$8000 First Time Quincy Home Buyer Stimulus Package Nears End

As the December 1st deadline approaches for the $8,000 first time home buyer stimulus package frustrated Quincy home buyers are left wondering if the Government will extend the program.

According to one local resident, “I was very frustrated with the whole Real Estate industry. I was waiting 6 months for a ‘short sale’ property when the banks decided that my current fair market offer wasn’t good enough. I was really mad at my old Real Estate agent for not explaining to me that the whole process was going to take so long.”

Abrams explained that he eventually found out that his ’6 month short sale transaction’ was actually his old agent’s first experience with these new type of short sale transactions. Abrams told the Cove that he asked around and found another Quincy Real Estate agent who has extensive experience with short sales and foreclosures.

“I finally connected with someone in the know who got my offer accepted in just a few weeks. It’s a good thing too because I wasn’t sure I could afford the house without the $8,000 stimulus credit”, Abrams said.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA 2009) authorizes a tax credit of up to $8,000 for certain qualified first-time home buyers purchasing a principal residence on or after January 1, 2009 and before December 1, 2009.

In order to qualify a ‘first-time home buyer’ must not have owned a principle residence for the past three years. More information about the program can be found on www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com’s FAQ section.

According to local a local real estate expert “The Quincy Real Estate market is really crazy right now with buyers scrambling to get offers submitted, fund loans, and close escrows. Many loan underwriters have been hit hard with loan underwriting requests. The whole loan process is starting to take it’s toll on loan processors who are becoming inundated with files.

The problem is getting compounded as frustrated short sale buyers are starting to jump out of their transactions into shorter escrow foreclosure properties in order to get the $8,000 credit. It’s almost like a game of chicken for the $8,000 first time home buyer credit. Buyers don’t want to wait too long, but if they jump ship early someone else could swoop in and steal their spot in line. What’s been happening and which will likely increase in the next month are short sale buyers that put multiple offers in on properties.

They will submit a solid offer on a short sale and in the mean time go out and look for a foreclosure property. The strategy is very frustrating for some agents who have decided to just submit multiple short sale offers and let the banks hash out who should win the property.”

Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Corona) has introduced a bill to extend the first time home buyer credit for another year. Calvert said, “There’s a significant amount of inventory throughout a large part of this country, especially in Southern California.”

Opponents of the tax credit say that it does little to spur home sales. They claim that buyers are going to buy if there is a tax credit or not.

Perhaps the solution is a compromise between extending the credit and standing firm with the deadline. The Government could spur home sales the most if they extended the first time home buyer credit with the qualifier that only properties under contract as of December 1st, 2009 would qualify. This would give a substantial reason for all the current short sale buyers to stay with their contracts.

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