It’s true.

Time is running out on the $8,000 First Time Home Buyer Credit.  If you haven’t owned a home within the last three years, you qualify if the home you purchase will be your primary residence.  Pretty simple.  The date you must settle on your new home in order to claim the tax credit is November 30th.  That’s pretty simple, too.

What is not so simple is getting to the settlement table by November 30th.  As I explained in a previous post, there are lots of “days” off for the title companies and mortgage companies that will be obstacles in meeting the November 30th deadline.

However, as I talked about in yesterday’s post, people are getting second opinions and advice from lots of different people about the process.  One of the things I constantly hear is that the tax credit will be extended.  I hear it.  I haven’t read it anywhere.  No one on the news has announced it.  The President or the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development or Commissioner of the Internal revenue Service have not come out to make any kind of announcement about and extension.

So I go by what I know to be true. Right now, November 30th is the drop dead date.  You must have purchased and settled on a new home.

The Sellers Point of View

From a Seller’s point of view, this may be a good thing because the home buyers out in the market place must meet the deadline.  Except that they may believe the extension of the tax credit is coming because they “heard it” from a friend, family member or co-worker.

Except that the house for sale may be over-priced.

That’s right. Over-priced. No matter how hurried a Seller may think the Buyers in the marketplace are, the Buyers are not going to bite on an over-priced home.  They just don’t.  There are too many homes on the market.  Lots of choice.  The other part of this is that even if a Buyer does place an offer on an over-priced home, the appraiser for the mortgage company will come along and set the real price.  That’s the price the mortgage company is going to believe and that;s the price they will base the mortgage on.

Set The Right Price

So it is vitally important to set the price of the home you want to sell at a level competitive with all the other homes on the market.  Listen to your Realtor when he talks to you about the comparable home sales.  Appraisers do not go back more than 90 days looking for home sales in your area.  That’s not a long time. Look at what your Active competition might be.  Even if the homes in your neighborhood are short sales and foreclosures, you still need to take those homes into consideration.  Appraisers do.  Home Buyers do.

It’s also important to keep your home in good condition.  All things being equal, if you home looks better than every other home in the neighborhood the Buyers will go for your place.

Play it smart. You may just be able to get a quick sale.