New York state is offering a tax credit to first time home buyers who are purchasing a home in New York (including New York City – Staten Island, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx) in addition to the $8,000 tax credit for first time home buyers.

The additional credit will be given to first time home buyers buying a home in New York and obtaining a new fixed rate mortgage – including Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, other conventional loans, VA loans and FHA insured loans and will offer a tax credit of up to 20% of the mortgage tax credit for the life of your loan.

The credit is called New York State Mortgage Credit Certificate and you apply for it at the same time you apply for your mortgage and upon approval you can claim the tax credit on your federal taxes along with IRS form 8396 (mortgage interest credit form).

There are restrictions on who can apply for the loan, some of the qualifications are listed below:

The borrower must…

• Be a first time home buyer as defined by SONYMA;
• Meet SONYMA’s Household Income Limit requirements (click here to see Household Income Limits for your area);
• Occupy the home as their permanent residence;
• Not have used more than 15% of their current residence (or a prior residence) for a business or commercial use in the past year.
  • The property must…
• Be located in New York State;
• Have a sales price that does not exceed SONYMA’s Purchase Price limits;
• Not have been used for any business or commercial purpose;
• Be one of the following property types:
  • Existing or newly constructed one family home (includes condominiums and cooperatives);
  • Existing two, three, and four family home that is at least five years old as of the SONYMA loan application date and has been used only as a residence during the past five years;
  • Two family home located in a Target Area that is newly constructed or was constructed within the five years prior to the SONYMA loan application date; and
• Have a maximum of five (5) acres.

If you are a first time home buyer that is considering purchasing a home in New York the Mortgage Credit Certificate (MCC) may be something that you are eligible for.  In order to find out how much of a tax credit you will receive if you apply for this program NY Homes has created a calculator.

 to help you determine how much of a credit you will receive.

Unlike the federal home buyers tax credit of $8,000 the New York Mortgage Credit Certificate does not have an expiration date on it as of yet.  The Mortgage Credit Certificate can be used with the federal first time home buyers credit of $8,000 if the closing occurs on or before November 31, 2009.

Also,

if you are purchasing a home in New York you will need a New York real estate attorney with experience to represent you in your real estate transaction

.  You will want to make sure you find the right New York real estate lawyer because this will be the person guiding you throughout the process of your purchase, explaining the contract to you, making sure you get what you want out of your purchase, working with the bank to help you get approved for your mortgage and representing you at closing.  If you would like more

information about finding the right New York real estate attorney

 contact our law firm which has over 35 years of real estate experience.  You can contact our Staten Island real estate law firm office at 718.979.4300.  We are located at 1610 Richmond Road, Staten Island, New York 10304.