Congress Extends Tax Extension Closing Deadline !

Congress will extend the Tax Credit Closing Deadline until September 30, 2010
President Obama is expected to sign the measure into law.

Congress has passed a bill to give homebuyers another three months to close on their home loans and receive tax credits up to $8,000. The bill applies ONLY to homebuyers who met the April 30, 2010, deadline with a signed contract to purchase a new or existing primary residence.

The bill would extend the deadline to September 30, 2010, for homebuyers to close on their real estate transaction. The previous deadline was June 30, 2010. President Obama is expected to sign the measure into law.

The National Association of Realtors estimates that as many as 180,000 homebuyers who met the contract deadline of April 30, 2010, may be affected by the extension. They will now have additional time to close their transactions.

Even for those people who may not qualify for the home-buyer tax credit, there is still a tremendous opportunity available through the combination of low home prices and historically low interest rates.

There have been mixed messages in the media as to when home values will begin to level off and then start rising in value again. Some lead us to believe that the decline is over, and that now is the time to buy. I’m not totally sold on that, but there is validity in purchasing soon, to lock in a low interest rate and take advantage of possible tax credits.

As far as home prices stabilizing, here are my feelings on that. Last year a moratorium was put in place on limiting the amount of foreclosed homes available for sale, and only releasing just enough homes to begin drying up the inventory. With a limited inventory of homes to choose from, it would create a supply and demand situation and stabilize continuing falling prices.

This seems like a reasonable idea, but if you look at the big picture, it only becomes a band aid. The public may have had a limited amount of homes to shop for, but that hasn’t stopped homeowners from walking away from their homes and dropping them back in the arms of the banks.

There are thousands upon thousands of homes that are not even on the market yet, and when the damn breaks, the market could get flooded again, driving down prices even more.

We could speculate for days on this subject. The truth is no one knows where all this is going. If you are shopping for a home, maybe you shouldn’t get greedy for a better deal. The prices are lower than they have been in years, and the interest rates are awesome.

Just know that if you buy, it’s possible the value may drop a little more. But if you love the house and make it your home, and live in it, than it really doesn’t matter.

If you’re a seller, yeah, you can’t get what you could have got seven years ago for your home. But if you hold out for a better time to sell, you may be waiting for quite a long time. The good news is, if you are going to re purchase another home, whether you are downsizing of upgrading, you will be picking up the difference you lost from your sale to a good buy on your purchase.

I hope you received value from my article. Feel free to comment.

I’ll be talking to you soon,

Joe LoFreso

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