Some Tax Credit Home Buyers Getting a Needed Break

Altanta Georgia area home buyers who already had home purchases under contract as of April 30, 2010 and who otherwise qualified for the $8,000 first-time or the $6,500 move-up home buyer tax credit, but had not closed on the purchase by June 30, 2010, have been given a break.

Thanks to an amendment to the home buyer tax credit program, these home buyers will now have until September 30, 2010 to close on their home purchases. Under normal circumstances, these buyers most likely would have closed on their purchases by the original deadline date of June 30th, but because of the huge number of mortgage applications filed, a huge backlog of in-process applications built up. This amendment gives them until September 30, 2010 to close on their home purchase and still qualify for the tax credit.

The “American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010,” which also extended unemployment insurance benefits includes this time extension. Senator Reid said this extension will allow lenders to clear a huge backlog of nearly 180,000 home buyer mortgage applications across the country.

National Association of Realtors President Vicki Golder says, “Since these applications were already in the pipe-line and included in the program’s cost, this extension of the closing deadline will not incur any further government costs.”

Bert Stanley, an ex-Realtor who operates the Real estate of Florida website, welcomed the extension as a way to save a large number of pending home sales, particularly those involving short sale deals, which otherwise would be lost.

"More than just this simple program extension will be required to keep the U.S. real estate recovery momentum moving forward," suggests Rich Stover, a Sarasota Florida real estate agent. But in this market, every little bit of assistance helps keep the real estate market afloat whether it's in Atlanta Georgia, Sarasota Florida or wherever.