July 7, 2010 marks the beginning of construction for Woodland Estates Active Adult Community.  Dufresne & Son’s Enterprise officially stated installing the sewer line running along Rindge road to the entrance of Woodland Estates.  It is estimated to take approximately 3 to 4 weeks to run the 2250′ of sewer line from Stoneybrook Village to the entrance of Woodland Estates.

US Senate Adopts Extension of Home Buyer Tax Credit
Last night, by a vote of 98-0, the United States Senate adopted an extension of the home buyer tax credit which was due to expire on December 1. The extension runs until June 30, 2010. The tax credit applies to purchasers of manufactured homes, including both ‘home only’ and ‘land/home’ transactions. First-time homebuyers may claim a credit of up to $8000 if their annual income is less than $125,000 for individuals, and less than $225,000 for couples. In addition, the plan would allow a $6,500 tax credit for move -up home buyers who purchase a primary residence if they owned their current home for at least 5 consecutive years in the previous 8 years. The House is expected to pass the bill today or tomorrow, and President Obama is expected to sign the extension into law this week-end.

In an effort to combat fraudulent activities, the legislation requires taxpayers to include a settlement statement with their tax returns as proof of purchase. Manufactured housing ‘home-only’ transactions typically involve a retail sales contract instead of a HUD-1 settlement statement. MHI, with strong assistance from the Arkansas and Florida Manufactured Housing Associations, engineered a floor colloquy among three key Senators on the Senate floor which clarifies that retail sales contracts for home only manufactured home transactions, in lieu of settlement statements, will be acceptable to the IRS as proof of purchase. These Senators included Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT), as well as Finance Committee Members Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Blanche Lincoln (D-AR).
This represents a huge victory for MHI and its members. Starting with the MHI Summer Meeting in Washington last June, MHI members have been communicating to their Members of Congress the importance of the home buyer tax credit to our industry and the necessity of extending it. Hopefully, the extension of the tax credit through the middle of next year will encourage home buyers to purchase manufactured homes in significant numbers.