Up to $8,000.00 in tax credit on your federal income tax can be give to first time home buyers.

Homes must be purchased between January 1, 2009 - Decemeber 1, 2009.

To qualify, the purchaser or his/her spouse, must not have owned a residence during the 3 year period prior to the purchase. Qualified properties include single family homes, townhomes, condo's and co-ops.

The maximum credit amount of $8,000.00 is determined by the price of the home. A credit of 10% of the pruchase price up to $8,000.00 is the max.

Buyer's income will also be a factor - for singles a max of $75,000 and for married couples, the max income is $150,000.00.

If the income exceeds these limits, some Buyers will still be eligible with limitations.

The tax credit does not need to be repaids if the home is occupied by the Buyer for at least 3 years or more. If the property is sold during the 3 year period, then the credit will be re-couped at the time of sale.

As always, check with your tax professional for your own personal situation.

There is much talk about the coming crash in the commercial real estate arena.

Investors are lining up and waiting for great deals to happen.  Yet there is a "disconnect" between the lenders/note holders and the investors.

The true value of the property today will be based on the cash flow generated as well as the perceived value in the eye of the buyer...whether the value is in the cash flow, location and quality of the property or all of these factors.

What a Buyer feels that the property is worth in today's market...or even the value they feel it will be worth in 3 or 6 months is not the value the bank is holding on their books...most of them have values that were based on the high, speculative prices from the peak of the market.

Cash is king and there are a lot of buyers waiting to purchase. It will be interesting to see how the market aligns itself.