The new stimulus package provides a lot of breaks to first time home buyers. But when it comes to home ownership, you're no virgin. Are you shut out of the tax credit for first-time home buyers because you have owned property before? Maybe not.

According to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, "first time" home buyers are:

  1. Those who have not owned a primary residence during the three year period immediately preceding the close of escrow on the new home. Amazingly, those who owned rental property but no primary residence can still be first-timers! If the last time you owned real estate was over three years ago, you're officially a first-timer.
  2. Single parents who owned their homes with their ex-spouse. Dump an old spouse, get a new house.
  3. Displaced homemakers who owned their homes with their ex-spouse. Displaced homemakers are those who did not work outside the home while married. So now, if you can qualify for a mortgage you can also get a tax break. See my earlier entry on getting a mortgage even if you have no job.
  4. People who owned homes not considered real property, such as mobile homes not affixed to permanent foundations. Right now it really pays for "rolling stones" to settle down and get a house with a permanent foundation.
  5. Property owners whose current residence can’t comply with building codes for less than the cost of rebuilding. Living in a falling-down dump? Trade up to a new home at a fire-sale price and get a tax break too.

There are many ways to become a "born again" virgin when it comes to home ownership. And the incentives offerred to those who qualify should get a lot of people off the fence and into houses.