Countdown timer above shows what little time is remaining for home buyers and sellers to take advantage of the tax credits! To review:
- 1st time home buyers or those that have not been a homeowner for 3+ years may be eligible for an $8000 tax credit.
- Current homeowners who have lived in their home for 5 of the past 8 years may be eligible for a $6500 if they sign a purchase agreement for a new primary residence prior to May 1, regardless of if/when they sell their current home.
Everyone looking to take advantage of one of these tax credits needs to have an accepted purchase agreement no later than April 30th, 2010 and that sale must close by June 30th, 2010.
If you are a buyer looking at foreclosures, make sure you leave time for the bank to sign the paperwork.
If you are a buyer looking at short sales, it looks like you just need to have agreement with the seller (subject to approval from the seller’s lender) by April 30th, though you still need to close by June 30th and should also speak to your tax advisor about the situation prior to making a decision to sign a purchase agreement.
If you are a seller or potential seller, now is the time to get your house in tip-top shape, list it for sale, market the house heavily and price it to sell – it takes 23 showings on average to sell a home and those showings take time to happen!
