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Stimulus Plan 2/09
Tax Credit for Homebuyers
First-time homebuyers who purchase homes from the start of the year until the end of November 2009 may be eligible for the lower of an $8,000 or 10% of the value of the home tax credit. Remember a tax credit is very different than a tax deduction – a tax credit is equivalent to money in your hand, as opposed to a tax deduction which only reduces your taxable income.
The tax credit starts phasing out for couples with incomes above $150,000 and single filers with incomes above $75,000. Buyers will have to repay the credit if they sell their homes within three years.
Tax Credit Versus Tax Deduction
It’s important to remember that the $8,000 tax credit is just that… a tax credit. The benefit of a tax credit is that it’s a dollar-for-dollar tax reduction, rather than a reduction in a tax liability that would only save you $1,000 to $1,500 when all was said and done. So, if a homebuyer were to owe $8,000 in income taxes and would qualify for the $8,000 tax credit, they would owe nothing.
Better still, the tax credit is refundable, which means the homebuyer can receive a check for the credit if he or she has little income tax liability. For example, if a homebuyer is liable for $4,000 in income tax, he can offset that $4,000 with half of the tax credit… and still receive a check for the remaining $4,000!
Phaseout Examples
According to the plan, the tax credit starts phasing out for couples with incomes above $150,000 and single filers with incomes above $75,000.
To break down what this phaseout means to homebuyers who are over those amounts, the National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) offers the following examples:
Example 1: Assume that a married couple has a modified adjusted gross income of $160,000. The applicable phaseout to qualify for the tax credit is $150,000, and the couple is $10,000 over this amount. Dividing $10,000 by $20,000 yields 0.5. When you subtract 0.5 from 1.0, the result is 0.5. To determine the amount of the partial first-time homebuyer tax credit that is available to this couple, multiply $8,000 by 0.5. The result is $4,000.
Example 2: Assume that an individual homebuyer has a modified adjusted gross income of $88,000. The buyer’s income exceeds $75,000 by $13,000. Dividing $13,000 by $20,000 yields 0.65. When you subtract 0.65 from 1.0, the result is 0.35. Multiplying $8,000 by 0.35 shows that the buyer is eligible for a partial tax credit of $2,800.
Remember, these are general examples. You should always consult your tax advisor for information relating to your specificcircumstances.
Homes that Qualify
The tax credit is applicable to any home that will be used as a principle residence. Based on that guideline, qualifying homes include single-family detached homes, as well as attached homes such as townhouses and condominiums. In addition, manufactured or homes and houseboats used for principle residence also qualify.
Additional Housing-Related Provisions
Tax Incentives to Spur Energy Savings and Green Jobs — This provision is designed to help promote energy-efficient investments in homes by extending and expanding tax credits through 2010 for purchases such as new furnaces, energy-efficient windows and doors, or insulation.
Landmark Energy Savings — This provision provides $5 Billion for energy efficient improvements for more than one million modest-income homes through weatherization. According to some estimates, this can help modest-income families save an average of $350 a year on heating and air conditioning bills.
Repairing Public Housing and Making Key Energy Efficiency Retrofits To HUD-Assisted Housing—This provision provides a total of $6.3 Billion for increasing energy efficiency in federally supported housing programs. Specifically, it establishes a new program to upgrade HUD-sponsored low-income housing (for elderly, disabled, and Section 8) to increase energy efficiency, including new insulation, windows, and frames.
Expanding Housing Assistance—This provision increases support for several critical housing programs. It includes $2 Billion for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program to help communities purchase and rehabilitate foreclosed, vacant properties.
More Help for Homeowners in the Future
Another thing to keep an eye on in the coming weeks is President Obama’s plan to help struggling borrowers before they are faced with a default on their mortgage.
According to reports, the Obama administration is discussing plans to help borrowers who are struggling to stay afloat, but who have not yet fallen behind on their payments. At this point, details are scarce; however, reports indicate that President Obama is looking to spend approximately $50 Billion to directly help homeowners before they face foreclosure and financial disaster.
While this is good news for individual homeowners, it will likely be good for the housing industry as a whole. That’s because, assisting struggling borrowers before they default should help stop the wave of foreclosures, which are estimated to top two million this year. That, in turn, will help stabilize home prices.
The Economic Stimulus Plan is huge, and impacts a number of industries.This highlighs some of the major provisions that may impact you now and in the future.
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Is Now a Good Time to Buy a Home?
Q: Given what's happening in the financial markets, is now a good time to buy a home?
A: For some people,yes. If you…
- have access to credit
- have fat cash reserves
- aren't already over-exposed to real estate
- have a secure job or income stream
- expect to hold the property for at least two years
…then now is an excellent time to buy.
Everyone else should take a breather.The reason: It's still too early to tell whether the dire predictions many government officials and economists are making about the potential collapse of our economy without a bailout are crying wolf--or if the wolf is really at our door.
For those who are cash-rich, either because they are too wealthy to be badly hurt by any economic swing, or because they were presciently pessimistic and liquidated their portfolios before the meltdown, the coming months—and perhaps years-- of uncertainly will provide an unprecedented real estate buying opportunity, of both trophy estates and income-producing investment properties. "The smart people know that the world is not coming to an end," says Lanse Robb, an agent with LandVest, a brokerage on Boston's toney North Shore. "They're making their moves."
But the average buyer probably doesn't have the cash to gamble on real estate--and shouldn't, at least for now. Income growth has stalled for the vast majority of Americans for the past eight years, and home equity has been vanishing rapidly since the peak of the boom in 2005. (Last month, median existing home prices nationwide fell 6%, to $221,900.) The roiling stock market is hardly a comfort either, as everyone who has peeked at a 401k statement over the past week knows.More critically, jobs are evaporating at an alarming pace. According to government statistics, the unemployment rate rose to a five-year high of 6.1% in August. There have been eight consecutive months of job losses, with a year-to-date total of 685,000. And layoffs aren't likely to end soon, since factory orders fell 4.5% last month—twice the rate that analysts expected.
Without healthy job growth, it's likely that the supply of unsold homes will grow. Currently it's at 11 months, more than double the median supply of two years ago. Until that inventory is burned off, home prices will continue to stagnate or fall in most markets. A government bailout that unfreezes credit markets and staunches the flood of foreclosures that are also depressing prices should help, but the fix will take a long time.
That doesn't mean that the housing market is doomed; ultimately, it will get better. There's even an upside: certain markets, particularly on both coasts, were driven up by speculators and became wildly overpriced during the boom. Falling prices means that housing in those markets will eventually become more affordable for average families. Credit Suisse estimates that, nationally, the ratio of median home prices to household incomes will return to their historical average of 2.86 in another 18 months.
In the meantime, if you're feeling insecure about your job or low on cash, hang tight and save your money. And if you must move, rent.<----Click for Homes For Rent
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