The home of your dreams may come with a bonus: a tax credit. Image: DreamPictures/Photodisc/Getty Images
There’s happy news for current homeowners: If you intend to sell your home and buy another in 2009 or 2010, you may be eligible for a federal tax credit of up to $6,500. The Extended Homebuyer Tax Credit legislation, passed in November 2009, also shares the wealth with first-time homebuyers—up to $8,000.
Are you eligible?
You’re considered a current homeowner under IRS rules if you’ve used the home being sold or vacated as a principal residence for five consecutive years within the last eight. You’re a first-time homebuyer if you or your spouse haven’t owned a home for the three years before your purchase.
In both cases, keep in mind that the credit amount you’re eligible for begins to decrease for joint filers if your modified adjusted gross income is $225,000 ($125,000 for individuals); it disappears at $245,000 ($145,000 for individuals).
The ultimate amount of your credit depends on the price of the home and your income.
To claim your benefit:
Close on a new principal residence between Nov. 7, 2009, and April 30, 2010. You can settle as late as June 30, 2010, as long as you have a binding contract by April 30.
Don’t spend more than $800,000 on your new home.
When you submit your tax return, attach a copy of the settlement statement you received at closing. Check with the IRS or your tax adviser to confirm what additional documentation may be needed.
Decide whether to:
- Apply the credit to your 2009 tax return, filed on or before April 15, 2010,
- File an amended 2009 return; or
- Apply the credit on your 2010 return, filed on or before April 15, 2011.
First-timers who purchased a home between Jan. 1, 2009, and Nov. 6, 2009, may also be eligible for the $8,000. Keep in mind that the income limits in this case are tighter than for those who purchased after Nov. 6.
Apply the credit to your 2009 taxes
To claim the credit on your 2009 tax return:
- Complete IRS Form 5405 to determine the amount of your available credit.
- Apply the credit when you file your 2009 tax return or file an amended return.
- Attach documentation of purchase to your return or amended return.
Which properties are eligible?
You can apply the credit to primary residences, including single-family homes, condos, townhomes, and co-ops.
Do I need to repay the tax credit?
No, not if you occupy the purchased home for three years or more. However, if the property is sold during this three-year period, the full amount of the credit will be recouped on the sale.
This article provides general information about tax laws and consequences, but is not intended to be relied upon by readers as tax or legal advice applicable to particular transactions or circumstances. Readers should consult a tax professional for such advice, and are reminded that tax laws may vary by jurisdiction.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Homebuyer Tax Credit: What You Need To Know | HouseLogic
Monday, December 28, 2009
Realty Times - Military Personnel Receive Federal Help on Short Sales
Members of the military who find themselves in a short-sale situation now have a new tool via the Homeowners Assistance Program (HAP) through the Department of Defense (DoD).
Congress expanded HAP when they passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009; and now nearly every military personnel involved in a short sale can get financial help through HAP if they find themselves upside down when they must sell because of a mandatory permanent transfer.
The HAP website (http://hap.usace.army.mil) contains several brochures for military personnel and for real estate professionals to help understand the expanded guidelines for those using the program.
Authorized under Section 1013 of the Demonstration Cities and Metropolitan Development Act of 1966, HAP is a law that is managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers "to assist eligible homeowners who face financial loss when selling their primary residence homes in areas where real estate values have declined because of a base closure or realignment announcement." The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act expands the legislation temporarily for DoD employees caught up in the mortgage crisis. Those who can apply for assistance include:
service members and DOD employees who are wounded, injured or become ill when deployed; surviving spouses of service members or DOD employees killed or died of wounds while deployed; service members and civilian employees assigned to BRAC 05 organizations; and service members required to permanently relocate during the home mortgage crisis. The assistance is limited to employees who were reassigned within about a 5-and-a-half year period between 2006 and 2012 and the house being considered must have been the applicant's primary residence. Some of the criteria for eligibility include:
Permanent reassignment requires move of more than 50 miles. Reassignment ordered between 1 February 2006 and 30 September 2012. Property purchased (or contract to purchase signed) before 1 July 2006. Property was the primary residence of the owner Owner has not previously received these benefit payments. An online brochure, which can be printed via a PDF file, is available here.
This next paragraph is very important for purchasers of houses where the HAP program is being used.
The execution of this program requires the assignment of the contract to the Department of Defense, via the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In essence, the seller conveys the house over to the USACE and then the purchaser buys the house from the USACE all at the same time at the same settlement or escrow table. Your state laws may require a few differences, but this is how it's executed on the ground level.
Many Realtor contracts contain paragraphs that will not allow the assignment of a contract, so military sellers using HAP may need to strike this paragraph to allow the contract to go through without any hiccups.
An "assigned" contract is one where one party in a sales contract can assign their interests over to a third party before settlement. It would say something like: "this contract is between 'Mr. and Mrs. Seller' and 'Mr. and Mrs. Buyer and/or assigns.'"
With this language, it allows Mr. and Mrs. Buyer to slip in Mr. and Mrs. Buyer-2 at some point in the performance of the contract. It's legal, and is usually used via a pre-foreclosure contract where one party is finding houses for sale and selling them to a secondary buyer once they get the terms of the contract in place.
Thus, in the use of the DoD's HAP program, the purchaser needs to understand that at the end of their contract, before they go to settlement, the seller will no longer be Mr. and Mrs. Seller, but the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
For details on how the HAP program works, visit here.
Published: December 28, 2009
Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.
Mr. Carr is an award-winning real estate broker in Northern Virginia and authored "Real Estate Investing Made Simple: a commonsense approach to building wealth." He also contributed to Donald Trump�s book, "The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received," and is an active trainer and coach of top producers in the Washington DC market. As a sought-after expert on real estate, Mr. Carr has been featured on CNN, various broadcast outlets and was the former real estate editor for The Washington Times. He accepts questions at his blog www.RealEstateOlogy.org.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Helpful winter tips for homeowners
-
(New!)
Start a Christmas Tree Recycling Program
A Christmas tree recycling program is good for the environment as well as your peace of mind. Read
-
(New!)
Buying and Storing Fireplace Fuel
Knowing how to evaluate, buy, and store firewood is key to the safe, efficient operation of your fireplace, wood stove, or fireplace insert. Read
-
(New!)
What You Need to Know about Ventless Fireplaces
Ventless fireplaces provide a convenient, low-cost alternative to traditional fireplace options, but they aren’t trouble-free. Read
Visit houselogic.com for more articles like this.
© Copyright 2009 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
Friday, December 11, 2009
November local housing stats are in
November local housing stats are in
December 11, 2009 by Jim Evans
Home sales in Northern Virginia have remained on pretty much a flat line the past few months. With inventory dwindling and prices returning, the spring market should bring much more robust activity. From November 2008 – November 2009, in Prince William County the average sold price increased $30,000 or 14.4%. Fairfax County had no measurable change. Of course, prices are 56% less in Prince William as a result of soaring foreclosures the past few years. This current trend of price improvements should help be aided by the tax credits that are due to expire in April 2010. Affordabilty is at an all time high. That is, if you can find a home that does not have multiple offers immediately after being listed.
Graphs are courtesy of MRIS.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Treasury sets guidance to simplify "short sales" - keeping my fingers crossed!
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. Treasury on Monday set long-awaited guidance on a plan for mortgage companies to speed "short sales" of homes and other loan modification alternatives to stem a rising tide of foreclosures.
The Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program provides financial incentives and simplifies the procedures for completing short sales, a growing practice in which a lender agrees to accept the sale price of a home to pay off a mortgage even if the price falls short of the amount owed, according to an announcement on the Treasury's website.
Guidelines address barriers that have often sidelined short sales by setting limits on the time it takes a bank to approve an offer, freeing borrowers from debt and capping claims of subordinate lenders.
The incentives, first announced in May, expand on the government's Home Affordable Modification Program, known as HAMP, that has seen limited success in lowering payments for distressed homeowners. The Treasury earlier on Monday stepped up pressure on mortgage companies to make permanent the 650,000 trial modifications they have started.
"While HAMP program guidelines are intended to reach a broad range of at-risk borrowers, it is expected that servicers will encounter situations where they are unable to approve" or offer a modification, the Treasury said in its announcement.
Financial incentives for completing short sales or similar deed-in-lieu transactions -- in which the deed is simply transferred to the lender -- include a $1,000 payment to servicers, and a maximum of $1,000 to go to investors who sign off on payments to subordinate lien holders, the Treasury said. Borrowers would receive $1,500 in relocation expenses.
Short sales are favored by real estate agents and community groups over foreclosure because they can preserve the borrower's credit rating and leave the property in better condition than when a homeowner is evicted. While primary lenders typically realize steep losses, their recovery is typically far better than under foreclosure.
But short sales have been frustrating for borrowers and real estate agents, often hung up by negotiations with multiple lien holders and mortgage insurance companies. Real estate agents have complained that sales fall through as lenders bicker over the sales price, what they should receive from the proceeds, and whether the borrower will be held accountable for the debt in the future.
Among requirements, mortgage servicers have 10 days to approve or disapprove a request for short sale, and when done the transaction must fully release the borrower from the debt.
It also prohibits mortgage servicing companies from reducing real estate commissions on the sale, a practice that has dissuaded many agents from taking short sale listings.
In one of the most contentious issues gumming up negotiations between lenders, the guidance caps the aggregate proceeds to subordinate lien holders at $3,000.
Second lien holders in recent months have begun demanding more money from the first lender, seller, buyer or agent in exchange for releasing their claim, agents have said. Because primary lenders would face larger losses in a foreclosure, some subordinate lenders have felt empowered, the agents said.
The largest second-lien holders are Bank of America Corp, Wells Fargo & Co, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Citigroup Inc.
Second lien holders may proceed with a short sale outside of the Treasury program, if they felt the cap was too low, a Treasury official said in October.
"If there was a short sale program that didn't recognize the second lien holder position, it could have pretty damaging consequences for the industry," Sanjiv Das, chief executive officer of CitiMortgage, said in an interview last week.
(Editing by Leslie Adler)
It certainly can't hurt. Let's see if the banks go along!
