Mortgage News Blog

     The First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit will be ending in a little over 7 weeks. For some, 7 weeks seems like a long time but in actuality, it isn’t. And for some buyers, they could be watching that $8000 tax credit slip through their fingers.

      This tax credit ends on April 30th. What that means is the seller and buyer have to be in complete agreement on the terms to sell and purchase the home. This is done in the form of a signed around purchase and sale agreement.

      But to get to that point, the buyer needs to go through a couple of steps:

•  Pre-approved by a lender
•  Find a home

      Now those two steps may seem easy but, sometimes, unknowns can pop up.

      Unknowns could be a collection account on your credit report that needs to be cleared, a bit more time to get the funds to close, or a credit card that needs to be paid down to get a slightly better interest rate.

      And finding that perfect home for you and your family takes time. Even if you do find a home right away, the home may have problems which you may not want to deal with. Problem that only a professional home inspector can find such as unseen mold, a leaky roof, or faulty wiring.

     Or what if the appraisal doesn’t come in at the sale price? And the seller decided he doesn’t want to lower the price. You will have to decide to either walk away or come up with the difference out of pocket.

    And if you were signing the purchase and sales agreement on April 30th, you will not have time to find another home. Remember, the inspection and appraisal aren’t done until all signatures are on the paperwork. In other words, that you and seller are in agreement on the purchase price and terms. That doesn’t include doing the inspection and appraisal before then. Those are done on contigencies and after you both have signed.

      For a quick reference, click First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit for the guidelines.

     Don’t be one of the home buyers that miss out on this important tax credit. It is $8000 in your pocket. And if you have already filed your taxes, all you have to do is re-amend them.

     Be pro-active. Start today! Call your loan originator professional to get ahead of this deadline. April 30th is just around the corner.

      And as always, I will report daily on twitter @mmtgsolutions on the mortgage interest rates and what to expect for the day. If one of these reports moves the market in a significant manner, I’ll write about it here.

     Please remember, I welcome your comments to this and my other posts.

To an  inspiring week,

Betsy Moore

206-331-2749