Fast Acting Relief

Our federal government passed the First-time Home Buyer Tax Credit last summer, giving buyers reason to get off the fence and into a home. There are just a few requirements, the first being that you haven't owned a home in at least three years.

If so, and you bought a primary residence in the United States last year after April 9, you may claim a credit of up to $7,500 on your 2008 tax return. If you plan to buy this year, then act quickly, because you'll need to purchase by July 1 to make the claim on your 2009 return.

The credit is figured as ten percent of the home's cost, up to the maximum of $7,500, if your individual income is less than $75,000 or household income is less than $150,000. At slightly higher incomes, you may claim the credit at a reduced percentage.

Keep in mind that this is not a "bailout," and in order to be cost effective for taxpayers, this credit must be paid back in very small increments over fifteen years, but not beginning until 2011. Basically, it's an interest-free loan for a fifteen-year term.

This incentive, combined with low rates, large inventories, and affordable prices, should put a home purchase well within your grasp. Get more details from a trusted real estate agent and begin your search today!

It's No Mystery

You don't need a crystal ball to try to predict the future of the real estate market. Every time there is a downturn, an upward trend always follows. The best course of action is to look at the causes, and make decisions based on unbiased facts and incontestable history.

As the choice of loan options grew these last few years, consumers could buy a home more easily. Wall Street took notice of all the hot action in real estate, and investment firms were able to shift the ownership of mortgages to their managers and clients.

Then about three years ago, the market began cooling, as incomes did not increase at the frantic pace that home prices did. Investors had created an atmosphere of unrealistically high appreciation. The perfect storm was brewing.

This cycle of up and then down seems more drastic now, because we enjoyed a longer than usual boom of activity, a full decade of it between 1995 and 2005. But demand still remains high, and although rising slightly, our historically low interest rates also help to fuel property purchases.

While there is no such thing as a national real estate market, we should be seeing improvement across the board as 2009 draws to a close. If you can, it's wise to buy now - before the ball lands back in the sellers' court.