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I do not agree. There are plenty of people who put down less than 20% and are sucessful homeowners. The problem was easy credit. Banks gave people who were not creditworthy loans.
I think it great that you are able to buy a home with cash. Unfortunately, not everyone can do that.
So.... They should get $8000 of my cash?
I neither qualify for the credit, nor can I pay cash for a home.
But, I sure pay taxes.
I think we should go back to the good ol' days of (basically) two types of loans:
FHA or Conventional
Don't have a lot of money? Go FHA, put 3% down, pay a higher interest rate & PMI.
Have some cash? Go Conventional, put 20% down and no PMI.
And cut out the seller pays buyer's closing costs bunk.
We went FHA on our first home and I was so PROUD of us we when bought our second - going conventional was a badge of honor! We had equity AND we saved to be able to put 20% down. Conventional was like sitting at the big kids table.
Either way, you had real skin in the game - cash into the property plus the associated costs that went along with buying a home. When the rules began to change (before I was an agent) I remember my agent & bank friends talking in hushed whispers about the shady things that were happening - it really didn't sound right then and look where it got us.
Sigh.
So anyway, no extention of the tax credit. That's my vote if I had one.
Chuckity, that all sounds good but our Govt thinks a little different.
Think about all the people who could not afford a house, pay the taxes or the upkeep of a house that have been able to buy a home in the last 10 years due to the lax lender programs.
Never mind, that's one of the reasons we are in our current housing and foreclosure situation.
So.... They should get $8000 of my cash?
I neither qualify for the credit, nor can I pay cash for a home.
But, I sure pay taxes.
I pay taxes too. The people who qualify for these credits also pay taxes. That line is getting old. Life is tough. I can go on and on about the things that are not fair in life.
I'm ok with it. Homeowners get tax deduction on interests so why not first time home buyers getting a little help.
Now I wish the government would get rid off all these ridiculous incentives, both for fthb and mortgage interest tax deductions to deflate home prices, but that's wishful thinking. Too many people and institutions profits are tied to home prices going up and up and up.
Taxes should only be used in things that every American can have access to, like infrastructure, education, etc and defense. Not in things that only a little group is to benefit from it.
I pay taxes too. The people who qualify for these credits also pay taxes. That line is getting old. Life is tough. I can go on and on about the things that are not fair in life.
How do you know that people who qualify pay taxes, when, per the rules, it is not necessary to pay taxes to qualify?
I pay taxes too. The people who qualify for these credits also pay taxes. That line is getting old. Life is tough. I can go on and on about the things that are not fair in life.
I also pay taxes, and I just received the tax credit a few weeks ago. I'm sitting on the fence about future tax credits for a few simple reasons:
I'm for it: the surge of money in a homebuyer's pocket will encourage them to spend that $8000 (hopefully responsibly) into markets that are lacking consumers like home furnishing stores, DIY stores, or just to pay off debt making them more financially secure. This is a good thing. Consumers spending money (responsibly) is ideally a good way to help get the economy back on it's feet. This will help slow the loss of jobs, get more people to have more money. It's a basic business tactic - put something on sale, and more people will buy.
I'm also against it: sure I got the credit and I'm grateful that I did. I'm also against the government going into further debt. I agree with other posters that this shouldn't be limited to "First Time Home Buyers", but maybe to other markets as well. I have no problem with that. Maybe it should be offered to those who are in short-sale / foreclosure because of a specific incident that put them there (not because they were generally irresponsible, but maybe lost a job or something)? Maybe to small-business owners looking in certain demographic areas? Maybe for only investors? Where do you draw the line? Do you offer it to everybody regardless?
I think there are both pros and cons to both sides. I also think that the line "I pay taxes and you're taking my money" is a cop-out line only because those people didn't qualify or won't qualify and want some of the money anyway. Well, I pay taxes too. My tax money also goes for education (which I'm not directly using, so maybe I should be exempt from paying that portion?). It really does take everybody's efforts to get to where we want to go. We can't just pick and choose.
How do you know that people who qualify pay taxes, when, per the rules, it is not necessary to pay taxes to qualify?
Aren't there only a few things that we can count on in life? Death and taxes??? It's fairly safe to assume that a huge majority of people are paying taxes... Anyone not paying taxes is probably also cheating their way through life and going to rip all of us off somehow or another.
Aren't there only a few things that we can count on in life? Death and taxes??? It's fairly safe to assume that a huge majority of people are paying taxes... Anyone not paying taxes is probably also cheating their way through life and going to rip all of us off somehow or another.
It is barely a majority of Americans who pay income tax.
Yet the majority own homes.
A ton of deals are getting done for folks with 100% financing, and barely enough income to cover that $100,000 love shack.
Agents are prospecting that market hard.
The income needed to barely cover that loan is also likely someone who is not paying $8000 in tax, or maybe even getting EITC.
It is barely a majority of Americans who pay income tax.
Yet the majority own homes.
A ton of deals are getting done for folks with 100% financing, and barely enough income to cover that $100,000 love shack.
Agents are prospecting that market hard.
The income needed to barely cover that loan is also likely someone who is not paying $8000 in tax, or maybe even getting EITC.
Well, it sounds like you have a beef with those who are abusing the system or for the loopholes that people find and take advantage of them. I don't like them either (not one bit!). This will always happen no matter how many protections are set up (can you say Bernie Maddoff??)
But, it's also not fair to say things like 'it's my tax money' and the whole thing should be cancelled. There are quite a few responsible tax-paying people this is benefiting (or already has).
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