There is a great reason for first time buyers to get into the housing market. The changes to the first-time home buyer tax credit are much better than last year’s $7,500.00 tax credit. The $7,500 tax credit had to be paid back but the $8,000 tax credit is basically a gift from the government. It does have to be paid back if you stay in the home for less than 3 years. As the full article states if you were going to get a refund of $1,000.00 then now you would get a check for $9,000.00 or if you owe a $1,000.00 then you would get a check for $7,000.00.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — There’s a nice windfall for some homebuyers in the economic stimulus bill awaiting President Obama’s signature on Tuesday. First-time buyers can claim a credit worth $8,000 – or 10% of the home’s value, whichever is less – on their 2008 or 2009 taxes.

A big plus is that the credit is refundable, meaning tax filers see a refund of the full $8,000 even if their total tax bill – the amount of witholding they paid during the year plus anything extra they had to pony up when they filed their returns – was less than that amount. But there has been a lot of confusion over this provision. Adam Billings of Knoxville, Tenn. wrote to CNNMoney.com asking:

“I will qualify as a first-time home buyer, and I am currently set to get a small tax refund for 2008. Does that mean if I purchased now that I would get an extra $8,000 added on top of my current refund?”

The short answer? Yes!

Read the full article addressing the stimulus bill and $8,000.00 to first time buyers.

Submitted by: David Brenton