Georgia Senator Pushes Extension For First-Time Buyer Tax Credit

If you are still trying to decide what your first home purchase will be, you may not have to beat the clock - yippie!  Bills to extend the maximum $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers, which expires Nov. 30, are pending in both the U.S. House and the Senate.

**NEW - Use the $8,000 Tax Credit As Your DOWN PAYMENT

Shaun Donovan, secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, on Tuesday said that the Federal Housing Administration is going to permit its lenders to allow home buyers to use the $8,000 tax credit as a down payment.  Previously, most buyers wouldn’t receive the funds until after they filed their tax return, and that deterred some people from using the credit. The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® has been calling for the change.

HELP for First Time Home Buyers & Those Facing Foreclosure

More than 150 home builders, remodelers and real estate agents rallied at the state Capitol in late August to celebrate the housing legislation President Bush signed into law July 30.

“The housing stimulus legislation passed by Congress in July is an infusion of confidence that the financial markets need desperately,” said Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), a veteran of the real estate industry.