When the first time homebuyer tax credit was extended last November, Congress modified it so that the home buyer had to have a purchase agreement accepted by April 30, 2010 and it had to close by June 30, 2010. Last week the Senate passed a bill extending the deadline from June 30th to September 30, 2010. There were several articles written that lead us to believe that the bill had been passed. At this time, only the Senate has passed the bill, the House still has to pass the same legislation and the President has to sign it.
When the tax credit was modified, people thought that there would be enough time to get these homes closed but with short sale approvals and tougher underwriting, it is taking longer than expected. At this time, the bill has not been passed and if you do not close prior to June 30th, you will lose the tax credit. There is still time for the House to pass the extension, but there are no guarantees. If you are waiting to close, try and get it done prior to June 30th or you will lose the tax credit.
The extension (if passed) will only apply to those that have already written purchase agreements prior to April 30th. If you have been in the military and served overseas in the last couple of years, you do have an extension – you have until April 30, 2011 to have an accepted purchase agreement and you need to close by June 30, 2011.
The bill may pass yet, but until we know for sure, you need to close by June 30th in order to get the tax credit!
UPDATE: As of Wednesday, June 30th, Congress did vote to extend the tax credit to September 30, 2010! The President needs to sign the bill and according to what I have read, there will not be any gaps between June 30th and the time that he signs the bill. This will help thousands of people that were waiting on mortgage approvals and also short sale approvals on June 30th! This is only for those that had purchase agreeements in place by April 30, 2010.
