site will also allow homeowners to speak together with Realtors to federal legislators on public policy issues where homeowners and the real estate industry have a common interest.

Consumers will get the big push about this site come February but for now Realtors are encouraged to explore around and give your feedback.

Aren't you glad I gave you first dibs??

Bookmark it.

You get all my good stuff!

In my unique way of seeing the world I have ALWAYS thought any of us could change ourselves and go a new direction at any point in time in our lives. Similar to inserting a new computer board in a machine, you could go from a meanie to a nice person. From bitter to sunny. From cold to caring. Likewise you could go to the dark side, from social to isolated. From family oriented to loner. Then there are some that never change. Are you a Rush Limbaugh, a Vanna White, or a Tony Robbins?

Do you want to change? A little? Improve? A lot?

What I have seen with the stick in the mud people that don't seem much to change, they are either oblivious to the fact that they are stuck or from a positive point of view are very content with who they are and are perfectly happy to coast to the end in their persona. A la Rush Limbaugh types. Can you imagine Rush Limbaugh turning into Mother Teresa? Sometimes a radical shift does happen. Major events happen to us in life like 9/11 that shake us to our core. Sometimes we get sick and tired of being sick and tired. The school marm prim and proper lady turns into a born to be wild biker chick. Maybe it is a mid life crisis, and we see the sand in the hourglass moving so much faster to the bottom. I have concluded

The New You Is Up To You.

Do not fear being the new you, if you decide a hard right turn is in your future. Even here in blogging land I have seen some diehard bloggers hit the wall and adopt a been there done that philosophy and MOVE ON, never to be heard from on these pages with the written word again. They have their reasons if you talk with them. It is ALL OK. Just know that pulling the plug, changing that computer board, "putting on that new face" is perfectly normal at the right time that we choose in our lives to do so.

Think of it always like a butterfly and you got stuck in that coccoon for awhile, and now, time to spread your wings in another direction. I'll be cheering you on. It is up to you. Maybe even myself will catch up to that biker chick on the open road and give her a thumbs up as I ride up the highway on my Harley bellowing out its roaring sound. Life is meant to be lived. The story is being written by YOU. Hold fast to that pen and always remember to keep it in YOUR hand!!

Did you know that breaking out of jail is good for your real estate career?

I'm talking about developing your maximum potential. We don't get the best out of ourselves a lot of time because of fear, laziness, or our mind is dulled by being too "busy."

• Add more good people into your life that help you and encourage you. Fire a few friends. It is very empowering.
• Select better television shows or rent DVDs that make you think.
• Learn from books and classes and pencil that activity into your schedule each week. Feed your mind!!
• Adopt a BEGINNER attitude with everything and embrace discovery as part of what makes you happy.
• Realize the naysayers holding you back are gripped with their own fear. Turn a deaf ear toward them.
• Practice serendipity. Eat new foods, drive a new direction and see what you find. Unlike what you've been taught, talk to strangers.

Break out of the jail that can be your own limitations you impose on your life. When will you start living life to the fullest? I challenge you to start that TODAY. You never want to die with the music in you.

A jail break!! How's that for a goal??!! This kind of busting loose you will never regret. It might even surprise you how far you will get from your original cell.

I was thinking about how fancy cell phones have become a status symbol. I can't afford one, so I'm wearing my garage door opener clipped to my belt.

I was thinking that women should put pictures of missing husbands on beer cans.

I was thinking about old age and decided that it is a lot like when you still have something on the ball but you are just too tired to bounce it.

I thought about making a fitness movie for some older folks and call it, "Pumping Rust".

I think I have gotten that dreaded furniture disease....when your chest is falling into your drawers!

Employment application blanks always ask who to notify in case of emergency. I think you should write, "A Good Doctor!"

Why is it that no matter what color bubble bath you use, the bubbles are always white?

Why do people constantly return to the refrigerator in hopes that something new to eat will have materialized?

Why do people keep running over a string a dozen times with their vacuum cleaner, then reach down, pick it up, examine it, then put it down to give their vacuum one more chance?

Why is it that no plastic garbage bag will open from the end you first try?

Why do old men wear their pants higher than younger men?

How come we never hear any "father-in-law" jokes?

If at first you don't succeed, shouldn't you try doing it like your wife told you to in the first place?

Why is it that men can react to broken bones as 'just a sprain' and serious wounds as 'just a scratch', but when they get the sniffles they are deathly ill and have to be bedridden for weeks? Then they whine to their wife or girlfriend constantly about it.