Today is Labor Day and, as the unofficial last day of summer, I looked at the calendar and realized that it is only 81 days until November 30, 2009 - the day that all homes being purchased by first time homebuyers must be CLOSED - not just under contract but CLOSED!!!  And don't forget that of the 81 days from today until November 30, you really only have 44 days since your lender, the courts & the settlement agents will most likely not be working on Saturdays, Sundays and the Thanksgiving holiday!  So this blog post is a reminder to all those first time homebuyers out there that if you want to take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit, you need to begin getting off the fence & begin looking for your new home!  So, if you are thinking about buying a home this year and want to take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit, here are some of my tips:

1. Pick a Realtor To Use:    Find a Realtor you are comfortable with to help you navigate the maze of homes available for sale in today's market.  You may be looking at foreclosures, short sales, new construction homes, condos, townhomes, or single family homes.  Each may have certain things that must be kept in mind in order to try to get the homes closed before the November 30 deadline.  For instance, a short sale offer which is contingent upon lender approval may take a longer time to get that approval; a foreclosure may or may not qualify for the financing you will be using; a condo or townhome may have a review period of the covenants & restrictions.  An experienced Realtor will be able to help you find a home that you want to purchase and to make sure that all contingencies can be satisfied in time to be able to close no later than November 30!
2. Find A Lender To Use:    Find a Lender who can assist you with your financing!  Even with the tightening of the mortgage market, there are still lots of loans being made.  However, loan standards are tightening and new rules & regulations regarding appraisals and truth in lending requirements.  This means that there is additional time added onto your loan process!  Additionally, if you are trying to buy your first home and are using grant monies, or you are purchasing a home which needs renovation with a renovation loan product, or are using a government loan like VA or FHA to buy the home, there may be additional requirements associated with the loan or grant programs that may add extra time onto the approval and underwriting process.  You need to know what kind of time frame the lender needs to get the loan to the attorney for you to close. 
3. Get Pre-Approved:  Begin working with your lender to not only get pre-approved (so that you have a letter available to attach to any offer you will be submitting to the seller) but also begin formal loan application, even if you have not yet found a house to buy!  By making formal loan application immediately, some of the things like verifications can be done even before you have found a house to buy!  Then when you do finally identify a home and are ready to make an offer, you can help to shorten the amount of time needed to get loan commitment!
4. Be Realistic About The Market:  Yes, there are lots of great deals out there!  And when you do find a home that feels like it is your next home, make sure you have a realistic idea of what the home is worth.  I know that the media continually talks about how much of a great deal buyers out there can get, but you need to keep in mind that all real estate is local and what may be happening in someplace like Las Vegas may not be happening in Richmond, VA.  So when you do find a home to buy, talk to your Realtor, have them run a Market Analysis for you to see how well the home is or isn't priced and talk openly about your negotiating strategy for the home!  Your Realtor can guide you on how to make an offer that will get you the best possible value for the home you wish to buy!
5. Make Your Offer As Strong As You Can:  If you load your offer up with a lot of contingencies & nit picky items, it may take longer to negotiate the offer, and you may or may not end up with the house that you want!  Of course, I am not saying you should not put in any contingencies, but you don't want to overload the contract with contingencies like the offer contingent upon your parents approval of the home in the next 2 weeks!  For every day you have to spend negotiating a contract and to wait for the contingencies to be fulfilled is every day you won't be out there looking for another home if this one does not work out!
6. Do Your Inspections As Soon As You Can:  Your contract should give you the ability to do inspections on the home you are buying.  Get these done as soon as you can, so that if there are repairs that need to be negotiated with the seller you have time to get the agreement on any and all repairs, or to move onto another home to purchase!
7. Pick Your Settlement Agent As Soon As Possible:  As soon as you have a fully ratified contract you should have your settlement agent begin a title search as soon as possible.  If anything is on the title which will prevent it from closing in a timely manner, you need to know this as soon as possible so that it can be resolved by the time you go to closing!
8. Have Your Survey Done As Soon As Possible:  If you will be having your property surveyed prior to closing, make sure you have this done as soon as possible.  A survey can reveal any easements & any encroachments that may exist on your property.  It can also reveal just how large your property is.  If your survey reveals issues that need to be taken care of prior to closing, you certainly don't want to wait until the last minute to try to resolve these problems.
9. Review Your Association Documents As Soon As Possible:  If the home you will be purchasing has association covenants & restrictions, you need to make sure you don't wait until the last minute to review these.  For instance, if you have a 100# dog and you are buying a condo that has a restriction about pets and/or weight restrictions on the pets, you need to know this as soon as possible.  Don't lose valuable time if this home will not work out for you because of the association restrictions!
10. Schedule Your Closing For The Second or Third Week of November:  I will guarantee you that all settlement agents, attorneys & lenders will be completely slammed on November 30.  You don't want to close on that day - it is just going to be too close for comfort, at least for the buyers that I have been working with!  Anything can happen to make your closing get delayed by a day or two, and then you will not be eligible to get the $8,000 first time homebuyer tax credit!  So allow yourself some room to make sure that you are covered, even if something minor & unforeseen happens to cause your showing to be delayed by a day or two!

I hope that you find these tips helpful!  The clock will continue to tick down - don't wait until the last minute to take advantage of the tax credit you may be eligible for!