IRS spokesman Jim Dupree has some bad news for readers wondering if they would qualify for the first-time homebuyer credit.

Q. I live and work in Southern Louisiana eight months of the year but do not want to buy a house here due to the associated risk. Can I buy a house in another state and establish that house as my principal residence in order to receive the credit? I wouldn’t be living in the house but four months per year.

Dupree: A home must be purchased as the taxpayer’s principal residence for purposes of the first-time homebuyer credit to qualify.

In the case of a taxpayer using more than one property as a residence, whether a particular property is a principal residence depends on all the facts and circumstances.

Section 1.121-1(b)(2) of the Income Tax Regulations governs the definition "principal residence" for purposes of the first-time homebuyer credit. It provides that if a taxpayer alternates between 2 properties, using each as a residence for successive periods of time, the property that the taxpayer uses a majority of the time during the year ordinarily will be considered the taxpayer’s principal residence.

In addition to the taxpayer’s use of the property, relevant factors in determining a taxpayer’s principal residence, include, but are not limited to--

(i) The taxpayer’s place of employment;

(ii) The principal place of abode of the taxpayer’s family members;

(iii) The address listed on the taxpayer’s federal and state tax returns, driver’s license, automobile registration, and voter registration card;

(iv) The taxpayer’s mailing address for bills and correspondence;

(v) The location of the taxpayer’s banks; and

(vi) The location of religious organizations and recreational clubs with which the taxpayer is affiliated.

Q. I’m buying a house now. Do I qualify even though I had a trailer that I bought in 1989 and paid off in 2001?

Dupree: Sorry. If you owned and lived in a trailer as your principal residence at any time during the three years prior to the date of purchase of your new home, you would not qualify.

UPDATE: Got more questions about the $8,000 first-time homebuyer credit? E-mail them to Eileen.ambrose@baltsun.com before Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2009 and then tune in at noon on Sept. 8 for her live chat with IRS spokesman Jim Dupree to get the answers.