The skinny for all buyers:
The details still aren't readily available on this money but you do have a chance to get pre-approved now. You can apply for an approval here: Application
Buy a new home and you can receive a free $6,000. There are many awesome deals right now, but once May comes around many of the new homes at great pricing will be eaten up and off the market. The people who move now will be getting the best deals. There are some restrictions to the grant money. If you are joint filing, your income can't exceed $100,000. For single filing the income limits are at $75,000.
Here is a link to the basic information about the grant: $6,000 Utah Grant
Double, even triple dipping for 1st time homebuyers.
With the $6,000 Utah grant money, the govenrment's tax credit of $8,000 and a 1st time home buyer grant of $5,000 1st time homebuyers could score up to $19,000 when buying a new home!
The ramifications of this to the economy.
Some people believe the grant money is a waste of money. What does housing do for the economy? Economists have breakdowns of how much a home sale affects the economy. Local economists at a class I went to through our local Board of Realtors showed on powerpoint for our class that an estimated $60,000 goes into the economy every time one home around the median price range is sold. This equates to a 10 fold return on the $6,000.
Should I build or buy an existing new home?
While many will be tempted to build there are going to be a couple things to consider. One: if someone truly wants the best deal, they should look for something now before the inventory dries up. Once that happens, prices go up. Also, when the deadline for this grant money is revealed it is possible that many people who have started to build a home may not finish their home before the deadline. Only 1666 grants are available so act now. Stay tuned for more details.
Why not give to Every Home?
If you were to give the grant to every home purchased. All the money would be gone. Last month in Utah there were appx 1600 homes sold. There are appx 1900 in the entire state set to close next month. There are only 1666 grants. All the money would be handed over to people already closing on a home. The money would have been handed out for no reason and not an incentive.
The money is now an incentive for people to get off the couch and buy. Also, this helps existing. If more new homes were to go into foreclosure, that would further devaluate the market. This will get more buyers into the market and help keep our values from going down like the rest of the nation.
You can also look for new homes online at http://www.utahdave.com/
or new homes in Utah's premier neighborhood at http://www.daybreakliving.com/
Utah Dave - Daybreak Neighboorhood Expert and Local Resident