Q: I’m already a homeowner. If I buy a replacement home to use as my principal residence, do I have to sell my home to qualify for the homebuyer tax credit?

A: If you meet all of the requirements for the credit, the law does not require you to sell or otherwise dispose of your current principal residence to qualify for a credit of up to $6,500 when you buy a replacement home to use as your principal residence. You must buy, or enter into a binding contract to buy, a principal residence on or before April 30, 2010 and close on the home by June 30, 2010. Additionally, you must have lived in the same principal residence for any five-consecutive year period during the eight-year period that ended on the date the replacement home is purchased.

I'm still waiting for an answer to the question that many of you have posed: Is a couple eligible for the $6,500 if only one of the spouses meets the five-year ownership requirement?

Looking for more information about the repeat-buyer tax credit? This link will take you everything I've written on the topic. And here's the link for blog posts on the first-time buyer credit.

Posted by Jamie Smith Hopkins at 5:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (15)
Categories: Repeat buyer tax credit
        

The "do I qualify" questions keep pouring in about the revised $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers and the new $6,500 credit for certain repeat buyers. Here, for instance. And here. And also here. I'm hearing many variations of the same questions, so let me sum them up for you:

Q. When do the new provisions -- the higher income limits and the repeat-buyer credit -- go into effect? 

The IRS has weighed in on this one: for purchases made after Nov. 6. To get in before the credit program is due to expire, you'll need to sign a contract no later than April 30 and close on the deal no later than June 30.

Q. I qualify as a repeat buyer because I've owned my home at least five years, but I married more recently and my spouse would be considered a first-time buyer. Do we qualify for either credit if we buy a new place, or are we out of luck?

I couldn't tell from the legislation, so I called the IRS to find out. Spokesman Jim Dupree says the agency needs a bit more time to work through details like this one. "It's new legislation," he noted. "We should get some new guidance very soon -- any day now."

When it does, he said, it will update the agency website. The IRS answers questions about the older versions of the first-time buyer tax credit here, for instance. (One of its Q&As says a married couple can't get the first-timer credit unless both of them meet the requirements, even if they file separate tax returns.)

Q. I've been a homeowner for the last 10 years -- six years in my first home and four years in my current home. Do I qualify?

No. The legislation says individuals must have been in "the same residence" for "any 5-consecutive-year period during the 8-year period ending on the date of the purchase of a subsequent principal residence."

Q. I don't want to buy a new home, but I've owned my current home for at least five years. Am I eligible for the $6,500?

Er -- you do realize this is a "home buyer tax credit," right?

On a non-Q&A note, I thought you'd be interested in what Kevin A. Hassett of the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research had to say about the tax credit program:

Continue reading "Home buyer tax credit update" »

Posted by Jamie Smith Hopkins at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (14)
Categories: First-time buyer tax credit, Repeat buyer tax credit
        

You can read her column about the home buyer tax credits here, with readers' questions and answers from specialists such as Mark Steber, chief tax officer of Jackson Hewitt Tax Service. A taste:

I purchased a house in early 2005 that my wife and I are now selling. Can I obtain the new $6,500 credit? I'm close to the five-year mark but will be a couple of months off.

Steber says "The code is clear about the five-year timing. Unless you can put off the closing for another four months, you will not currently qualify for the credit."

Looking for more information? See some recent Wonk posts on the subject, including which potential repeat buyers qualify.

Posted by Jamie Smith Hopkins at 9:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (29)
Categories: First-time buyer tax credit, Repeat buyer tax credit
        

In the case of an individual (and, if married, such individual's spouse) who has owned and used the same residence as such individual's principal residence for any 5-consecutive-year period during the 8-year period ending on the date of the purchase of a subsequent principal residence, such individual shall be [eligible for the credit] with respect to the purchase of such subsequent residence.

Does that mean people who lived in their homes for the past five years and want to move on? People who lived in their homes for at least five years after late 2001, have since been renting it out and now want a new primary residence? People who lived in their homes for at least five years after late 2001, sold the place and now want to buy again?

I posed this to a Senate Finance Committee aide, and he said yes. Yes to all three.

I wondered that to begin with, but the "ending on the date of the purchase of a subsequent principal residence" part made me second-guess myself.

I urge you all not to spend that $6,500 before it's a sure thing that you can get it -- let's see what the IRS has to say, eh? But Wonk reader SSK, it does look like you can take advantage of the credit. (SSK posed this question: "I lived in my Baltimore house for 12 years. Just sold it in July. I re-located to Ohio and am renting. I'm about to bid on a new home. So, I lived in my home for more than 5 years, but I'm temporarily renting now. Do I qualify?")

Continue reading "Who's eligible for the repeat-buyer tax credit?" »

Posted by Jamie Smith Hopkins at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (62)
Categories: First-time buyer tax credit, Repeat buyer tax credit
        

The National Association of Realtors says the new provisions -- a longer time frame for the $8,000 first-time buyer credit, higher income limits and a $6,500 credit for certain repeat buyers -- will go into effect as soon as pen hits paper. The trade group has a handy "compare the tax credits" chart that you can find here.

You can also read more about the details on yesterday's tax-credit blog post.

The first-time buyer tax credit, hailed by the real estate industry as a stabilizing force for the battered housing market, has its critics. They say it's a lot of money, much of it going to people who probably would have bought anyway and some of it going to tax cheats (including 19,000 who didn't actually purchase a home). Some of you have said you think it's a stimulus that won't help in the long run.

In this running Wonk poll, I asked you a simple question about the bill: Thumbs up, down or sideways? The voting was overwhelmingly thumbs up at first. But as of last night, the results were split: 49 percent down, 47 percent up and 4 percent sideways. 

I chatted yesterday with Heather Fernandez, vice president of marketing with real estate search engine Trulia. She's enthusiastic about the soon-to-be-law, though not without reservations. One reason to cheer, she said, is that consumers pump money into the economy after buying a home ($30,000 within the first six months on items ranging from furniture to hot water heaters, Trulia found in a study last year). She also thinks the credits will help move more foreclosures and cushion prices in the short term.

There's a significant "but," though: "What happens to real estate demand on May 1?" Fernandez asks. April 30 is the last day you can sign a contract and still qualify for the first-time or repeat-buyer tax credits.

"While this may spur tremendous activity in the short term, what's going to stop demand from dropping off a cliff?" she said.

Continue reading "Expanded home buyer tax credits to become law" »

Posted by Jamie Smith Hopkins at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (21)
Categories: First-time buyer tax credit, Repeat buyer tax credit
        

With a 98 to 0 vote Wednesday, the Senate passed legislation to extend the credit for first-time buyers and add a credit for certain repeat buyers. It's expected to move to the House floor today.

It seems to be the same proposal we've been talking about for the last few days. Highlights:

--$8,000 for first-timers signing contracts through April 30 and closing by June 30. That credit was due to expire at the end of the month.

--$6,500 for repeat buyers who have "lived in their current residence for five consecutive years out of the last eight," the Los Angeles Times reports. But Sen. Harry Reid's press release phrases it as "those who have owned a home for five consecutive years within the previous eight years." More on this in a moment.

--Individual tax filers making no more than $125,000 and joint filers making no more than $225,000 could take the full credit, a significant increase of the income cap. The credit would decrease in value for people making more than those amounts, phasing out completely after $145,000 for singles and $245,000 for couples, the Times says.

--If the home you're buying is priced over $800,000, you can't partake.

You might be wondering what this "five consecutive years out of the last eight" really means for potential repeat buyers. I did, because it makes a difference whether it's "lived in their current residence for five consecutive years out of the last eight," as the Times writes, or "those who have owned a home for five consecutive years within the previous eight years," as Reid puts it -- or something else entirely.

Continue reading "Senate passes home buyer credits" »

Posted by Jamie Smith Hopkins at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (25)
Categories: First-time buyer tax credit, Repeat buyer tax credit