HUD may create buyer tax credit bridge loans

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is hoping to implement a plan that will allow approved lenders to advance the $8,000 tax credit to buyers at closing time. The first-time buyer tax credit, passed as part of the stimulus package, currently does not go to buyers until tax time. But the typical first-time homebuyer has only saved up 4 percent of his or her home purchase price, according to the National Association of Realtors. New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Washington, Missouri and Colorado already have "bridge loan" programs that allow buyers to borrow against the tax credit and repay the loan with their refunds. [CNN Money]