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Huh - money version
Aug. 31st, 2008 09:27 amWe learned this weekend, thanks to my FIL, that we're eligible for a first-time homebuyers tax credit of $7500. Which means that, if we elect to take it, we'll pay no taxes for this year, and will receive a check of whatever's left after the taxes are taken out. So, we'd get all our Federal taxes back (like, $3000, maybe) plus a check for anther $4500 or so, in April. The money has to be paid back, at $500 a year, starting two years from the time you take it, and if you sell your house at a profit, you have to pay it all back. If you sell your house at a loss, it gets "forgiven."
I'm not sure how I feel about this; I'm not sure if we'll take it. On the one hand it feels a bit like free money. We could use it to pay down some of the principle on the mortgage, or do some home improvement work. I feel a little strange that we didn't know about this when we bought the house; we're usually up on stuff like this, you know? So, on the other hand, I feel a little suspicious about "free money" from the government.
We also received a substantial gift of money from my in-laws, so that's another responsibility. They are scrupulously fair about giving gifts to their children. In this case, they wanted to celebrate mr. flea's completion of his dissertation, but they also wanted to give a substantial sum for mr. flea's sister, whose marriage is in trouble. The money is a secret from her husband, and is to serve as her emergency funds should things go wrong there. So that casts a little bit of a pall over the gift to us, in my mind. Also not sure what we're going to do with it - so many possibilities. Mortgage, student loans, long-neglected IRAs, college savings, furniture, home improvement. When you start to slice and dice it, even big money suddenly feels not-so-big.
I'm not sure how I feel about this; I'm not sure if we'll take it. On the one hand it feels a bit like free money. We could use it to pay down some of the principle on the mortgage, or do some home improvement work. I feel a little strange that we didn't know about this when we bought the house; we're usually up on stuff like this, you know? So, on the other hand, I feel a little suspicious about "free money" from the government.
We also received a substantial gift of money from my in-laws, so that's another responsibility. They are scrupulously fair about giving gifts to their children. In this case, they wanted to celebrate mr. flea's completion of his dissertation, but they also wanted to give a substantial sum for mr. flea's sister, whose marriage is in trouble. The money is a secret from her husband, and is to serve as her emergency funds should things go wrong there. So that casts a little bit of a pall over the gift to us, in my mind. Also not sure what we're going to do with it - so many possibilities. Mortgage, student loans, long-neglected IRAs, college savings, furniture, home improvement. When you start to slice and dice it, even big money suddenly feels not-so-big.