The First-Time Home Buyers Credit was introduced earlier this year as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The act gives a 10 percent credit, up to $8,000, to first-time home buyers, defined as those who have not owned a home in the 3 years prior to the purchase.

The credit is available for purchases made from January 1 2009 through November 30, 2009. Since closing on a home can take 60 days or longer, individuals who want to take advantage of this credit should be looking for a home now. You have a little over 3 months left to close on the sale.

And here's another piece of related news. If you've amended your 2008 tax return to claim the credit and you're still waiting for your refund, you may have to wait a little bit longer. The IRS has been swamped with amended 2008 returns. In order to weed out fraudulent claims for the credit submitted by scammers the IRS is reviewing returns claiming the home buyers credit carefully. That has slowed down the processing time for all Form 1040-Xs to at least 12-16 weeks. To speed up your refund, attach your HUD-1 statement to your tax return.