You must be a first time homebuyer. A first time homebuyer is defined as someone who has not owned a principal residence during the three year period prior to the date of settlement.

You must settle or enter into a binding contract after November 6, 2009 and on or before April 30, 1010.

If you enter into a binding contract by April 30, 2010 you must settle by June 30, 2010.

The tax credit is equal to 10 percent of the home’s purchase price up to a maximum of $8,000.

The $8,000 is a tax credit not just a tax deduction. When you file your IRS return if the exact amount you owed was paid you will get $8,000 back; if you owed $2,000 you would get $6,000 back and if you had a return of $2,000 due you would get $10,000.

You have the option of claiming the credit on your 2009 or 2010 return.

Modified adjusted gross income limits are $125,000 for a single person and $225,000 for married taxpayers filing a joint return.

No credit is available if the purchase price of the home exceeds $800,000.

We offer the most popular first time homebuyer program in Pennsylvania which features a down payment as low as 3%. The $8,000 credit combined with this program could be the opportunity of a lifetime.

TIP: Pay one extra mortgage payment (principal and interest only – not including real estate tax or homeowners insurance escrows) each year and you will reduce a thirty year mortgage to approximately twenty four and one half years. For example if your payment was one thousand and two hundred dollars per month you could send in an extra one hundred dollars each month.

RSVP to Linda Mertz at 215-234-8041 x 116 or LMertz@BarndtAgency.com

GLOSSARY: AMORTIZATION SCHEDULE – This tells you how much you still owe on your loan as of a certain date. It also tells you what amount of each payment is applied to the reduction of your loan and how much went for interest. In the early stages of the loan the majority goes to interest and with each monthly payment an increasing amount goes to principal reduction.