San Diego Homebuyers get a $6,500 Tax Credit from Congress when they buy

San Diego California– Buying a home is about to get cheaper for a whole

new crop of San Diego homebuyers — $6,500 cheaper.

First-time San Diego homebuyers have been getting tax credits of up to $8,000

since January as part of the economic stimulus package enacted

earlier this year. But with the program scheduled to expire at the end of

November, the Senate voted Wednesday to extend and expand the tax

credit to include many buyers who already own homes. The House

could vote on the bill as early as Thursday.

San Diego Homebuyers who have owned their current homes at least five years would

be eligible for tax credits of up to $6,500. First-time homebuyers — or

anyone who hasn’t owned a home in the last three years — would still

get up to $8,000. To qualify, buyers in both groups have to sign a

purchase agreement by April 30, 2010, and close by June 30.

“This is probably the last extension,” said Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga.,

a former real estate executive who championed the credits.

The homebuyers tax credit is one of two tax breaks totaling more than

$21 billion that the Senate included in a bill extending unemployment

benefits for those without a job for more than a year. The other would

let companies now losing money recoup taxes they paid on profits

earned in the previous five years.

“We are still in a world of economic hurt, and Congress must continue

to act boldly and creatively,” said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman

of the Senate Finance Committee. “With the right mix of tax breaks and

investments we will get through this recession and get folks working

again.”

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