As you may know, President Obama signed the extension of the First Time Home Buyer’s Tax Credit into law. Also included in this extension are existing home owners who want to “move up” or become repeat buyers. But can this also benefit you as a seller?
Well, the first and simplest answer, is it benefits the seller when the seller purchases a new property, assuming that the seller has lived in the home they are selling for 5 of the previous 8 years.
But will it help sell your home and benefit you even if you haven’t met the residency requirements? It may not be obvious, but, yes, it can help, and it will help many.
How will it do this? First, it will not only bring more first time buyers into the market, it will bring “move up” buyers. It will bring those that have bought starter homes, condos or town-homes into the market to move up. It will also bring some who have mortgages paid off, or very low payments, into the market, giving an incentive to possibly move prior to their existing home selling.
Second, the timing of this extension is almost perfect. It will be in effect as we head into the “peak” home selling period of next year, spring. It will encourage buyers to go under contract by April 30, 2010.
Third, the binding agreement provision of the law. This means that buyers will not have to move during the middle of the school semester but can close near or at the end of school with minimal disruption to their children. It also means that buyers will be looking and trying to get into contracts up through and including April 30th. Under the previous plans, buyers effectively had to stop looking up to six weeks before eligibility ended in order to make sure that their contract would close by the end of eligibility.
But will it increase the sales price of your home? That question does not have an obvious answer. In some areas, the first time home buyer’s credit is credited with increasing the competition, and, as a result, the prices of some starter homes. In the Athens, GA area, including the surrounding counties, that has not necessarily been the case. However, as the Apr. 30 deadline approaches, there may be some leverage.
How do you take advantage of this? This may sound self serving, but the best way to take advantage is to use a full service Realtor® that will use all of the current and best tools to get your property marketed, including target marketing. Those tools will include market pricing, staging suggestions, dozens of photographs, virtual tours, large internet presence, and many others.
So what should you be doing? I know that this is the holiday time of the year, but, you should also be getting your home and yard in shape to sell. Condition of your home is only 2nd in importance to price. Yeah, we all heard about location, but if the price or condition aren’t right, location doesn’t mean that much in today’s market.
Call me at 706-207-5290 or email for a copy of my 99 Tips for Selling Your Home to get started on getting your home sold. And, if you have any questions about the Home Buyer’s Tax Credit extension, buying or selling a home or other real estate in and around Athens, GA or N.E. GA, please call me or email me with those questions. To search for homes and other real estate in and around Athens and N.E. GA, please visit my website, The Athens Real Estate Page.
