(Click The Play Button to Listen to the Podcast)
Good News Friday Podcast
Week 19
(4 Min. 37 Sec.)
Hello and Welcome back to Good News Friday! Today is Friday April 24, 2009. My name is Bruce Karasik.
The Good News Friday Podcast is back and so each week we will bring you good news and positive developments in the Real Estate Market, Mortgage Market, in our economy and our country. If you miss any podcast, we have archived all or our past shows so you can listen to them at any time by going to www.GoodNewsFriday.com.
A couple of weeks ago a talked to you about the $8,000 tax credit being offered to first time home buyers by the Federal Government. This week I want to talk with you about an additional $10,000 being offered by the State of California for purchasers of newly constructed homes.
1. The tax credit is good for 5 percent of the value of the newly constructed home, up to $10,000. (That would mean any home priced over $200,000 would qualify for the full credit.)
2. The tax credit will be available between March 1, 2009 and March 1, 2010, or when the funding authority runs out. (The Legislature has earmarked $100 million for this credit. That means at least 10,000 new home sales. We don’t know yet if the tax credit will be based on when the contract for sale is written or when the escrow is closed for the purchase.)
3. The tax credit will be allocated by the Franchise Tax Board and will be available to new homebuyers over a three-year period. (Roughly one third of the tax credit will be available each year, details here are still being worked out.)
4. The new home purchaser must live in the home for at least two years.
5. There are no income limitations for the purchaser.
6. There is no “first time buyer” restriction.
7. There is no repayment requirement (unless the purchaser sells or rents out the home before two years have past from the close of escrow).
This is great news for California homebuyers. And, if the homebuyer also qualifies for the $8,000 Federal Tax Credit then the total tax credit for buying a newly constructed home would be $18,000. That is $10,000 from the state of California and $8,000 from the federal government.
So if you are thinking about buying a new, let us know and we can represent you, negotiate with the builder, review all the contracts and save you money.
Now more than ever it is important to contact a real professional to get the best advice. So call me or email and I will be happy to talk with you about the most current information about the Real Estate and Mortgage market and how it can affect you. Our goal is to save you money when you buy your home this year or refinance at the new lower rates.
The key to success is having the right advisors and consultants in place so you can have the right strategy. As your trusted Real Estate consultants and advisors, we at the Karasik Team work in our unique ability. My unique ability is consulting, negotiating and overseeing the transaction details. We take a customized approach and enable our clients to make informed decisions to accumulate wealth through Real Estate. In addition, we at Karasik and Associates, Mortgage Consultants, can help you come up with a strategy to determine whether this is the right time for you to buy your first home or to refinance your existing home.
We continue to believe that homeownership will remain the best avenue for American families to secure their financial future. I look forward to our continuing dialog and we invite your feedback. Please feel free to email me at Bruce@TheKarasikTeam.com, call me at my office at 805-267-0366, or you can post your responses on our blog at www.GoodNewsFriday.com.
So we do have some good news to be grateful for. And so, my friends, I wish you and your families a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous week. And that’s it for now. I’ll see you back here next week for another episode of Good News Friday!
