Another Tax Credit Extension

By now I’m sure a lot of you have heard that on Wednesday the Senate voted to approve the extension of the First Time Home Buyers tax credit.

What does this do? It allows for buyers who had a purchase contract executed on or before April 30th of 2010 until September 30th to complete the purchase of the home.

Is this a good thing? Well, it’s a fair decision, but maybe not a good one.

Why? Because, as a Realtor, I can tell you that on average, in this market, it takes longer than 2 months to close most real estate transactions involving a distressed property, and even some that do not involve a distressed property. So, it does allow some home buyers the advantage of of the $8k tax credit, which is fair.

On the other hand, from my perspective as a Realtor, it’s just another method of propping up the economy and the housing market, instead of allowing it to regain stability and strength, organically.

By allowing this credit, it could possibly create a similar environment to develop which helped create the housing market collapse. It allows for a large number of home buyers to purchase a home with little, or in some cases, no vested interest.

Isn’t that a BIG part of what started this mess in the first place?

Warmest,

James Helms