Welcome Back Readers! It’s been a hugely busy month for me in real estate, with the end of the Federal Tax Credit for Homebuyers the Lancaster Countyreal estate market has warmed up with the spring! Even as we close the door on the tax credit, there are many, many other incentives still available for buyers though as we proceed through summer.
For example, I wrote a post a few months ago about Fannie Mae offering 3.5% closing costs assistance/appliance credits for buyers. Due to the popularity of this program (according to Fannie Mae that is), they have extended the program through June!
Click through the “Read More” link after the jump for all the details!
Waiting. Sometimes a wise strategy, sometimes a foolish one. When it comes to home buying, waiting will surely cost you. There are a number of reasons why, but beforeI go into that, let’s get one thing clear…. if you aren’t in a positions to buy, if you truly can’t afford it, don’t do it. But if you are unsure, if you are “thinking about it”, if you are planning to “start looking” in a few months, you need to hop off the fence and start now. Waiting is a mistake. Here’s why:
… and he plans to use it to take out the US Housing Market!
I know, very dramatic. Maybe even a little uncalled for. On the other hand, there is really no other way to describe how potentially dangerous the policy changes that HUD Secretary Donovan is proposing this week. What are those changes?
This past Friday, President Obama signed into law H.R. 3548. This bill, at it’s heart a bill to extend unemployment 
benefits {which, by the way, is being completely overlooked as the critical step it was to help the unemployed workers in this country, but that’s a topic foranother day(see, I’m overlooking it too!)} contained a roundly supported amendment to Extend and Expand the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit that was set to expire this month. Unless you were hiding under a rock, by now you’ve no doubt heard countless talking heads telling you that this bill will either (A) Save the US Economy or (B) Leadthe US Economyinto a head on Collision with the ever growing Mountain of National Debt.
Well, if you were looking for someone to supportChoice (B), you should probably look elsewhere. But if you were looking for someone to explain just why this bill is critical to the recovery of the nation’s housing market and just may save our entire economy, then keep on reading!
With aquickand resounding “Yes” vote, the House today passed HR3548, extending and expanding the Home Buyer Tax Credit! All we need now is forPresidentObama to sign the bill into law!
The Senate voted today 98-0 to pass the HR 3548. HR 3548 is a bill that extendsunemploymentbenefits for an additional 20 weeks and contains an amendment that extends the existing $8,000 First Time Buyer Tax Credit and adding a tax credit for Move Up buyers!
Here is the headline from the AP Storythat ran yesterday “Senators agree to extend homebuyer tax credit”. Look spretty good, doesn’t it? Reading that, you would think we were in the clear, tax credits for everyone! Well, I hate to 
rain on everyone’s parade, but we still have a long way to go.
Think of this process like looking at the moon through a telescope, it’s there, you can see every
detail, you almost feel like you can reach out and touch it……. yet it is still thousands of miles away.
