Home Buyers Clamber to Collect Federal Tax Credit
By Zachary Vollmer, Real Estate Account Executive
Wednesday June, 30 marks the end of eligibility for home buyers to claim their federal tax credit. The credit offered up to $8,000 dollars for first time home buyers and $6,500 for repeat buyers. To qualify for this incentive buyers had to purchase or enter into a binding contract to purchase a primary residence before April 30 and close before June 30. The National Association Realtors predicts that as many as 180,000 buyers who entered into contracts prior to April 30 may miss the closing deadline. The principal reason behind this large number is that many of the pending transactions were short sales, which typically involve numerous parties and more paper work than a standard transaction. A proposed bill put before the Untied States Senate to extend the deadline to September 30 has failed several test votes and is not expected to pass.