Which buyers win

tool name

tool name

Realtors: Jobs more important than housing tax credit

Home sales could plummet again if Congress allows the first-time homebuyer tax credit to expire, according to a national survey.

But in Wichita, local agents think there's enough market activity to weather a downturn if the credit expires if unemployment doesn't increase.

In a survey of almost 1,000 agents by Weichert, Realtors, 92 percent said they expect the market to decline again if the credit is allowed to expire Dec. 1.

Tax credit gives nudge to first-time homebuyers

Shannon and Jeremy Wallace were ready for a change. The Raleigh couple was tired of living in a one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment in North Raleigh. His commute to Clayton was long, their space was cramped, and their dog, Cody, needed a little more terrain.

"We're throwing away $700 a month on our apartment," said Shannon Wallace, 27, a social worker in downtown Raleigh. "There was really no point for us to be giving them money when we could be paying most of our mortgage with that amount."

Slack demand, falling prices and the chance of a low mortgage prompted them to hunt for a home of their own. But it was the promise of up to $8,000 in tax savings from Uncle Sam that convinced them to put a home under contract.

Georgia's Isakson pushes homebuyer tax credit extension

WASHINGTON -- In many ways, Sen. Johnny Isakson's push to expand and extend the popular $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers is about helping sell what real estate agents and developers call "PVC farms" -- acres of unfinished, unsold and unsightly subdivision lots where PVC sewer pipes poke up through weedy plots.

Selling those lots, thousands of which dot communities nationwide, along with the remaining stock of unsold existing homes is critical to further stabilizing the ailing housing market, Isakson said.

The Georgia Republican is sponsoring a bill that would raise the maximum amount of the credit to $15,000, extend the homebuyer tax credit to all homebuyers and eliminate the income caps of $75,000 for an individual and $150,000 for a couple.

Get credit (as in tax credit) for your home improvements, and for moving up'

Who knew you can receive a tax credit for new garage doors?

Not Greg Titus' neighbors in Leawood, Kan.

"I haven't talked to even one person who knew about this," said Titus, who recently installed three insulated carriage-style garage doors. "You'd think stores and manufacturers would be shouting about this from the rooftops."

Sept. home sales rise 9.4%

Racing to complete their purchases before a tax credit for first-time owners expires, homebuyers pushed sales up last month by the largest amount in more than 26 years.

After jumping 9.4 percent in September, home resales are up nearly 24 percent from the bottom in January, the National Association of Realtors said Friday. But the housing market's momentum could easily peter out if Congress doesn't extend the credit of up to $8,000 for first-time buyers beyond its current Nov. 30 deadline.

John Kindschi, 33, an aircraft mechanic who lives north of Seattle, didn't want to miss out. After a yearlong search, he and his family bought a three-bedroom house for $206,000, completing the purchase last week.