I bought my first house December 2007. That is 4 months before the initial credit. It was a foreclosed home that needed a lot of work and I made a lot of energy efficient improvements that would have qualified for a tax credit in 2006, 2007, and now qualify in 2009 & 2010(Extended by TARP). They could have just as easily had the credit for 2008. They also changed the HOPE credit to become a new credit good for the first 4 years of college and make it refundable immediately following what was my 4th year of college in 2008.
