Folks, there is tons of real estate-related news in the paper these days, lots of it having to do with foreclosure prevention programs, new principal forgiveness programs, the state of the real estate markets, how the Federal Reserve is going to manage the economy once it stops buying mortgage-backed securities at the end of this month, etc. BUT....
For the next 35 days I am going to be pretty much "All First Time Home buyers, ALL THE TIME!" The $8,000 first time buyer tax credit expires on April 30, 2010. The "new" $6,500 replacement home buyer tax credit expires the same day.
Now replacement home buyers, having by definition been through the home buying process before, understand that it takes several days, often several weeks, of negotiation to get a property under contract. That is particularly true in the current environment when the buyers are asking for all kinds of concessions, like closing costs, or appliances, or home warranties, or your first-born child....you get the idea. So the replacement home buyers seem to have their act together on timing. They are looking hard now, and ready to write a contract in the next week to 10 days. [NOTE: These buyers also for the most part seem to be fairly unmotivated by the relocation tax credit. That makes sense to me, but is a topic for another day.]
Some first time home buyers, having not been through the home buying process before, don't understand that they need to be pre-approved from an acceptable lender before any seller with any sense will even consider an offer. Then, negotiating a contract takes days, if not weeks - unless you are writing an all cash, no contingencies offer, and I'm not seeing those from anyone but investors buying foreclosures or short sales. Then, once the contract gets negotiated, it has to get through to closing, which means through financing, inspection, appraisal and termite, all contingencies which could derail a deal between contract and closing.
We real estate agents are getting increasingly agitated, since we are intimately familiar with the time line and potential pitfalls in a house sale, especially in this very trying environment. So we're telling our first time buyers to "buy, buy, BUY - NOW!", and some of those buyers are suspicious of our motivations. [NOTE: Why are these buyers suspicious of our motivations? That's also another topic for another day. My very short answer: It seems the first time buyers are disproportionately likely to be using a real estate agent they found on the Internet or picked up at an Open House. Which I do not understand AT. ALL.]
So, if you are a potential first time home buyer, and if you haven't gotten started, or you are JUST getting started, and if that $8,000 is a big deal to you, then get on the stick QUICK. And find a real estate agent to help you, if you don't have one. But for goodness sakes, interview a few different candidates before you make a decision. If you would definitely interview several agents to sell your house, why wouldn't you interview agents to sell YOU a house?
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