State fronts $8K credit for home buyers

If you're looking to buy a house, now may be the time to do it, says one Central Florida realtor.  "Why not? If it's affordable, and if it works for you and your family, do you want to miss the boat?" asks Keller William realtor Dan Grieb, adding that waiting could mean missed opporunities.  "I don't think you can, it's like timing a market, it's impossible to time a market,"  he said.

You can't predict the market, but you can predict that you'll need a down payment, and money for closing costs.

Grieb says, for the average $200,000 home, it's typically a 20 percent down payment for a conventional loan, 3.5 percent for the more and more popular FHA loans.   On top of that, closing costs range around ten thousand dollars.

To accommodate that need for money up front, the Florida legislature set aside thirty million dollars to create the Florida Homebuyer Opportunity Program.

The money will be allocated to counties based on need estimates, and you'll apply to non-profit and governmental agencies that already provide help through the State Housing Initiative, or SHIP.

"The smartest way to do this is to pay your closing costs with this, because now you're less money out of pocket right up front," said Grieb.

You then have 18 months to repay, easy enough since you'll simply file for the tax credit on your tax returns.

"You file the form with the government, they'll probably verify you bought this home, and then it will be tacked on to your refund. You're required to pay it back,"  Grieb explains.

You only have until December 1 to take advantage of the state's offer, and it's only offered to first-time homebuyers or those who have not owned a home for the past three years.  To qualify, you can't make more than 75-thousand, couples no more than $150,000.

"Half of Orlando is for sale right now!" said Grieb. "Great rates and $8,000 to help you get into a house!"

Florida is only one of five states putting this twist on the Obama administration's tax credit plan. California, Kentucky, Delaware, and MIssouri are the other four states. Each state's version is slightly different.

In Florida, the program just kicked in, and we're told counties don't have not even been allocated the monies yet.