Many don't realize $7,500 tax credit has to be paid back...

Highly recommended article at CNN that points out the positives and some of the negatives with the $7,500 tax credit for first time home buyers. A few points of special interest:

Buyers must to start paying back the loan within two years, at a rate of no more than $500 a year for 15 years. When the the home is sold, any outstanding balance will be repaid from the profit; if it's sold at a loss and the difference will be forgiven.

"It's not going to provide first-time home buyers with cash up front," said the Consumer Federation of America's Allen Fishbein. "You have to apply to get the credit after the fact. There's a delay before you get the financial advantage."

And there are concerns that borrowers may treat the credit as a windfall, spending it as if it doesn't have to be repaid.

"It may appear to be free money," said Fishbein. "Consumers have to have their eyes open about how this works."

Other economists caution that while the credit may be helpful, it's hardly a solution to the crisis.

"It will not turn things around," said Jared Bernstein, an economist with the Economic Policy Institute. "Given the economy, it will only push a precious few first-time home buyers over the edge right now."

It's also important to point out that the first time home buyer has to have the money to be able to put down first...It's also a bit of a misnomer to call it a first time home buyers credit, since if it has been three years since you owned a home you would qualify.