First Time Buyers Benefit

I did a little more digging this morning on the details of the federal budget which was announced yesterday…and I found some more good news for those thinking about buying their first home. Here are the details:

* First time home buyers will qualify for a 15% tax credit, up to $750 worth of savings, on closing costs of up to $5,000. I would assume that legal fees and moving costs are the primary areas where people will save. * First time buyers will also see the “Home Buyer’s Plan” limit go from $20,000 to $25,000. The HBP is the program that allows you to access your RRSP as a source of down payment money, which you then have to pay back over 15 years. It’s a great program that a lot of our first-time buyers use because it’s one of the only ways you can access your RRSP without being taxed. This is a welcome change.

You can find deeper (and better) analysis at MSN and MillionDollarJourney (one of my favourite blogs).