Congress has seen fit to extend the home buyer tax credit for about another 6 months. This time, the credit includes not just first time home buyers, but also current home owners. I’ll post a link to the details of the bill at the end, but just let me give you some insight into what I see happening in the near future.
While the first time home buyer tax credit that was in effect before this did stimulate home buying among those buyers, it did nothing to motivate existing home owners to budge from their houses. So, while it did have some effect within a limited population, it didn’t really get the ball rolling industry-wide.
It’s been NARs (National Association of REALTORS) contention all along that if you want to stimulate the economy via the housing sector via a bailout, all homeowners must be included for it to have the intended effect.
For now, I’ll skip the editorial on how this will help homeowners facing short sales or foreclosures. Here’s what I see happening in our market. Remember, real estate is local. I know the Shreveport market and can only speak to what I see happening here. (If you’re reading this from another area of the state or country, give me a shout, and I’ll link you up with a competent agent in your area.)
The best way I can tell you how this new bailout will affect homeowners and home buyers here in the Shreveport area is to say, “GET READY!!!”
If you’ve been thinking of selling your home, now is the time to spruce it up and get it on the market. There is going to be a domino affect taking place here in Shreveport as the pent up demand of move-up buyers enters the market. It’s going to start happening immediately, but I anticipate it really picking up after the holidays.
If you’ve been thinking of buying a home, now is the time to position yourself to do that. That means go talk to a lender before you do anything else. In this real estate climate, with the lenders having tightened their purse strings, it is imperative that you have a prequalification in place before you go looking for houses. It’s the first thing an agent is going to ask you.
Shreveport’s real estate market never took the hit that other areas of the country did. Our market has weathered the storm remarkably well. With this new money floating around, it’s about to take off.
If you need help getting your home ready to sell or getting your financing in order, I’ve got associates who can help. Just give me a ring, text, or email. If you’ve done the preliminaries and are ready to list or buy, I’d be happy to talk to you abour representing you in those transactions.
To learn more about how you might fit into the extended home buyer tax credit plan, go here for details.
The break-even point calculation assumes that only one variable is changing within the equation; the client is not moving from a 30yr to a 15yr term etc. Typically, we are finding our clients breaking even in 7 to 12 months.
Consider other sources of help with a down payment
