Golden Realty Blog

If you have read or heard the news today, you know that reports are circulating that the Senate has agreed to extend the tax credit for first-time homebuyers and to offer a reduced credit to qualifying repeat buyers.

The proposal according to the Senate Finance Committee Chairman, Max Baucus, is to extend the current first time homebuyer credit to purchases under contract by April 30, 2010, and must close within 60 days. In addition, the new plan will offer a $6500 credit for homebuyers who have lived in their prior residence for at least five years.

Although this is encouraging news for home buyers and sellers, according to the National Association of REALTORS, (NAR) there is no definitive agreement on how to attach this tax credit to the pending Unemployment Insurance bill, or whether to offer the tax credit agreement on another bill, or whether to bring the agreement to the Senate floor and vote upon it as a separate, stand alone bill. And after Senate action, the tax credit must go to the House of Representatives for action.

Check back for updates regarding this and other real estate news!

There is so much information swirling around the real estate world, some is good information based on fact and historical patterns, some is bad information based on hope, hearsay and rumor.

Here are the 3 most common rumors that are currently circulating:

• The 1^st Time Home buyer tax credit will be extended after the first of the year.
• The 1^st Time Home Buyer tax credit will be open to ALL buyers.
• The 1^st Time Home Buyer tax credit will increase from $8000 to $15,000. 

Let us dispel some inaccurate information and give you some additional food for thought.

The tax credit is available NOW until November 30^th. (Click here for more information) There are no guarantees this will continue or extend beyond that.

It is true that the National Association of Realtors (NAR) is urging to Congress, to extend the tax credit. However, because this is considered a “revenue measure”, it must originate in Congress. To date there is only one Congressman, who has submitted legislation to extend the credit, but it involves limited eligibility to only individuals who have served in the military, Foreign Service or in the US intelligence community outside the US for 90 days or more during 2009, and they must be first time home buyers.

As REALTORS, we would like to see this tax credit extended, unfortunately we have no indications that this will indeed happen. Therefore, first time home buyers have a limited window of opportunity. The tax credit combined with record low interest rates won’t last forever.