First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit

Posted: October 24, 2009

By: Stefanie and Meg

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We've had a lot of clients asking about buying their first home. There's so much buzz about the first time home buyer tax credit, we thought it would be helpful to provide a resource for you to get some of your initial questions answered.

We also want to touch on the actual decision to buy your first home. You may be a chronic renter and love the idea of bouncing from apartment to apartment, trying out different neighborhoods and not having to commit to one spot. But if you've maxed out on your apartment tolerance and like the idea of owning your own place, the first step is to get pre-approved. We can give you some great connections to qualified professionals who do this for a living, so contact us to find out who to call.

To get ready for the pre-qualification process, start collecting documents proving your income and debt in the last few years. Income includes your salary, retirement plan, interest you accrue from investments, etc. Your debt can be anything from student loans, credit card bills and car loans.

You also might want to just get an idea of your credit score. You can get a free report once a year from one of the three major credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Remember when your parents told you about the importance of having good credit? Applying for a mortgage is one of the reasons why good credit is so important.

Once you've been pre-approved, you can start working with a real estate agent. We're hoping that you'll think of us first! Stefanie is a Realtor with Keller Williams Realty and can take you through the entire process of buying your first home.

Check out this link for First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit to get you thinking about the great advantages of buying a home before November 30, 2009. Most likely if you're just thinking about this decision, November 30 might be a little soon, but read it anyway just to get an idea of what's going on so you're familiar with the process.

Happy reading! Contact us to get started.