Mortgage Credit Certificates in Seattle

[prusakolep]

In all of the discussions here about affordability for first time buyers I never heard anyone mention Mortgage Credit Certificates (MCCs). This is a great program that gives you a tax credit (as opposed to a deduction) for your mortgage interest. There is a web page for Washington State MCC program: .

The terms appear quite reasonable: price limit in King County is $370K with income limit for a 3 person family is $97K. In "targeted" areas the price limit is higher, though I expect the "targeted" areas are much less desirable. One can buy SFH as well as condos. What I didn't find at the web site is the credit amount. I believe it can be any amount up to 20% of the mortgage interest, and I understand that 20% is most common, and that's what I had many years ago - though I didn't see the actual credit amount mentioned for King County.

With the MCC program and FHA I would expect buyers to qualify a lot more easily, since for qualification purposes the monthly payments are reduced by the credit amount.

So the question is how popular is the MCC program in Seattle area? From my experience in San Diego many years ago, many realtors and mortgage brokers didn't know about it and so many buyers who qualified did not benefit from it. How popular is MCC here? How many people even know about it? And can you actually find a home/condo you would want to buy with the price/income limits?

[mike2]

[prusakolep]