Federal Tax Credit: 38 Days Left

• March 23, 2010

by Mark Wellborn

With just over a month remaining to take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit and no signs that it will be extended for a third time, we wanted to quickly remind readers of a few things they should know.

• Buyers wanting to take advantage of the credit must be under contract by April 30th, and must close on their new home by June 30th. A few months ago, Realtor Mandy Mills told UrbanTurf that most contracts settle in 30-45 days and most loans today take about 30 days to process, so to be safe, you may want to be under contract by April 20th.

• The credit is available to individuals earning up to $125,000 or couples earning up to $225,000. The extension is not just limited to first-timers this time around: existing homeowners qualify for a $6,500 credit if they have lived in their current residence for five years.

• You cannot buy a property from (most) relatives and take advantage of the credit.

• As we noted above, don’t bank on another extension. Even with real estate groups lobbying for a third extension, we find this prospect highly unlikely. Opponents of the credit were less than thrilled when the idea was broached late last year to extend it for a second time, so we imagine that they will not look favorably on a third go-round.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/federal_tax_credit_38_days_left/1904