Timeline for Grabbing the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit

Our friends at Realtor.com (disclosure, yes I'm a member of the New York State Realtor Association) just put up a timeline for first-time homebuyers interested in grabbing the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit. Although the credit expires June 30th, in order to qualify, you must be in contract by April 30.

The Realtor.com timeline starts on March 1, but there are some ways you can speed through the steps even if you jump in now. You can, for example, pick a lender in one week rather than two. Ask friends and family for referrals, just as you would if you were looking for a real estate agent. The most important thing to remember is to work closely with your lender; make sure your appraisal is ordered the minute the contract is signed. These things take time...sometimes lots of time.

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Alison Rogers

Since graduating from Harvard summa cum laude, Alison Rogers has been a reporter, an editor, a real-estate agent, a Wall Street desk jockey, a columnist, a failed flipper, and a landlady. A member of the National Association of Realtors, she currently sells and rents luxury co-ops in Manhattan for the Chelsea-based firm DG Neary. (If you've got $27,500 a month, the firm has an apartment for you!) Her book, Diary of a Real Estate Rookie, was called "a valuable guide for rookie buyers" by AOL/Walletpop, "beach-read fun" by the New York Observer, and "witty" by Newsweek.

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