Sep 9, 2009 5:40 pm US/Eastern
Time Running Out For Homebuyer Tax Credits
QUINCY (WBZ) ―
Prospective first-time homebuyers thinking about taking advantage of the $8,000 federal tax credit should not spend much more time thinking about it, in the view of Massachusetts real estate experts. They say it can take six to eight weeks to from the time of an offer until closing and that's about all the time that's left.
More Info: First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit
The Liang's are closing their deal under the wire. As first-time homebuyers, they are eligible for the $8,000 maximum tax credit under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, offered since the first of the year.
The dream made possible for the Liang family, in part, by the tax credit is a handsome two family home in Quincy. "It's a dream for my family, my dream house," said Anna Liang who will live in the home with her parents and brother.
One south shore real estate broker says she had 22 groups of buyers go through one open house Labor Day Sunday, which is usually dead. Since the beginning of the year, Classic Homes broker Angela Ponte says her office is "very busy... probably about 30 percent busier than we were last year at this time."
The Norfolk County Registry of Deeds expects to get busier late this month and next. "Since January, the number of deeds has been trending up, albeit slowly," said Register of Deeds William O'Donnell who explains that last January, 399 deeds were filed in his office in contrast to 1,418 last month.
Realtors say if you want to take advantage of the homebuyer tax credit, you probably should be house-hunting this week if you hope to close by the November 30th deadline. A real estate association official says there's movement in his industry to get Congress to extend the homebuyer tax credit program beyond December first and make a wider range of buyers eligible.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Reporting
Comments