There is hope for a revamping and extension of the Home Buyer's Tax Credit economic stimulas bill President Obama signed last year.  Originally, the bill gave first time home buyers up to a $8,000.00 credit on their 2008 or 2009 Federal Tax Returns (or 10% of the purchase price,  whichever is less).  This credit is subject to the purchase   of  a primary residence between January 1st and November 30th of this year.  Remember, a "first time home buyer" is defined (in this bill) as someone who has not owned a home within the last three years.

 

A new bill  HR 2801, "Home Ownership Moves the Economy" or HOME Act of 2009 has been introduced and sponsored by Republican Howard Coble of North Carolina.

 

As with the current bill which is set to expire on December 1, 2009, This "cash for clunkers" verison for houses would continue the tax credit through January 1, 2011 with two notable changes:

 

 1.  The credit would extend to anyone who purchased a primary residence 

 2.  All income restrictions would be removed. 

 

 The HOME ACT bill  keeps the current maximum credit at $8,000.00 and extends the repayment waiver.  This allows the homeowner to waive repayment of the credit as long as they maintain the property as their primary residence and do not sell it for three years.

 

The removal of income restrictions, currently $75,000 for a single individual and $150,000 for a couple would greatly widen the home buying pool. 

 

The hope is that this extended bill will encourage home ownership, thus putting a spark into housing sales.  Ideally, this could spread  into the overall economy. 

 

 Other states, such as Georgia have an additional state tax credit of up to 1.2% of the purchase price.  This state credit can be taken over three years.  Hear in Las Vegas, with no state income tax  the incentive would be to get people into homes who may not otherwise buy.  But with the tightening of credit and additional restrictions of FHA loans, we might be looking at a double edge sword. 

 

The number of  property listings has dropped in the last six months, and most bank owned properties are receiving Multiple Offers.  Chances are in the current market, your Bank Pre-Approval may not be enough.