Are You About To Miss The June 30 Cut Off? – All May Not Be Lost
Today is the last day to settle if you are looking to claim the tax credit as a first home buyer. However, if you cannot settle today then all may not be lost. The Senate is due to debate and vote on legislation that could extend today’s cut off date to September 30. Before I get anyone’s hopes up, this only relates to those homes that went under contract prior to April 30 and settle by the cut off date.
There are time when a standard home purchase can take 6-8 weeks so you would assume a June 30 cut off sufficient to safeguard most buyers. However, having spent some time in real estate, there are hurdles, particularly when it comes to necessary repairs (discovered during the home inspection process) and, despite their name, short sales can often take months to settle.
Although this change to legislation is welcome, it does bring to the surface several important issues. The first is the use of professionals when buying a home. Their responsibility is to help buyers settle a sale as quickly as possible with the least amount fuss while ensuring the buyer’s rights are protected at all times.
The second issue that is important is that of the buyer. It is their responsibility to ensure that all paperwork is acted upon, signed when necessary and returned to the real estate agent (or lender) in a timely manner. Often, buyers receive documents that they sit on, or sign, but decide to return ‘tomorrow’. We all know that ‘tomorrow’ never comes.
Sellers, and the real estate agents that represent sellers, have also got a responsibility to ensure that a sale proceeds to settlement as quickly as possible. If everyone plays their role and processes the necessary documents as quickly as possible home sales can proceed to settlement fairly quickly. If an extension to the June 30 deadline is approved by the Senate, buyers and sellers should capitalize on the opportunity and settle their transactions as soon as possible.
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