First, you won’t be able to do this if you are a repeat buyer and you have a home to sell for obvious reasons, unless you can afford to buy another home without selling yours first. So, you’ll need to run, not walk, to a lender who is very familiar with all the different lending programs; VHFA (for Vermont real estate), FHA, VA, and conventional loans. You’ll need to get a quick pre-approval as well as reasonable assurance that the loan of choice is going to have good odds of closing by June 30.

Time is running out for the $8000 home buyer tax credit

Of course, the bigger problem is getting a deal signed by April 30. That’s where I (and other buyer agents) come in. You’ll need to stack the deck in your favor by joining forces with a buyers agent who is going to spend quality time to help you find and visit the homes you want to see up close.

Once you find THE place, you’ll want help in structuring the offer based on comps, market conditions, and certain conditions (contingencies) that make sense for a particular property. The idea here is to be able to buy at the lower end of the price range without killing the deal with unreasonable offers.

Then, it’s off to the races after reaching an agreement (signed contract). The closing process can be smooth, or not. Again, a buyer agent can oversee this phase of the transaction to avoid any unnecessary delays. My point is there is no time to waste at any point in the buying process.

The question remains, what happens if you miss this boat? Will life go on, just like it did after Y2K? An $8,000 credit is nothing to sneeze at, but like we all know in the business, people buy whenever THEY are ready, not when some program says to. At sunrise, May 1, 2010, there will still be an ample supply of homes to choose from, prices will still be benefiting buyers after 2 years of gradual declines (No, not lake front!), and mortgage rates will still be south of 6%, which is really a very good rate historically. However, years from now, there will be those people who brag at barbecues that they got a great deal on a home, plus $8,000 free and clear from Uncle Sam, and are now living the American dream..right Ryan?

The National Association of Realtors recently released figures showing housing affordability is at its most favorable level since they began tracking such figures in 1970. “NAR’s Housing Affordability Index rose 13.6 percentage points in January to 166.8, a new record high.” NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun noted, with the exception of consumer confidence, “Conditions have been aligning very favorably for home buyers.” This is great news!

The index indicates that a family earning the median salary of $59,800 can now afford a $283,400 house. This is up from $263,300 last year. Also check out the quarterly housing affordability index for first-time buyers.

If all of this has inspired you to kick the tires on a few Vermont homes, why not start with these Williston VT starter homes.  If Williston isn’t your thing, start your search here.