First Weber Group REALTORS®: Wisconsin Real Estate

This is a first time home buyer's chance of a lifetime.  Naturally, you may have questions about the tax credit  available for first time home buyers.  First Weber can help with the purchase.  However, you may want detailed information on the tax credit.  See this article below for details.

Information provided by the Wisconsin REALTORS Association:

IRS Guidance for Filing for the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit

Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, qualifying taxpayers who purchase a home before Dec. 1 receive up to $8,000 or $4,000 for married individuals filing separately. The IRS recently released additional information to help homebuyers understand the ways they can file to claim the $8,000 first-time homebuyer credit for 2009 home purchases.

For people who recently purchased a home (closed or took up residence in new construction) or are considering buying in the next few months, there are several different ways that they can get this tax credit even if they’ve already filed their tax return. The Treasury Department encourages taxpayers to explore these options to maximize their credit and get their money back as fast as possible. “The new credit can get money in the pockets of first-time homebuyers quickly,” said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman.

People can claim the credit either on their 2008 tax returns due April 15 or on their 2009 tax returns next year. The filing options to consider are:

1. File an extension.  Taxpayers who haven’t yet filed their 2008 returns but are buying a home soon can request a six-month extension to October 15.  This step would be faster than waiting until next year to claim it on the 2009 tax return.  Even with an extension, taxpayers could still file electronically, receiving their refund in as few as 10 days with direct deposit.
2. File now, amend later.  Taxpayers due a sizable refund for their 2008 tax return but who also are considering buying a house in the next few months can file their return now and claim the credit later.  Taxpayers would file their 2008 tax forms as usual, and then follow up with an amended return later this year to claim the homebuyer credit.
3. Amend the 2008 tax return. Taxpayers buying a home in the near future who have already filed their 2008 tax return can consider filing an amended tax return. The amended tax return will allow them to claim the homebuyer credit on the 2008 return without waiting until next year to claim it on the 2009 return.
4. Claim the credit in 2009 rather than 2008. For some taxpayers, it may make more financial sense to wait and claim the homebuyer credit next year when they file the 2009 tax return rather than claiming it now on the 2008 tax return. This could benefit taxpayers who might qualify for a higher credit on the 2009 tax return. This could include people who have less income in 2009 than 2008 because of factors such as a job loss or drop in investment income.

The IRS reminds taxpayers the amount of the credit begins to phase out for taxpayers whose modified adjusted gross income is more than $75,000, or $150,000 for joint filers. Taxpayers can claim 10 percent of the purchase price up to $8,000, or $4,000 for married individuals filing separately.

IRS.gov provides more information, including guidance for people who bought their first homes in 2008. To learn more about the overall implementation of the Recovery Act, visit  www.Recovery.gov.
From the IRS news release IR-2009-27:  http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=205416,00.html 

First Weber Group can help you buy now.  Let us know when you are ready! We are ready to help.

Wisconsinhomebuyer.org is a website developed by the Wisconsin REALTORS Association.  A good read for anyone looking to buy a home in Wisconsin. Check it out!  Information on the first time home buyer tax credit is available - up to $8,000 - and it does NOT have to be repaid.  The credit expires December 1, 2009. Better get moving to take advantage of it. Contact any First Weber agent to get started. We have plenty of buyer agents who can give you good representation.  A Buyer's agent is totally different than a seller's agent, but that is a whole different post...

Hat tip to Bill Malkasian of the Wisconsin REALTORS Association and one First Weber's agent blogs by Adam Holberg, based in the Wisconsin Rapids First Weber office. There is so much going on in real estate these days it is hard to keep up. Rely on the professionals at First Weber Group to help you buy or sell.

Post a comment or ask a question - First Weber Group can help.

There really are a ton of articles about real estate out there.  This one, with slide show, from msn.com seems pretty timely - a variety of fix ups to help your home sell - priced from $100-$5000.   Buyer's are especially picky these days.  Spending a little money could go a long way. 

If you need service providers, First Weber Group has a Concierge Service which is able to help you find trusted suppliers of many home related services in Wisconsin. 

Have you ever used First Weber's Concierge Service?  Please let us know how it worked out for you.

There is refinance help available from the U.S. Government - for people who qualify, of course.  To see if you do, visit makinghomeaffordable.gov

Have you tried texting a pin number on the First Weber yard sign to our dedicated short code eData ? 

We are excited to offer this new level of service to home buyers and want to know what you think!  As far as we know, we are one of the few, if not the first in Wisconsin to offer such a service to meet the increasing popularity of texting by providing a dedicated short code.

What kind of cell phone do you have?  If you have a smart phone with internet access, you can text XXXXX (example purposes only) to edata.  Some phones you have to use the alt key to to do this. 

On standard cell phones with a 10 key pad, the numbers that correspond to edata are 33282. 

You would need to text the pin code XXXXX to 33282.

Let us know what kind of phone you have, if you have tried the new First Weber Front Runner smart sign program and what you think! If you have any comments or suggestions, we love to hear them.

Thanks for reading the First Weber blog.