Comments on: $7500 First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit

By: Ken

Ken — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 23:10:49 +0000

Well, at least you can sell for a loss and then not have to pay it back. Which, if you bought in ‘08 and are selling now, chances are you will be selling for a loss. You will have to treat it as income and be taxed on it, because forgiveness of a loan is treated as income!

By: deb

deb — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 20:10:23 +0000

there something i dont understand here why do you have to repay if you bought in 2008 and dont have to in 2009 damn…. i bought in 2008 i dont think thats fair..

By: mel

mel — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 15:35:26 +0000

Hi, just wondering if anyone has started a petition or writing letters to Senators and Congressmen about the repayment of the $7500 yet? Is there another website I can go to?

By: Renee

Renee — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 17:57:18 +0000

we were 18 days too early to get the 7500 credit. That was so not fair

By: Leyla

Leyla — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 19:08:08 +0000

still confused about the updates. I was told that the 7500 no longer needed to be repaid due to the fact that the following year the homebuyers incentive was increased to 8000.00 with no payback. is this true or have I been mislead……???????thanks for your comments and time

By: Jason

Jason — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 05:31:47 +0000

I had thought the family provision had been in all along…I would ask a CPA on that one

By: Ben

Ben — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 04:10:11 +0000

Can anyone answer this question about the tax credit? We bought our house from my wifeâ€™s parents in May 2009. At this time the IRS didnâ€™t specifically say you werenâ€™t eligible for the credit if you buy a house from family. This rule was added more recently to combat fraud. If we can prove that we paid fair market value determined by two appraisals, can we still file for the credit?
Thanks for any help.

By: joy

joy — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:47:49 +0000

The gov really trapped a lot of folks into thinking this is the answer. notice theyve done nothing for the millions of americans who are suffering from this. They are only trying to help the ones who havnt een trapped by this financial fiasco, and as we can see, those who are qualifying for this credit arent doing any better. y cant the govt just wipe out everyones debt and staft from scratch. that will boost the economy cause we will go get ourselves right back in a hole

By: Jason

Jason — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 15:19:20 +0000

Kid..I am not negative.

There is nothing wrong with having the viewpoint that is different than yours…

You were fortunate enough to recieve a $7500 interest free 15 year loan from Uncle Sam. I simply disagree that you are owed money because a change was made to a program AFTER you participated in it. Why is that so tough for you to accept. This website is dedicated to discussing the issue, not supporting your viewpoint.

BTW – I have a wonderful wife, a daughter, two dogs, and a beautiful home that I work very hard to pay for.

By: paul

paul — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 13:38:49 +0000

maybe not forced but rushed is a better word….what is your problem man….i am trying to work with others to try to write letters and follow the process so that this may be changed…you are negative and perhaps need to find a more relevant blog for your rude behavior…Again I state the program should be a fair one and i do not believe it was…looking for peeps to write to their congress people to try to make a change that is all…Jason you need a pet or a girlfriend or something…..sorry you are having a bad day or life or whatever……

By: Jason

Jason — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 23:31:37 +0000

You bought a house because you “kinda felt forced by the realtors and the bank and the gov”, and you are calling me ignorant…LMAO

What is so ignorant about understanding that “fair” has nothing to do with these tax credits…nor should it! No one owes you anything!!!

By: Paul Lerner

Paul Lerner — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:26:36 +0000

Jason….walk a mile in our shoes then spout off your ignorant comments..i was hoping to find others here to appeal to the legislature to make this a fair program…start to finish

By: Paul Lerner

Paul Lerner — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:25:15 +0000

Yea … well I kinda felt forced by the realtors and the bank and the gov to get in …. to get this great deal….so I equate it to a trusting relationship….i shook hands and now feel cheated…. say what you want but it is just a form of discrimination I feel

By: Jason

Jason — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:33:13 +0000

I guess my point is the tax credit is not meant to be “fair”. It is intended to stimulate consumption. The credit you recieved stimulated your consumption. It took altering the credit to get more folks to buy.

Imagine if someone who closed in March of ‘08 decided that they to “deserved” some incentive. Or even those who bought their house in ‘05 and have since lost half of the value…maybe they should get a check too?

Well I have to go now…gas prices are down 10 cents from when I filled up yesterday. I am going to ask the attendant for a refund…I deserved to pay the lower price!

By: Rachl

Rachl — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:04:04 +0000

So you just sit back and do nothing? seems real productive! If nobody at least tries to speak up, then you can bet they will do nothing. If everyone spoke up more often for what they belive in, then just maybe you will be heard and things will change. Sitting back and just letting everything fly is a horrible way to be and an awful attitude. Nothing gets done if you don’t do something about it. this is at least a start and about the only thing you can do, so quit being such a lazy debbie downer and attempt to make some difference in this world, you might just suprise yourself.

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 02:14:29 +0000

You can write all of the letters you want…it is not going to change.

By: Rachl

Rachl — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 16:27:12 +0000

I agree Paul, we also took advantage of this “credit” when it came out in 2008 thinking how ‘great’ this was and that we were lucky enough to just happen to have closed on our house just past the April 9th deadline. All the hype was that you should take advantage of this, it’s not going to last, you are sooo lucky to qualify for it, bla bla bla! So we thought heck yeah, jump on board, it’s not very often the government gives away basically an interest free loan! well little did we know they would not only extend it BUT ALSO make it so these new lucky people did NOT have to pay it back, unlike us. Then on top of it, they have also made the credit for more and available to more people. Ummm, hello? why is there nothing in there to revise it so us people who took advantage of this in 2008 to no longer have to pay it back???? I’m beyond furious they did this and have now made it clearly unfair to us suckers who trusted it the first go around! Makes me see just how ‘fair’ our government is… What you should do is write to all of your state representitives and tell them exactly what you think about all of this and tell them how unfair this is! I have already done this in hopes that maybe enough fuss will get them to really look at this and change it. So far I’ve gotten one letter back, basically it didnt say a whole lot other than the whole bill is back into the ways and means committe for re-vision, so fingers crossed that it is about this issue! sigh…sure makes you have all kinds of trust and faith in our fine ol’ government, eh? lmao!!

By: paul

paul — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 21:09:34 +0000

I purchased in Sept of 2008. I am a single dad and get no support from ex. Kids and I have not found one program to help us. I make a single middle class income. We took the credit to pay for washer dryer etc. I see millions going to someone or some bank or some car company, but my family has not seen anything. Now my student loans have skyrocketed, my credit card companies are hitting me with more fees, my health insurance has gone up, and secretly groceries have tripled but no one says anything. This credit not being extended to those of us that first took part in the program is a disgrace and I regret having to have had to use it. The new credit is open to all home buyers. The only ones who can not benefit from this program are those who were the first to trust it. And here is the only place i can ventâ€¦ maybe 1 person will read this.
Paul powerlinep on facebook.

By: Chris

Chris — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:40:35 +0000

Okay, I know I’m going to get slammed for this and seem very irresponsible…but here it goes. I was with my company for six years and moved several times with this company. My last move was to an area where I could actually afford to finally buy a house. My wife and I had 2 daughters and she was giving birth to twin boys right when we moved to this area. So we bought the house, had the twins, took the tax credit (purchased house in 9/2008). Just like with so many others, the recession got the best of me and my position with the company was eliminated. We couldn’t make ends meet, we used our tax credit to pay bills (mostly credit cards and medical). My wife finally said that she couldn’t take it anymore and wanted to move back to her country. So in a drastic move, we put the house up for short sale and left the United States. We just recently sold the house for nearly $50,000 less than the purchase price. The short sale was approved and it’s all finished now. My question is, how badly am I going to get hit this tax season. Are they going to make me repay all $7500 at once? I’m living outside of the US and waiting for my residency papers so that I can work here. Repayment is going to be really tough. Like I said…I know how irresponsible this makes me look, so don’t be too brutal. Any comments would be appreciated.

By: OhMan

OhMan — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:02:09 +0000

I bought my house May 8th and submitted for the first time home buyers credit on my 2008 taxes on May 12th. I still haven’t recieved any money. My file went through exams and they approved the return on Aug 31st. It has been a total of 180 days. Here is my message to the President: Mr. Obama, The reason this economy isn’t doing better is because the people responsible for handling your incentives are slackers or just plain stupid. DO NOT COUNT ON THIS MONEY FOR ANYTHING IMPORTANT!

By: madbuyer

madbuyer — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:13:08 +0000

honestly most of you who qualify should feel blessed to have the opportunity to take advantage. The disadvantage are to those who bought prior to April 2008 but havnt been in long enough to qualify for the new tax credit. This system is designed to get us and keep us in a rut. a lot of folks who bought during the peak of the housing are stuck in inflatedly priced homes and are housebroke, ans still the government refuses to help those folks. when i file for bankruptcy, im never borrowing money for anything again

By: Malone

Malone — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 22:08:18 +0000

I agree with Joe, I bought in August of last year and got the $7,500. agreeing to pay back the $500.00 each year for the next 15 years, everywhere you looked it was do it now the tax credit will not last. NOW, they pass the tax credit for $8,000. with NO REPAYMENT! I do not feel this is right, those who are eligible (purchased a home between 4/1/08 – 7/1/09) for the $8,000. tax credit, but got hooked into the 7500. should have the ability to reapply and pay back the 7500. with the credit from the 8000. Only fair!

By: tikaykay

tikaykay — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 03:09:10 +0000

I sent my 7500 tax credit by mail after I filed my income tax. ‘Haven’t received any response until now. Please help!

By: tikaykay

tikaykay — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 03:03:32 +0000

I send my 7500 tax credit by mail after I filed my income tax. ‘Haven’t received any response until now. Please help!

By: April

April — Sat, 30 May 2009 18:16:04 +0000

could anyone give me the right number to irs to check the status of the amendment.

By: joe

joe — Sat, 30 May 2009 13:40:58 +0000

I dont get this, how does a person who bought their house in 2008 at a higher interest rate and higher home price get 7500 that has to get paid back, yet a person who buys a house in 2009 at a lower interest rate and cheaper house price get 8000 that does not have to get paid back. The way i see it is you shouldnt give anybody anything but if you are going to give tax dollars away why does one pesron have to pay back and the other person get a free ride

By: Darlene

Darlene — Fri, 22 May 2009 11:46:55 +0000

People have short memories! The real estate market was crazy between 2005-2007 and everyone complained about how expensive it was to purchase. Homeowners were asking astronomical prices for cardboard boxes.

Now prices have fallen through the floor, vacant properties are destroying neighborhoods and the government is providing incentives to get nervous buyers back into the market.

If you were able to buy “before” the tax credit – count your blessings and stop denigrating those who can take advantage of the benefit. Believe it or not some of the homebuyers are taxpayers too. Grants have always been available in some form from organizations out there and not everyone could benefit – I couldn’t. I was lucky enough to have held off buying and now there is incentive for me to jump into the market without taking a huge chunk out of my account.

Like many people, I’ve been watching the market and managing my pennies and will stay within my means. Hopefully the economy will get moving again.

By: April

April — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 13:13:08 +0000

could you file your own 7500 tax credict forms and send it off yourself or do you have to go to a place of business?

By: April

April — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 14:08:25 +0000

im not sure about that but i thought it would be a separate from your income tax only if you did both on the same day i thought irs would deposit your full amount together if its done that way.

By: Ross

Ross — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 20:53:40 +0000

Your refund will be included in your tax refund, or will offset the amount of taxes you owed. In short, you will only receive one check or deposit from the federal government.

By: sue walton

sue walton — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 20:34:10 +0000

is this first time home buyer credit separate from your refund of is it included in your refund? i thought i would be getting a separate check or automatic deposit in my bank account that was just for $7500 i was eligable for.

By: April

April — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 04:37:04 +0000

thanks! another thing i did i filed my taxes in feb & applied for the tax credict on mar 03-09 i was wondering was that a reason y didn’t recieve it in 2 weeks instead i have to wait until 6 to 8 weeks?

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 02:37:00 +0000

If you sent your tax return by mail it takes 6-8 weeks. If you e-filed your return, it only takes about 10 days. You can go online to irs.gov and check the status of your return and make sure that it is not being held up for some reason. If it is, you will get instructions that will tell you a number to call etc… I have called them before and it is not too bad. My son bought a house in Feb. tried to file his tax return with the tax credit the same day by efile but the irs was not set up to take efile on the tax credit yet. He waited two weeks and got his whopping check in 10 days!

By: April

April — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 01:56:58 +0000

anyone with answers?

By: April

April — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 01:55:22 +0000

hello i was wondering i filed for my tax credit on mar 3rd and sent off my paper work the same day why do i have to wait 6 to 8 weeks for me to recieve my tax credit? and will i actually recieve it its now my 6th week and im still waiting.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 03:08:26 +0000

KM,
I am sorry, there is no tax credit available to you.

By: KM

KM — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 02:53:57 +0000

This is incredibly confusing! Is there any credit for a first-time home buyer (me) who closed on February 1st, 2008? If so, do you know what form i would use to claim it?
Surely, there were credits for home purchase before last year? What are MY options? I could just cry right now given these numbers and dates. Please help if you can. Thanks. ~KM

By: Lee

Lee — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 00:22:31 +0000

I know that the IRS will allow the 7500.00 credit

“If you constructed your main home, you are treated as having purchased it on the date you first occupied it.”

I closed on my house April 1st 2008 but did not occupy it until mid May. Does the rule only apply to new construction or would a situation like mine be eligible for the credit?
Thanks in advance- Lee

By: Ross

Ross — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 15:02:43 +0000

@Stephen

The dates are based on the day you closed on the house.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 06:25:33 +0000

I have a question! So the tax credit is for home purchased AFTER April 8, 2008. What would be the purchase date? Is it the day you acquire the home? b/c the settlement for my home was exactly on April 8, 2008 but I didnt get the keys to the house 2 days after that. So do I still qualify for this tax credit?

By: Darlene

Darlene — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 17:26:30 +0000

A true credit should be for all ……no repayment of the $7500 or the $8000. Make it a FAIR stimulus package.

By: Darlene

Darlene — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 17:22:04 +0000

To those of you who qualify for the $7500 tax credit that HAS to be repaid…..PLEASE, please write to your state Senators and Congressmen of how unfair the current $8000 giveaway is for 2009 first time homebuyers! The $7500 credit was pushed by the government to stimulate the housing market…..and now the ones who procrastinated get mightily rewarded and the ones who bought in 2008 get completely shafted. Write now!!

By: Andy

Andy — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 19:01:10 +0000

I think the credit/loan is a horrible attempt by the government to fix the problem. Its a band aid for a wound that needs stitches. That being said as a recent home buyer I took the credit, because its there and I might as well use it. I took the entire $7500 and used it all as a principle payment against my mortgage. Since my mortgage is at 6.25% I ran some calculations and if I sell my home in 5 years (my mental plan) the governments money will save me $2500 of interest avoidance so to speak. Sure beats what a high yield savings account would give me. Not sure that is how the the government wanted me to use it, but since I dont need the money at all and already have an emergency fund and investments, I figured it was the safest and most prudent thing to do with the money. And since the money is “buried in my mortgage” it also acts as an insurance policy in case my home sells for less than I bought it for. I encourage anybody else in my situation to look at doing this.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 01:00:09 +0000

My biggest question/concern is how taking this tax credit will affect my credit score and ability to get future loans within the 15 year period.

This doesnâ€™t seem to be answered anywhere.

Thanks!

By: Lee

Lee — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 00:51:13 +0000

Will this $7,500 be taxable as part of our federal tax refund on our CA state return? I’ve not found any info addressing this issue; as a loan it should not be taxable.

By: Kara

Kara — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 14:53:22 +0000

I purchased my home in Oct of 2008 and I am in the process of drafting a letter to our Congressman. It seem ridiculous that those of use who purchased a home in that 8 month period have to pay it back. All this does is sends a message that if you hold off and wait a better benefit will be implementedâ€¦and isnâ€™t instilling a sense of hesistation in consumers that worst thing to do at this time. All benefits should be retroactive, so that people don’t feel like sitting back and waiting will yield better benefits…we want people to go out and spend now, then you should not make them afraid of doing so.
PLEASE WRITE TO YOUR REP!!!

By: Kara

Kara — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 14:51:32 +0000

I purchased my home in Oct of 2008 and I am in the process of drafting a letter to our Congressman. It seem ridiculous that those of use who purchased a home in that 8 month period have to pay it back. The original home buyers credit was issued for the same purpose of stimulating the housing market; why should those of us who participated in this in 2008 have to be subject to different conditions of repayment? All this does is sends a message that if you hold off and wait a better benefit will be implementedâ€¦and isnâ€™t instilling a sense of hesistation in consumers that worst thing to do at this time. All benefits should be retroactive, so that people donâ€™t end up feeling cheated as we do and donâ€™t encourage others to waitâ€¦it will only make things worse. I hate the fact that 10 years from now, those of us in this eight month window will still be paying off this loan, while other who waited just a few months get better benefit free and clear. PLEASE WRITE TO YOUR REP!!!

By: Greg

Greg — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 06:58:34 +0000

I too am frustrated with the decision to not relieve those who bought in 08 of paying back the “credit”. I debated taking the $$ but in the end did it and will stick it away for safe keeping. If you plan on purchasing a flat screen and new entertainment center you will likely find yourself in the same hole I’ll bet you are already in. If you invest this money, even in a basic savings account, you will make a tiny bit of money and have some money to spend if you find yourself in a true crisis or emergency.

By: Neil G

Neil G — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 18:42:42 +0000

i bought my house in Sep, but i don’t leave in there yer because it needs fix, do i still get the refund? event if i’m not staying in there yet?

By: E

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 18:08:00 +0000

I qualify for the $7500 as I bought in April ‘08. At first I was inclined to take it as $500 per year for 15 years is a very easy payment for us to make, however after reading further and realizing that it must be paid back in full if the house is sold inside of the 15 year window I was leary. To me it still seems like a good deal as you get $7500 to spend or invest, etc but what if we sell in 5 years and have 10k equity in our home, then we see that equity sliced by the amount owed back to the government. Am I correct in this assessment?