$8000 Federal Stimulus For Buyers
The federal government wants to give away money.
If you know anyone who hasn’t owned a home within the last three years, the federal stimulus plan will give them an $8,000 tax credit (not just a deduction!) if they buy a home this year. But there are conditions…
The most important is that to qualify, the sale MUST CLOSE BY DECEMBER 1st.
That may sound like a lot of time but it’s not. There are a lot of factors that come into play these days. First of all, many mortgage companies and banks have seriously reduced staff and mortgages are taking much longer to process. That means it will often take two months from getting a property “under contract” until it can actually close. So backtracking from December first, that takes us back to October first to have an accepted contract.
The next issue is the time to get an answer from the seller. If a buyer is considering a “Short Sale”, the time for an answer often stretches into two or three months. Foreclosures aren’t quite so long, but it is often taking financial institutions several weeks to accept or decline an offer. Forgetting about short sales, even if a buyer’s first offer is accepted, we need at least four weeks. That takes us back another four weeks from October first to September first. If a buyer has to make, for example, three offers until one is accepted, that takes us back to at least August first, if not earlier.
Now we have to look at houses and decide on the best ones for the buyer’s needs. That could take a little time so it is now obvious that in this challenging real estate market we need to start looking for a home in June if we want to claim our $8,000!
Please contact me, and I can guide you through the process and help you down the best path possible.
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