Many Canton and Plymouth Michigan home buyers were hesitant to buy a home right away, thinking that home values were still declining and that if they waited they would get a better deal. But the truth is, there are many reasons why NOW is the time to buy a house.  With the passing of the Economic Recovery Act of 2008 and it’s generous tax credit, the Down Payment Assistance Program being terminated in October of this year and the fact that research shows an increase in home value already touching parts of America- now is clearly the time to get into your dream home! Canton, Michigan home buyers and home sellers know the benefits of the following real estate secrets…

The passing of the Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HR 3221) the government will give first time home buyers (or someone who hasn’t owned a home for three years) up to a $7,500 tax credit.  This is an excellent new benefit that will help Canton, MI residents and fellow Americans get into their new home.

Secondly, President Bush recently passed a bill that abolishes the Down Payment Assistance Program effective October 1st, 2008. The Down Payment Assistance Program (also known as "Zero Down") allows you to purchase a home with a FHA insured loan and have the seller pay your down payment.

 

For a short few months, you can take advantage of both the generous tax credit as well as the Zero Down program! If you are serious about finding a real bargain in real estate, getting your family into your dream home while still having the benefits that are still available- now is the time to make your home purchase.

Still not convinced? Well, there is some exciting news about an increase in home value already starting to touch some American cities. Some speculate that the crashing of home prices have hit near bottom and will start to finally increase steadily in the next year or so. Some cities have had three consecutive months of positive returns. These two markets are also showing the smallest annual declines. To keep yourself up to date  Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices accurately track the price path of typical single-family homes located in each metropolitan area provided. Each index combines matched price pairs for thousands of individual houses from the available universe of arms-length data.. The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices are published on the last Tuesday of each month at 9:00am ET.  The S&P/Case-Shiller National U.S. Home Price Index tracks the value of single-family housing within the United States. The index is a composite of single-family home price indices for the nine U.S. Census divisions and is calculated quarterly.

So, not only is now a great time to buy a home, many Canton and Plymouth Michigan families and investors are reconsidering flipping houses. They have also gotten back in the game by doing home searching on the Internet and finding all of the great deals that are still out there.  One excellent example of the great deals available comes from The Bittinger Team.

 

See how Southeastern Michigan benefits

from The Bittinger Team’s expertise in real estate!

 

 

 

 We would love to hear your comments!

• The $7,500 tax credit is available for first-time home buyers only.
• The law defines a first-time home buyer as a buyer who has not owned a home during the past three years.
• All U.S. citizens who file taxes are eligible to participate in the program.

• Home buyers who file as single or head-of-household taxpayers can claim the full $7,500 credit if their adjusted gross income (AGI) is less than $75,000.
• For married couples filing a joint return, the income limit doubles to $150,000.
• Single or head-of-household taxpayers who earn between $75,000 and $95,000 are eligible to receive a partial first-time home buyer tax credit.
• Married couples who earn between $150,000 and $170,000 are eligible to receive a partial first-time home buyer tax credit.
• The credit is not available for single taxpayers whose AGI is greater than $95,000 and married couples with an AGI that exceeds $170,000.

• First-time home buyers would receive a $7,500 tax credit for the purchase of any home on or after April 9, 2008 and before July 1, 2009. To qualify, you must actually close on the sale of the home during this period.

• A refundable credit means that if you pay less than $7,500 in federal income taxes, then the government will write you a check for the difference.
• For example, if you owe $5,000 in federal income taxes, you would pay nothing to the IRS and receive a $2,500 payment from the government.
• If you are due to receive a $1,000 tax refund from the government, your refund would grow to $8,750 ($1,000 plus $7,500 from the home buyer tax credit).
• Buyers can take the tax credit in their 2008 or 2009 tax return.
• If you purchased the home in 2008, the tax credit is taken on your 2008 tax return. If you buy in 2009, you have the option of taking the credit on your 2008 or 2009 tax returns.

• All homes, whether single-family, townhomes or condominium apartments will qualify, provided that the home will be used as a principal residence and the buyer has not owned a home in the prior three years. This also includes newly-constructed homes.

• The tax credit essentially serves as an interest-free loan to be repaid over 15 years.
• For example, a home buyer claiming a $7,500 credit would repay the credit at $500 per year. However, the buyer doesn’t have to start repaying the credit until two years after the tax year in which the credit is claimed.
• If the home owner sold the home, then the remaining credit would be due from the profit of the home sale.
• If there was insufficient profit, then the remaining credit payback would be forgiven.