A Golden Opportunity to Triple Dip on Overlapping Homebuyer Incentives

If EVER there was a reason to get off the fence and buy your house in California, this is it. We’re talking a once in a lifetime, 24 karat golden opportunity to have the government subsidize your home purchase for up to $18000 in tax credits. And as if that were not enough, The Bremner Group and Coldwell Banker are offering another $10,000 one time credit for properties participating in our “2010 Buyer Bonus Sales Event”.

This is a great time to be buying a home in California. Although mortgage rates have risen slightly, they are still at an all-time low. Home prices are at or near the bottom and two tax credits are in effect in the state of California.

The $8,000 Federal home buyers tax credit is due to expire on April 30,2010, so you must be under contract by that date and you must close by June 30, 2010.

The $10,000 California home buyers tax credit starts on May 1st and you must be under contract by December 31st. This is a credit against your taxes of $3,333 per year for three years.

But the window of opportunity is EVER so brief if you are going to attempt to triple dip and get both the state and the federal tax credits, and the Buyer Bonus Credit.

Here’s how the triple dip works:

The federal home buyer tax credit for first time buyers states you must be in contract to buy your house by April 30th and close before June 30th to be eligible for the credit.

But a newly enacted California stimulus for home buyers actually OVERLAPS the federal first time home buyer tax credit by 60 days!

You can also receive $10,000 in tax credits as a first time buyer, from the State of California for transactions that CLOSE after May 1.

If you have followed me so far (and there are 28,000 reasons to pay attention and follow) you have probably figured this out:

1. By being in a RATIFIED CONTRACT before April 30, you can qualify for the $8000 first time homebuyer tax credit from the Federal government (as long as it closes by June 30)
2. By CLOSING that RATIFIED CONTRACT after May 1, you can qualify for the $10,000 first time homebuyer tax credit from the State of California.
3. By purchasing a Coldwell Banker Home Buyer Bonus Property, you can receive an additinal $10,000 in closing costs from the seller.

ADVICE:

Already in contract and set to close at the end of April? A delay of close until May 3 could qualify you for $10,000 in tax goodies (May 1 and 2 are a weekend).

If you are NOT already in a contract, let’s meet today! You are going to need to get thoroughly pre-approved by our mortgage team NOW. We will assist you in makig sure that closing the loan before June 30th will be possible based on your situation. (60 days is NOT unreasonable for most loans).

*This blog is for information purposes only. Please consult your tax advisor. Be aware there are income limitations on the federal tax return, and there could be other factors that limit your ability to receive the tax credits.