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IRS Clarifies What’s Needed to Claim Tax Credit
March 1, 2010 by Elliott Robinson · Leave a Comment
The Internal Revenue Service has clarified which documentation taxpayers need to submit to claim the first-time and move-up homebuyer tax credit.
While the IRS is still requiring the filing of Form 5405, it is not demanding that all parties’ signatures be on the HUD-1 settlement document in areas where requiring both the buyer and the seller to sign the document isn’t common.
The IRS clarification says: “In areas where signatures are not required on the settlement document, the IRS has clarified that it will accept a settlement statement if it is completed and valid according to local law. … The IRS encourages those buyers to sign the settlement statement prior to attaching it to the tax return.”
For repeat buyers, the IRS is seeking documentation that home buyers have lived in the previous property for a consecutive five of the past eight years. Proof can include property tax records, home owner insurance records, or mortgage interest statements.
Source: Washington Post (02/20/2010)
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Elliott Robinson, JD – Associate Broker
Keller Williams Realty Metro Atlanta
315 West Ponce de Leon Ave., Ste. 100
Decatur, GA 30030
(404) 431-2117
Web: www.elliottyouragent.com
Blog – www.elliottonrealestate.com
Twitter – http://twitter.com/elliottrob
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Foreclosure Prevention Has Aided 116,000
February 25, 2010 by Elliott Robinson · Leave a Comment
The federal foreclosure prevention program has helped about 12 percent of borrowers who applied for help since the plans were announced a year ago, the Treasury Department says.
About 1 million borrowers initiated the application process, and as of January, about 116,000 home owners–12 percent–had their loans modified. But administration officials say another 76,000 applications have been approved and are awaiting signatures.
Another 830,500 home owners are currently in a trial modification review period during which banks make sure payments are feasible for the borrower and ensure the qualifications of the assistance program are met.
For those who qualify, the Home Affordable Modification Program brings monthly loan payments down to 31 percent of home owners’ pre-tax income.
Nearly 60,500 people have been denied permanent modifications.
Source: CNNMoney, Tami Luhby (02/17/2010) and USA TODAY, Stephanie Armour (02/17/2010)
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Elliott Robinson, JD – Associate Broker
Keller Williams Realty Metro Atlanta
315 West Ponce de Leon Ave., Ste. 100
Decatur, GA 30030
(404) 431-2117
Web: www.elliottyouragent.com
Blog – www.elliottonrealestate.com
Twitter – http://twitter.com/elliottrob
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Important Homebuyer Tax Credit Q&As
February 22, 2010 by Elliott Robinson · Leave a Comment
Important Homebuyer Tax Credit Q&A as provided by http://homebuyertaxcredit.com
First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit Eligibility
Q. What are the basic eligibility requirements for a first-time home buyer?
To qualify for the first-time home buyer tax credit, you cannot have owned a home as your principal residence in the three years prior to closing.
Q. How much is the first-time home buyer tax credit?
The first-time home buyer tax credit is 10% of your purchase price up to $8,000.
Q. I bought a home once before, but sold it years ago. Do I still qualify as a first-time home buyer?
For the first-time home buyer tax credit, you qualify as a first-time home buyer so long as you have not owned a primary residence in the past three years prior to closing on your new property. So if you owned a home in the past, but sold it more than three years ago, you would qualify as a first-time home buyer.
Q. Can I qualify as a first-time home buyer if I rent my primary residence, but own an investment property or vacation home?
Yes, you could still qualify as a first-time home buyer. Even if you own property, you are still eligible if you have not used that property as your primary residence within the prior three years.
“Step-Up” or Long-Time Homeowner Tax Credit Eligibility
Q. Can I get a credit if I currently own a home?
To qualify as a long-time homeowner, you must have owned a home that you lived in as your personal residence for five consecutive years out of the previous eight years prior to closing.
Q. Can I get the tax credit if I lived in one home for four years, sold it, and then immediately bought and lived in another home for the last two years?
You would not qualify. In order to be eligible for the long-time homeowner tax credit, you must live in the same home for five consecutive years out of the last eight.
Q. Can I get the long-time homeowner credit if I otherwise qualify, even if I don’t sell my previous home?
Yes, the law does not require that you sell the home that you lived in for five consecutive years out of the last eight years. You can keep title to it. However, you have to make the qualifying home your principal residence, so you can’t live in the prior home.
Q. Can I get the credit if I owned one home for ten years, and my current home for three?
No, to get the long-time homeowner home buyer tax credit, you must have lived in your current residence for at least five consecutive years out of the last eight.
Q. Can I sell my current home, and buy a less expensive home, and qualify for the “step-up” tax credit?
Yes. The term “step up” is misleading, because nothing in the law requires that you have to “step up” in value. You do not have to buy a more expensive home. We try to use the term “long-time homeowner tax credit” to make it clear how the credit works.
Income Qualifications
Q. How much can I make and still qualify for the tax credit?
The tax credit is only available at certain income levels: up to $125,000 for single filers and $225,000 for joint filers. The income limits are the same for both first-time home buyers and long-time homeowners. If you make within $20,000 of those limits, you can still qualify for a partial tax credit. But if you make over $145,000 for single filers or $245,000 for joint filers, you are not eligible.
Q. How do I figure out my “modified adjusted gross income” or “MAGI”?
You really should talk to your accountant about it, but generally speaking, your MAGI is what we all colloquially think of as our “income” – wages, salaries, interest income, dividends, and capital gains. Your MAGI also includes certain foreign income, but very few people have that. Note that your MAGI will be reduced by certain deductions such as alimony, but not the ‘below the line” itemized deductions that are on Schedule A of your tax return. Since your MAGI is very close to the “adjusted gross income,” or “AGI,” you can check your last tax return to see what you make: the AGI is the last number on Form 1040or 1040A.
Q. How is the partial credit figured?
The partial tax credit is available for taxpayers whose income is within $20,000 of the income limits: so up to $145,000 for single filers and $245,000 for joint filers. If your income is within that “phase out range,” you get a partial credit based on how much of your income is within that range. For example, if your MAGI is $130,000 as a single filer, that means you’re $5,000 into that $20,000 range. That’s 25% of the range, leaving 75% still in the range. So you would get 75% of the tax credit you’re entitled to: $6,000 if you’re a first-time home buyer (75% of $8,000) or $4,875 if you’re a long-time homeowner (75% of $6,500).
Deadline Issues
Q. When do I have to be in contract?
In order to claim either first-time home buyer tax credit, or the long-time homeowner tax credit, you have to be in contract by April 30, 2010. This is a hard deadline, with no extensions.
Q. When do I have to be in closed?
In order to claim either first-time home buyer tax credit, or the long-time homeowner tax credit, you have to be closed by June 30, 2010. This is a hard deadline, with no extensions.
Q. What if my closing is delayed because of problems with appraisals, attorney delays, etc.?
It doesn’t matter. The IRS has been very exacting with the deadlines. If you don’t close by midnight June 30, 2010, you will not be able to claim the tax credit.
Q. What if I was already in contract at the time the law was passed in November?
It doesn’t matter when you went into contract, so long as you are in contract by April 30, 2010. So long as you otherwise qualify, and close by June 30, 2010, you will get the tax credit. Obviously, a number of people who got into contract without realizing they were going to be eligible for the tax credit are going to get a windfall.
Q. What if I was not eligible for a tax credit on the law prior to November 2009, and closed before the new law? Can I get a tax credit?
No, the law only applies to closings after November 6, 2009, and before June 30, 2010. If you closed on November 6, 2009 or earlier, and did not qualify for the tax credit at the time of your closing, you cannot get the new tax credit.
Buying with Someone Else
Q. If I am buying with someone else, and we both qualify, do we get two tax credits?
No, the tax credit is allocated according to the purchase, not the number of purchasers. So if two people who both qualify purchase a house together, they would split the applicable tax credit.
Q. What if I qualify for the credit, but my spouse does not?
In order to claim either the first-time home buyer tax credit, or the step-up home buyer tax credit, both spouses must be eligible. So if you are eligible, but your spouse is not eligible for whatever reason, neither of you can claim the tax credit.
Q. What if my income is within the limitations, but my spouse’s income is above the limitations?
In that case, unfortunately, neither of you qualify for the tax credit. Both of you must qualify.
Q. What if I previously owned a home in the past three years, but my spouse never owned a home?
In that case, unfortunately, neither of you qualify for either tax credit. You are ineligible for the first-time home buyer tax credit because you owned a home in the past three years, and she is ineligible for the long-time homeowner tax credit because she never owned a home before.
Q. What if my wife and I just got married after living in separate homes, and both qualify for the long-time homeowner tax credit for our prior homes?
Unfortunately, you don’t qualify. In order for a married couple to qualify for the “step-up” home buyer tax credit, both spouses must qualify by owning the SAME principal residence. You each owned separate principal residences, so even though you both might qualify separately, you don’t qualify togethe
For answers to more of your tax credit questions, please visit this excellent website: http://homebuyertaxcredit.com/faq.aspx
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Elliott Robinson, JD – Associate Broker
Keller Williams Realty Metro Atlanta
315 West Ponce de Leon Ave., Ste. 100
Decatur, GA 30030
(404) 431-2117
Web: www.elliottyouragent.com
Blog – www.elliottonrealestate.com
Twitter – http://twitter.com/elliottrob
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Homebuyer Tax Credit Deadline Looming
February 22, 2010 by Elliott Robinson · Leave a Comment
The Homebuyer Tax Credit is set to expire this summer. The tax credit is available to both First-Time Homebuyers and Step-Up Homebuyers. The provision to make the tax credit eligible for Step-Up Homebuyers was added when the law was extended.
Elliott Robinson, JD – Associate Broker
Keller Williams Realty Metro Atlanta
315 West Ponce de Leon Ave., Ste. 100
Decatur, GA 30030
(404) 431-2117
Web: www.elliottyouragent.com
Blog – www.elliottonrealestate.com
Twitter – http://twitter.com/elliottrob
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Big Test Ahead for Mortgage Market
January 25, 2010 by Elliott Robinson · Leave a Comment
The cessation of the government program to buy mortgage-backed securities, set to end in a couple of months, will show whether the White House and Federal Reserve have effectively stimulated the lending market to the point that it is now on solid footing.
If the sector slumps again, home owners could face a new period of distress.
Keeping mortgage rates at record lows was a major component of the economic strategy during President Obama’s first year in office. While it did not garner the kind of headlines that efforts to bail out banks did, the policy did help revitalize home buying in parts of the country and assisted millions of home owners who were able to refinance.
Source: Washington Post, David Cho, Neil Irwin, and Dina ElBoghdady (01/25/10)
© Copyright 2009 Information Inc.
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Elliott Robinson, JD – Associate Broker
Keller Williams Realty Metro Atlanta
315 West Ponce de Leon Ave., Ste. 100
Decatur, GA 30030
(404) 431-2117
Web: www.elliottyouragent.com
Blog – www.elliottonrealestate.com
Twitter – http://twitter.com/elliottrob
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Tax Credit Encourages Buyers to Shop Early
January 22, 2010 by Elliott Robinson · Leave a Comment
The homebuying season is starting early this year, thanks to the expanded first-time and move-up homebuyer tax credit.
Typically, the busiest time for home shopping starts in March and continues through May, but this year buyers who want to take advantage of the tax credits have to have a signed contract by April 30 and close the deal by June 30.
That is getting people off the couch.
“The tax credit will absolutely have an effect,” says Pete Flint, CEO of residential real estate search engine Trulia.com. “It is going to shift demand from the later part of the year to the first part. January and February will be very strong. The next three months, there will be a surge in demand.”
Source: USA Today, Stephanie Armour (01/20/2010)
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Elliott Robinson, JD – Associate Broker
Keller Williams Realty Metro Atlanta
315 West Ponce de Leon Ave., Ste. 100
Decatur, GA 30030
(404) 431-2117
Web: www.elliottyouragent.com
Blog – www.elliottonrealestate.com
Twitter – http://twitter.com/elliottrob
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The Homebuyer Tax Credit is Extended and Expanded
November 6, 2009 by Elliott Robinson · Leave a Comment
The bill signed into law today by President Obama, extends an $8,000 first-time home buyers’ tax credit that was set to expire at the end of this month. The credit will apply to all house contracts entered into before April 30, 2010, and closed by June 30. The credit would be extended an additional year, until June 30, 2011, for members of the military serving outside the United States for at least 90 days.
Purchases Covered
The $8,000 credit for first-time homebuyers has been retained. The law also creates a new $6,500 credit for existing property owners looking to sell their home and buy another during the same period of time. The plan allows homebuyers who have lived in their residence at least five of the last eight years to receive a $6,500 credit. The credit is available for the purchase of principal homes costing $800,000 or less, meaning vacation homes are ineligible.
Income Limits
Couples earning as much as $225,000 a year and individuals earning up to $125,000 would qualify. That is up from the current $75,000 limit for individuals and $150,000 for couples. The credit would be phased out for individuals with annual incomes above $125,000 and for joint filers with incomes above $225,000.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said in a research note yesterday that the credit probably spurred 200,000 home sales that otherwise wouldn’t have occurred.
“This is probably the last extension,” said Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., a former real estate executive who championed the credits.
The real estate industry has been pushing to extend and expand the housing tax credit. About 1.4 million first-time homebuyers have qualified for the credit through August. The National Association of Realtors estimates that 350,000 of them would not have purchased their homes without the credit.
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Elliott Robinson, JD – Associate Broker
Keller Williams Realty Metro Atlanta
315 West Ponce de Leon Ave., Ste. 100
Decatur, GA 30030
(404) 431-2117
Web: www.elliottyouragent.com
Blog – www.elliottonrealestate.com
Twitter – http://twitter.com/elliottrob
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House Approves Home Tax Credit
November 5, 2009 by Elliott Robinson · Leave a Comment
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The House of Representatives on Thursday approved an extension of jobless benefits and a tax credit for home buyers, sending the measure to President Barack Obama for signature.
The bill, approved unanimously by the Senate late Wednesday, extends unemployment benefits for up to 20 weeks.
It also keeps a first-time home buyer tax credit alive until next spring, and expands it to include some people who already own a house.
The vote was 403 to 12.
The bill extends jobless benefits in all states for 14 weeks, and for up to 20 weeks in states where the unemployment rate is above 8.5%.
Obama may sign the bill as early as Friday.
The U.S. unemployment rate is at a 26-year high of 9.8%, and the White House is warning that job losses will continue even as the economy recovers. The latest U.S. jobs figures are due Friday morning, and economists surveyed by MarketWatch estimate that the country lost 150,000 jobs in October. See Economic Calendar.
An $8,000 credit for first-time home buyers now set to expire this month is extended through April 30 under the bill.
The bill also allows people who have lived in a home for at least five years to claim a $6,500 credit if they purchase a new home.
House lawmakers voted after the Labor Department reported Thursday morning that the number of people filing initial claims for state jobless benefits dropped by 20,000 to a seasonally adjusted 512,000 in the latest week. It was the first decline in two weeks and the fewest initial claims since early January. See full story.
But the jobless claims figures don’t point toward quick job-creation, analysts say.
“If the pace of decline from the peak is maintained, we are still some five months away from claims reaching the level that will signal net job growth,” wrote RDQ Economics economists.
The bill also includes a tax provision allowing small businesses to write off losses they incurred during the recessio
By Robert Schroeder, MarketWatch
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Elliott Robinson, JD – Associate Broker
Keller Williams Realty Metro Atlanta
315 West Ponce de Leon Ave., Ste. 100
Decatur, GA 30030
(404) 431-2117
Web: www.elliottyouragent.com
Blog – www.elliottonrealestate.com
Twitter – http://twitter.com/elliottrob
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Senate Approves Tax Credit Extension, Expansion
November 5, 2009 by Elliott Robinson · Leave a Comment
The Senate yesterday passed legislation to extend the $8,000 home buyer tax credit to May 1, 2010, for first-time buyers and add a $6,500 tax credit for repeat buyers if they’ve lived in their home for five of the past eight years. Home prices are capped at $800,000.
The legislation was included in a bill to extend unemployment benefits and is expected to be passed by the House today or tomorrow. President Obama is expected to sign the legislation when it’s sent to his desk.
Under the bill, income limits are expanded to $125,000 for individuals and $225,000 for joint filers. Individuals with incomes up to $145,000 and joint filers with incomes up to $245,000 qualify for reduced credits.
Households who have binding contracts in place by April 30 will be allowed an additional 60 days to complete their transaction. The deadline for members of the military serving out the U.S. for at least 90 days between Jan. 1, 2009, and May 1, 2010, has been extended one year.
Taxpayers can claim the credit on their federal income tax returns. If the credit exceeds their tax bill, the government will issue a check. Taxpayers will be able to claim the credit on their 2009 income tax return for purchases made in 2010.
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Elliott Robinson, JD – Associate Broker
Keller Williams Realty Metro Atlanta
315 West Ponce de Leon Ave., Ste. 100
Decatur, GA 30030
(404) 431-2117
Web: www.elliottyouragent.com
Blog – www.elliottonrealestate.com
Twitter – http://twitter.com/elliottrob
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New-Home Sales Decline
November 2, 2009 by Elliott Robinson · Leave a Comment
After increasing for five consecutive months, new-home sales declined 3.6 percent in September compared with August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 402,000, the Commerce Department reported yesterday.
Sales were down 7.8 percent compared to September 2008.
Most of the decline was in the West and the South, where sales fell 11 percent and 10 percent respectively. These reduction were offset by transactions in the Midwest, where sales jumped 34 percent.
Analysts were surprised by the decline, and some blamed it on the first-time home buyer tax credit, which sucked up customers eager to buy foreclosure bargains. Others said that the new normal for time between signing the sales contract and closing is two months or longer, a reality that could be reflected in these numbers.
“We don’t know yet if it’s anything more than a blip,” says Steven Ricchiuto, an economist for Mizuho Securities USA.
Source: Washington Post, Renae Merle (10/29/2009)
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Elliott Robinson, JD – Associate Broker
Keller Williams Realty Metro Atlanta
315 West Ponce de Leon Ave., Ste. 100
Decatur, GA 30030
(404) 431-2117
Web: www.elliottyouragent.com
Blog – www.elliottonrealestate.com
Twitter – http://twitter.com/elliottrob

Elliott Robinson, Esq. combines sound marketing principles and his legal acumen when helping clients purchase and sell real estate.