We sold our home of 5 1/2 years in Nov. 2009 and entered into a binding contract with a builder in Dec. 2009. We have closed on our construction loan in Jan. 2010 and have a builder's guarantee for the home completion to be by April 30, 2010 (which is when we would then occupy the new residence).

My question is, when filing our 2009 taxes in the next coming weeks (Feb.) can we take the $6500 HomeBuyer Tax credit at this time or do we need to wait until we actually occupy the residence before we can claim this (even though we have the above contracts)?