Hi all, what I great night out!!! I had so much fun and what a perfect end to a wonderful day. I can't thank all of you enough for the plants. I hope everyone got a chance to pilfer from my seed box!! Since I didn't have a chance to dig the "promised" plants, I will be happy to mail things out to anyone interested. Here's what I have: primroses - your average, everyday kind but have been growing in my gardens for at least 10 years so they're really hardy to this area. columbine - on Thurs. I noticed probably 50 babies under one plant that happens to be a native columbine. These could be very interesteing crosses since there is a hyrid plant just behind this one. Campanula punctata 'Cherry Bells' - this plant seems to act as a biennial and reseed for me. I had no blooms or growth last year but a 3' wide area of small plants. They are back this year and I am assuming they will be blooming since they are already taller than last year. Cenetaurea montana - in full bloom right now! I have multiple large plants that need spliting plus some random babies. These grow large in full sun or can be kept smaller in part shade. Also, since I am in the process of moving my herb garden I have a few extras of: Lemon Balm, oregano, strawberries and possibly some tarragon. I have 2 very large ground clematis ('Mrs Rober Brydon') that I will be moving soon to their permanent home in the woodlands edge beds. At that time I will be doing some cuttings so let me know if you're interested in these as well. So e-mail me from my page with your address and I'll be most happy to send you plants. Since we all live fairly close it shouldn't be a problem. Many thanks to all of you for your plants!!! I also have some that I have no idea what they are so I'll be looking forward to the picture post! Till we meet again, Cheryl ::]

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.

You really need to talk to a CPA and/or real estate attorney in your jurisdiction. And also at issue is how the property has been handled for tax purposes to-date. Has it been depreciated as an investment property? Have maintenance expenses been used to offset income? How has this been handled on each party's taxes to date? Without knowing the above, and without being an expert in your area, I don't see how the scenario can be spun as a sale "not" taking place. The mental gymnastics required would land on "I'm gifting you this interest in our joint property for no consideration, and then you are gifting me DP + $20,000, but the two have nothing to do with one another."

If they are factoring in the taxes/insurance it's an expense the OP would have anyway. I would recommend contacting a lender to find out the minimum amount they would lend for a mortgage. I don't recall the exact figure, but a lender did tell me that below a certain amount they don't do loans. I think it was 25-30,000. This might have been this lender, but I seem to recall it was a general rule. From a business standpoint the profit margin is so low at that point, they don't do it.