Guest Post
If you are an active duty service member coming back from abroad, there is no better feeling than to have a place to call home. And if you don’t have one yet, now is the time to start looking – if you buy a home within the next year, you can receive an $8,000 tax credit. Coupled with a loan backed by the VA home loan gauranty program, this tax credit presents a great opportunity for veterans to save bundles when purchasing that first home.
To qualify, veterans have until April 30, 2011 to buy a home or enter into a binding contract, and all sales must be closed by June 30, 2011. These deadline dates, according to the Internal Revenue Service are specifically for military service members, intelligence community personnel, and foreign service employees. Military buyers must also have spent 90 days on active duty outside of the U.S. between January 1, 2009 and April 30, 2010 to qualify, unless medical issues did not allow for completion of time abroad.
Also, the tax credit is mainly for first-time homebuyers (buying their first primary residence within the last three years), as only they can receive the full $8,000 credit. And with VA mortgage foreclosures at a new two year low, military families who meet certain criteria can rest assured they will be able to find a home and stay in it. Long-time residents (have owned and lived in the same home for five consecutive years) can buy and still qualify for up to $6,500. Other basic restrictions include…
- Home prices cannot exceed $800,000
- Single-filers’ income must be less than $125,000 to qualify for the full credit, and less than $145,000 to qualify for any credit
- Joint-filers’ income must be less than $225,000 to qualify for the full credit
If you qualify, start looking now so the deadline does not pass you by – there’s no reason not to save!
James Kelley blogs on veteran’s issues and real estate across the United States at VA Benefit Blog . He also works for VAMC, proudly serving American military families as the nation’s premier VA lender.
It’s a big year for change!
