Home Buying and Selling Help From Uncle Sam

In times like these, all of us appreciate a bit of assistance.  Fortunately, the government has taken steps to extend a couple of programs designed to assist home sellers and buyers.  The first is the Housing Assistance Program (HAP) for military personnel selling their home, the second is the First Time Home Buyer Credit, specifically for those purchasing property.

The Department of Defense’s (DoD) HAP offering is designed to provide financial assistance to its personnel who have to move, and will lose money upon selling.  Due to the dramatic decrease in home values in recent years, this program was originally designed to provide financial relief to those required to move due to DoD’s Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) initiative.  It expanded to include those DoD personnel whose reassignment or military move was further than what’s categorized as commuting distance.  A brief summary of guidelines and what HAP offers can be found here: http://hap.usace.army.mil/Eligibility.html

The original deadline for eligibility was the end of November, 2009.  As you might imagine, eligible members were scrambling to get their applications in, and to get their home on the market.  Fortunately, the deadline was extended.  

Here’s the official announcement of DoD’s Processing and Extension of the HAP Program.  It’s got the details, including an extension through Sep 2012.  You’ll find the info here, http://tinyurl.com/y8d99pv

Another piece of good news for those in the home market, was this week’s expansion of the First Time Home Buyer’s Tax Credit. 

Not only was the tax credit of up to $8000 for qualified first time home buyers extended, but the expansion also offered an additional credit for repeat home buyers.  The beauty of the original credit was their definition of a first time buyer; any prospective purchaser who has not owned a principal residence during the three year period prior to the new purchase.    

The additional, or expansion of the program included a $6500 tax credit for move-up or repeat home buyers purchasing a home.  There are specific details that you need to examine before you assume you qualify for the program’s benefits. 

While we can’t always count on the federal government to assist us, it is refreshing to discover their helping hand in times of need.  Amid the existing economic downturn, Uncle Sam not only decided to come to the aid of military home sellers whose home values have decreased, but also to help those in the market to buy a home.  Let’s hope the prospective beneficiaries of both these offerings are well aware of what’s available, and are taking advantage of them.  Who knows when we’ll see this type of assistance again.

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