$8,000 fast cash for first-time homebuyers

HUD plans to tweak $8,000 tax credit rules so first-time homebuyers can get instant down-payment assistance.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Home prices are cheap. Affordability is at a record high. And the market is littered with distressed properties looking for a buyer.

But there is one big obstacle for many first-time house hunters looking to take advantage of the market: cash for down payments. The typical first-time buyer has only saved enough to cover 4% of the purchase price, according to the National Association of Realtors.

As part of the stimulus package, Congress created a refundable first-time homebuyers tax credit in hopes of helping on-the-fence buyers to take the home-purchase plunge. But buyers couldn't collect the $8,000 credit until tax time, rather than at closing time - when it's needed.

Now the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is planning to change that. The agency is working on a plan that will allow Federal Housing Authority-approved lenders to provide buyers with the tax credit cash up front.

"We all want to enable FHA consumers to access the tax credit funds when they close on their home loans so that the cash can be used as a down payment," said Shaun Donovan, HUD secretary, in a speech last Tuesday before the National Association of Realtors.

Full story at http://money.cnn.com/2009/05/18/real_estate/tax_credit_as_downpayment/index.htm?postversion=2009051912

I want that extra(?) money ^^ but I'm not a first-time homebuyer :(
I would love to use that extra money into stock market if I can get it .
What do u guys think?

올해 집을 처음 구입하시는 분들은 $8,000 tax refund 받는거 아시죠?
$8,000 을 미리 땡겨(?)서 다운페이를 할수 있다는 기사입니다. 아직 모든 주에서는 실시하고 있는것 같진 않지만, 집 사실분들은 하나 구입하셔도 좋은 듯 하네요. 집 값도 많이 내려서 투자하에도 좋은것 같습니다. 부자 되세요^^

-Market Hunter-