Would-be homeowners have been waiting and hoping for mortgage interest rates to fall, which would make homes more affordable by lowering monthly payments, but most overlook a tax credit that can knock $2,000 a year off those interest payments.

The Mortgage Credit Certificate is an unusual federal perk in several ways, which I’ll explain, but the strangest thing about it could be how few people take advantage of it.

I’ve written previously that if MCCs had been available in South Carolina when I bought a house in 2004, that would have saved me $26,000 by the time I sold it and downsized in 2018.

The MCC became available in South Carolina in 2013. In 2024 just 73 home buyers in South Carolina obtained one.

Unlike the federal mortgage interest deduction, used by wage earners who item

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