Deadline Quckly Approaching For First Time Home Buyers

Time is running out to cash in on that first time home buyer tax credit. If you’re not making offers on your dream home today, you might not have the opportunity. Closing papers must be signed on November 30^th in order to get that $8,000 back on your taxes. But, then again, rumors are abounding that the tax credit should be extended. Kind of like the Cash for Clunkers extension, pushing these tax incentives longer than originally anticipated kind of reminds me of Favre not retiring when he should. The Cash for Clunkers program is reportedly disapproving consumers and dealerships left and right, so why do we think the first time home buyer tax credit will be any different?

Like it or not, the discussion for extending the tax credit is continuing in the House and Senate. My suggestion, however, is if you’re seriously interested in getting a home, get one now because it’s a better time than ever to purchase a home for the first time. Home prices are still incredibly low, and that incentive is very tempting. Who doesn’t like free money?

Time is definitely running out, however. For most first time buyers, the purchase of a home from searching to closing takes longer than a mere two months. If you’re already looking, think about making an offer soon. The average close on a home takes about four weeks, which would put you right at that deadline if you found a home this month.

If you’re choosing to wait it out and save while you watch to see if congress will extend the first time homebuyer credit, there are some strong arguments in your favor. The Realtors group said in mid-September that 350,000 new buyers would not have purchased a home this year without the credit, according to Business Week. Home prices have increased 1.6% in 20 markets over the summer, prompting industry experts to credit the first time home buyer credit for pushing home sales.

While congress talks about extending the tax credit, the real-estate lobby wants to not only extend it, but to raise it from $8,000 to $15,00, which is making me think we should have waited a little longer to purchase our first home.

According to SubprimeBlogger.com, an extension of the first time home buyers tax credit could grow home sales by 20%! Many experts believe that once the economy picks up a bit, and people start getting jobs and stop losing them, this extension could greatly improve home sales numbers. While numbers have been great for the program so far, one argument is that they will only get better as the economy improves. Kind of like the chicken and the egg, huh?

If you’re thinking about jumping on this bandwagon and taking advantage of the $8,000 that is being offered now through November 30^th, you better start making offers today otherwise you might be out of luck. You never can tell how long a home purchase will take, what with the inspections, offers and counter-offers, and mounds of paperwork.

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