How does Obama extending the 8,000 tax credit affect me and my Minnesota Home?

The best answer is, “it depends.”  Specifically, what is your current situation.  After you are done reading this post I would strongly suggest give me a call at 651.210.9593 to discuss your unique situation. So here are a couple things to keep in mind:

1. If you are selling, NOW is the time.  The timing on this is very good as far as government bailouts go.  The “slow” season in home buying/selling is right now through next spring, right when the credit expires.  So, for sellers, there will be more buyers hoping to take advantage of the 8000 dollar tax credit!  If you need a referral for a real estate agent, give me a call or check out my posting here about my real estate agent.

2.  Timing is everything!  Not only do first time buyers have to get their offers accepted by April 30th, they only have 60 days to close on or before June 30th.  60 days used to be an eternity, now it’s the norm for foreclosures and short sale listings in Minnesota.

2a.  If you happen to be one of the handful of people that is in a position to sell and you bought your home between Dec 1, 2004 and June 29, 2005, get ready to sweat!  If you want to take advantage of the move up buyer tax credit you better cross your fingers.  To be brutally honest, if I were in that position I would list RIGHT NOW before the next batch of FHA and Fannie/Freddie foreclosures hit the market this winter.  Less competition means higher price.  So the odds of you “hitting your timeline” and getting the 6500 credit are probably a lot lower than getting 6500 more on your asking price right now.

3.  If you are already in a transaction give me a call and make sure that your position is optimized to take advantage of the credit.  Don’t leave money on the table if you don’t have to.