Crystal
Reply: 1
From: Mike .
Re: First Home Buyer's $7000 Grant
From: Crystal
Date: 3/23/00
Time: 10:52:39 PM
I rang the ATO and asked about the possibility of purchasing a property and living in it for a short amount of time, (in order to receive the $7000 grant) then moving out to make way for tenants. I was told that there was no minimum amount of time that you have to reside in your property! I will be speaking to my accountant - but I think I will purchase my first property after 1st July, and live in it for a few weeks before I rent the property! The application forms will not be available from the ATO until "around June". The following information is from
http://www.tmb.com.au "The Mortgage Bureau" website. The ATO web site provided inferior information.
Now the Great News... With the re-introduction of the First Home Owners Scheme as part of the Federal Government's tax package next year there is now the extra incentive the market needs. From 1 July next year a once-only grant of $7,000 will be paid to eligible applicants to assist either by reducing the deposit amount required or covering transaction costs.
Who is Eligible? To be eligible you must:
(a) be an Australian citizen or permanent resident in Australia,
(b) be buying or building your first home in Australia;
(c) start living in the home within a reasonable timeframe.
For the first time eligibility under the scheme will not be means-tested and the benefit will only be paid for the purchase of an owner-occupied residence, not an investment property or holiday home.
It does not matter if you are purchasing a new or established home or if the property is in the city or a country town. It can be a flat, home unit or any other type of self-contained, fixed dwelling that meets local planning standards.
Neither you nor your spouse or other parties involved in the purchase can have previously owned a home either jointly or separately.
The scene is now set for a real estate boom reminiscent of the late eighties, if interest rates remain low and the cost of new home construction does not rise too sharply with the introduction of the GST. Watch out share market the real estate market is coming back!
