Amanda Patterson and her fiancée, Tim Hindley, are the proud owners of their first home in Billings, Mont.
"We had been thinking about buying a home for awhile, but the timing never seemed quite right and it just didn't seem we would be able to make it work," said Patterson.
Then Congress passed the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 on July 26 and President Bush signed it into law on July 30.
One provision of the landmark legislation provides a $7,500 tax credit for first-time home buyers. Patterson and Hindley fit the bill perfectly. Up until then, neither had ever owned a home.
"I heard about the tax credit when it was still in the early stages of negotiation in Congress, so my fiancée and I decided to start looking at homes," she said. "The tax credit made a huge difference for us buying a home. We probably would have bought something eventually, but this gave us that extra little push to do it now instead of waiting."
The tax credit amount will go a long way for Patterson and Hindley, who said they are excited at being able to put the tax credit to good use, especially since there are no restrictions on how the money can be spent.
"My fiancée's parents lent us the money for our downpayment, so we are going to use the tax credit money to pay them back," said Patterson. "The rest we will either put into savings or use for our wedding, which will probably be in April or May 2009."
In a news teleconference held on Aug. 4, NAHB President Sandy Dunn said that first-time home buyers make up about 40% of the housing market. "They don't have a home to sell and they bring demand to the market. As more than two million anticipated first-time buyers enter the market and claim the credit, this will stimulate buying further up the housing ladder," she said.
Patterson and her fiancée are just two of the more than two million who are expected to benefit from the first-time home buyer tax credit. But for her, it felt like the credit was tailor-made.
More information about the first-time home buyer tax credit, including frequently asked questions, can be found at www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com.
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