Procrastinators’ tax payments are in the mail, along with the paperwork to earn the home buyer tax credit. Yet qualified service members have another year to get that credit after they find their dream home in Ohio.
In the Navy and stationed over-seas? You have an extra year to take advantage of the tax credit! (John Nyberg/sxc)
Any member of the Armed Forces, Foreign Service or intelligence community who is on official extended duty can claim the home buyer tax return next year. First-time home buyers can earn up to $8,000 and repeat buyers may get up to $6,500 back. The deadlines to sign a binding sales contract and close the deal are April 30, 2011 and July 30, 2011, respectively, for qualified home buyers.
After completing that duty, there’s no better place to unwind than Ohio. Recreational activities are never in short supply in the Buckeye State. Its terrain and beautiful lakes make it a feast for the eyes. Central Ohio is a great location for military members to locate, in part due to the presence of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, and the continually growing economy.
Housing prices shouldn’t be of concern for military members. They may qualify under VA mortgage requirements for a VA loan that can finance up to 100 percent of the home’s value. And the best is that even with a loan insured by the Department of Veterans Affairs military home buyers can use the tax credit!
To be eligible for the home buyer tax return, a few prerequisites apply:
- The maximum purchase price of a home is $800,000.
Graduates of West Point Military Acadamy - and the other military branches - can still claim the home buyer tax credit. (Eric Ortner/sxc)
- To be considered a first-time home buyer, you or your spouse cannot have owned a home in the last three years.
- Individuals and married couples with an annual income of at least $125,000 or married couples with an annual income of at least $250,000 cannot qualify for the tax credit.
- For repeat buyers, all VA loans guidelines remain the same, but you must have occupied your residence for five of the last eight years.
If the home is sold or vacated within the next three years the credit is subject to recapture. However, any house purchased with the tax credit’s help that is sold or vacated within three years due to official extended duty is not subject to the recapture rule.
Robert Stretch is search engine optimizer and online-marketer for VA Mortgage Center.com. VA Mortgage Center.com is based in Columbia, Missouri and has been featured on the likes of CNN, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and a variety of national publications. VA Mortgage Center is proud to be the number-one dedicated VA purchase lender in the country secured over $1 billion in VA funding during 2009.
