Federal Housing Tax Credit Timeline is running out!

The timeline to use the $8000 Tax Credit is summarized below.  Escrow companies are going to be extremely busy the last half of November and with Thanksgiving week taking two days away.  Don't miss out!

To qualify for the Home Buyer Tax Credit of $8000, you must buy your home prior to Dec 1, 2009

The tax credit is for first time home buyers, defined as  people who haven’t owned a home in the last three years prior to the day you close on your home purchase or people who have never owned a home.

Here is the current timeline working backwards from the last possible closing day for a frame of reference.


November 30th    -  Deadline    -  The transaction must be closed by this date to qualify for the credit.

November 19th     - Critical “Closing” date   -   The is the safe date to close by. The next week is Thanksgiving holiday week with county offices closed Wed-Fri.  Closing on or before Thursday, 11/19 will avoid the hassles of trying to close during the peak vacation time along with all the other buyers trying to close at the same time.

October 5th    - Critical “Contract” date  -   It is important to have a contract in place by this date if you plan on claiming the Federal Housing Tax Credit.  Most first time home buyers are using FHA financing, which realistically takes about 45 days to process.

September 15th  -  Ideal “Contract” date -   Sometimes your first offer isn’t accepted or the inspection can uncover unacceptable conditions, so ideally you should leave some time in case the first contract doesn’t work out.  I have had three clients miss out on competitive offers in the last 2 and a half months!

August 1st    - Ideal time to start looking -   The Federal Housing Tax Credit is putting up to $8,000! in your pocket, that is the easy part, but it usually takes  up to 3 weeks to find a home and become Pre Approved for financing - - no time like the present to get started.

                                                                                     

Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
 

Will the deadline for the Federal Tax Credit be extended? Maybe, however it could be extended with a lower dollar amount or with the payback requirement re-instated.  What is certain is that if you buy a home that closes before December 1st, 2009 and you qualify, you will get $8000.