I have spearmint in two places at home. One under a faucet to catch the drips (thought I'd pulled it all out, but its tough), and another in a 2 gallon pot until I figured out where to put it. Both have been pretty much ignored. The stuff under the faucet is green and very healthy looking. The stuff in the pot is growing very densely and the leaves are turning purple. I'm assuming the potted ones are rootbound and I don't fertilize them so the phosphorus deficiency explanation would fit here.

I love it too!!! I planted all sorts of mint in pots last year, so I could contain it. I cut them all back at the end of the season last year. They were neglected all winter, just little wiry sticks. For all intents and purposes, looking dead. This year, I needed the containers for new herbs. I took out the old mint, which was showing signs of green, not much, but it was there. And I took a shovel and cut about 3 inches down all around, making a disc (amazing root structure). I took the discs (spearmint, peppermint, lime mint, chocolate mint) and planted them in a bed devoted especially for them. I didn't really expect them to do a whole lot. I planted a round disc here, and round disc there. SURPRISE! Today they are thriving. It wacked their little heads off when they got about 1 1/2 feet tall, and now it's all bushing out. It's a field of mint...it's lush and I love it. I'll never use all of it, but it's just a lovely part of the garden, near the table outside. A lovely place to sit in the morning among the mint. :-) Great place to take a pot of tea. ;-)

I'm in a similar situation and was told that I would need to get a county official to provide me with a letter stating that certificates of occupancy are not issued in my area. The IRS could not tell me just which county official to go to but, after checking around a bit, I found out that the septic permitting office in my county was providing "no certificate of occupancy" letters. So if you had to get a septic permit (or any other sort of permit), I would check with that permitting office first. If that doesn't work, try your county commissioners. As for "proof" of when you actually move in, the IRS can't tell you what evidence they will actually accept - but they will tell you that the "burden of proof" is on the taxpayer. Apparently, whichever IRS agent reviews your tax filing just gets to decide whether the evidence you present seems convincing enough to him/her. But if the agent decides against you and denies your claim for the credit, you CAN appeal the denial so there is at least some hope you won't be denied willy-nilly. Still, it seems likely that the more proof you provide of your move-in date, the more likely it is that the IRS agent will be satisified. So: 1) File a change of address with the post office and provide copies of the change of address forms. 2) Officially (in writing) notifiy your employers of your new address and keep a copy of your letter. 3) Change your voter registration. 4) If you had been claiming your house in town as your homestead, contact the taxing office and officially relinquish it. Than claim your new home as your new homestead as of your move-in date. Even if you live in a state where homestead exemption is automatic, you can still file an affidavit in the county land records stating that you are claiming such-and-such an address as your homestead. And you can send a letter to the taxing authorities for both your old home and your new home stating that you are changing your homestead. 5) Change your home and automobile insurance policies. Automobile policy rates are usually set, at least in part, on where your car is "garaged" so changing that address will be further proof of your move-in date. 6) Since you need water and electricity to build, you've probably had most of the utilities hooked up and in your name just about forever. But if you were planning to get cable service or DSL or a land line telephone or anything like that, go ahead and get it hooked up before the 30th and keep the records. 7) Start having the local newspaper delivered to your new address... even if you only sign up for a three month subscription. Nobody has a newspaper delivered to an address where they aren't yet living! 8) Hire a moving van - or at least rent a U-Haul - to move your belongings. And keep the records. 9) Arrange for weekly trash pick up at your new home. 10) If you still have a portajohn on the premises, contact the portapotty people and have them pick it up and send you a final bill. (Nobody keeps a portapotty after they've moved in!) 11) If you still have a dumpster on your property for construction debris, get it hauled away and get your final bill. The IRS is not going to believe you have moved in if you still have a dumpster sitting in the yard! 12) Throw yourself a housewarming party and invite everybody by email. Be sure to indicate on the invitation that you are celebrating the fact that you have FINALLY MOVED IN to your new home. Keep copies of your invitations and the guest list. Every guest is a potential witness for you in the event you wind up having to appeal a denial of the credit. Think also in terms of providing evidence that you have MOVED OUT of your old home. Eg., If you were planning to sell (or rent) your old home, start advertizing that it is available as of May 1. And keep records of your efforts to sell or rent the old place. Or, if a family member is going to live in the old house once you move out, have them sign a dated rental agreement even if you only charge them $10 per year in rent. And have them change all the utilities at the old house over to their name immediately. Or, if the old house will sit empty for awhile (like us, you may be planning to spruce up the old house a bit before putting it on the market), have the utilities shut off until you are ready to start working on it. That will help prove you are no longer living at the old address. Besides, why pay for utility services you're not using. And, keep calling the IRS to ask about this issue. The more calls they get to their help-line asking questions about this specific issue, the more likely it is that the IRS will develop guidelines to give their agents so that there will be some consistency in how agents deal with those of us making a claim for the credit under our somewhat unusual circumstances.

A big congratulations to you! Sorry it got rough at the end. I'm glad to hear you say it was worth it, because you give me hope. And I have to say I'm proud of you even though I don't know you, you said you had a few things on the wall!! We have been in our current house for 5 years and we have plenty of pictures on the walls, but plenty more were waiting to be hung. A few weeks ago I started packing them up and decided hopefully they would find a place on the wall in the new house!! Amy