While 'Cash for Clunkers' has been hogging the headlines, there are other stimulus provisions that could mean real money for consumers. Here are a few ways to take advantage.
>> Cash for Clunkers has been making a lot of headlines, but there are other government-backed programs designed to boost the economy and help you save some money. Our own Ray Martin is here to fill us in. Good morning.
>> Ray Martin: Good morning, Harry. Cash for Clunkers is wild, man.
>> Yeah, you knew this was going to be popular. At least a lot of us thought that, but I was surprised on how fast folks got off the couch, took their old vehicle to the dealership and bought new cars. Within two weeks folks exhausted the first billion dollars. It was spring-loaded demand. This program, this is a government program, okay, which was designed to get people to take an old, less fuel-efficient vehicle and buy a new one, and who would have thought a government program that can work, but look at the numbers here laughter. Eighty-three percent of the new vehicles traded in were trucks, old vehicles traded in were trucks and SUVs.
>> Yeah.
>> Sixty percent of the vehicles purchased were passenger cars.
>> Yeah.
>> The average fuel economy of the new vehicle purchased on the trade-in was 25 ?-
>> Right ?-
>> -- miles per gallon or even a little bit more. The average fuel economy increase was ?-
>> Amazing.
>> -- 61 percent,
>> Right ?-
>> -- and the first billion dollars was expected to fund sales of over 200,000 vehicles.
>> They're already talking about millions of barrels of petroleum saved by switching out just the cars that have been dealt with so far.
>> And folks buying smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles with the new vehicle on the road.
>> Very interesting.
>> Hopefully, you know, you're going to see the, the, the look on the highway's going to change.
>> Alright, there are other programs out there --
>> Yes, there are.
>> -- that get much less focus, and one of the ones we want to talk about this morning is this federal tax credit for energy efficiency. We see some ads ?-
>> Yeah.
>> -- for some of the window makers with big rebates. Is this working? Is, are people signing up for this?
>> I think there should be new, more noise about this. This is where you can get a tax credit of up to 30 percent or the first 1500 dollars of what you spend for things like insulation and new doors and windows, roofing materials, heating and cooling systems that are more fuel-efficient here. And when I talk to the contractors about this, they say to me, "Look, this is getting some attention." What's really getting attention here is folks putting in tankless hot water heaters. They're getting rid of their water storage tank system ?-
>> Okay, right, yeah --
>> -- their old hot water heater. They're putting in a new instant-on hot water heating system --
>> Mm-hmm ?-
>> -- for about three grand. They get a grand back, so it only costs them 2000 dollars.
>> Right ?-
>> And they save two to three hundred dollars a year in annual savings.
>> Probably over a couple of, couple of years, it pays for itself.
>> That's right, and then there are, oh maybe about four or five years here or so.
>> Okay ?-
>> There are also tax credits up to 30 percent for energy-efficient heating systems. These are more expensive. These are solar energy systems and geothermal heat pumps.
>> Hmmm ?-
>> And these only work in certain ?-
>> Right, right ?-
>> -- geographic areas of the country. I think there could be some more attention here before it's, but it can add up.
>> A tax credit for first-time homebuyers. We're finally starting to see a bump up in the numbers of home sales. Are people taking advantage of this?
>> They certainly are. Matter of fact, this is actually creating a whole new real estate market for first-time home buyers in more moderately priced homes. The tax credit was 7500 dollars last year, and you had to repay it ?-
>> Yeah ?-
>> -- over a few years. Now the tax credit this year is up to 8000 dollars if you buy, you, a first-time home buyer --
>> Right ?-
>> -- so you haven't owned a home in the last three years. And there's some income limits here ?
>> Sure ?-
>> You see you have to be at 75,000 single --
>> Right ?-
>> -- and 150,000 ?
>> Mm-hmmm ?-
>> -- married. But this is causing people to get off the sidelines, buy homes that are more moderately priced like 250,000 or less. The supply of homes is coming down. Prices, the falling prices of homes is slowing down, folks here ?-
>> Yeah ?-
>> -- so if you want to buy a home before December thirty-first -- you have to close before then -- you want to do it, the stars are aligned. You have low interest rates, low home prices, and you've got this 8,000-dollar tax credit; get out and buy that home if it makes sense to do it for you versus renting.
>> There you go. As always, good advice. Ray Martin, thank you so much.
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