With all due respect for my fellow Realtor, calling the Tax Credit that has helped so many individuals (both Buyers and Sellers) as well as the Real Estate industry overall “a joke” is extremely short sighted.

The problem is, most short-sighted individuals tend to look at what they are loosing and not what they are gaining. The mere fact that you have a “buyer” is a direct result of the Tax Credit. Because lending requirements are still relatively strict we should be grateful for any factor that stimulates any potential “buyer” into action.

So please, let’s not try to discourage ourselves, buyers, sellers or the government from extending this program. Again, let’s start being a bit more optimistic and look at what we are gaining (clients) rather than what we are loosing (nothing).

Best of luck to you and all my fellow Realtors out there!

Sincerely,
Ronald Bailey
RE/MAX Crossroads E. Stroudsburg, PA
2Baileys@gmail.com

I think the $8000 tax credit is a joke when there is a deadline because the listing agents know this and hold their price. I just put a deal together in the Hyde Park section of Boston. I showed my buyer 12 properties and all of a sudden half went under agreement. Obviously buyers paying up before the deadline. I am a Buyers Agent with very firm quantitative concepts of the prices in Bostons neighborhoods as well as Boston Suburbs. The negotiation was fierce and stubborn from the sellers side because they knew about the deadline. I’m pretty stubborn also, especially when my buyers interests are at stake. After much more than the usual back and forth I was OK with the price paid, but an easier Buyers Agent (or worse a Sellers Agent in disguise as a Buyers Agent) would have paid at least $8000 more for the property than it’s worth.
So essentially when we are close to a known deadline, the $8000 goes to the SELLER!