I held an open house today in Lilburn, on 590 Baltimore Ave. During the open house I had the opportunity to speak with several first time home buyers. The conversations with first time home buyers in Lilburn, GA, were certainly enlightening...
Keep in mind that the home I as holding open was priced at nearly $400,000. In this area, that isn't the normal territory for first time home buyers. And these folks were no exception... looking primarily in the $150k-$200k range.
Of course we talked about properties that were available in their price range, and Lilburn has some really nice properties for sale in that range, but we talked about something else. The something else was the tax credits that are currently available.
Basically, there are two tax credit propgrams currently available:
- the Federal First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit of (up to) $8000 that expires after November 30th
- the Georgia Home Buyer Tax Credit of (up to) $1800 that is slated to expire at the same time
All of them were well aware for the federal incentives... but none knew about the state incentives. I know that a lot of us real estate agents are writing about it, and I also know that we are talking about it to our clients... but the word still isn't out to everyone.
I should also mention that the Georgia Tax Credit is NOT limited to just First Time Home Buyers...
On the other hand, all of them were quite aware of the deadline for the Federal First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit. In fact, they had all started their search to specifically make sure that they had time to get everything together before the deadline. Some were also not considering short sales because of the timeline... and the emotional rollercoaster of waiting for third-party approval.
Each of these First Time Home Buyers had also chosen the Lilburn, GA, area for specific reasons... and cost wasn't the primary motivator. Convenience was... Only a few years ago the primary motivator of location for many was how far out they would have to go to get the house and yard they wanted. Now more buyers are taking into consideration things like commute time, commuting costs, taxes, schools (none of them had kids yet, but schools were a consideration) and convenience to services and amenities.
Finally, of note, is that the majority were not aware that the buyer's agent was generally paid by the seller and that the buyer's agent's comensation wasn't likely to affect the seller's fees. One thought that if they didn't have an agent they would be in a better negotiation position.
It was both fun and educational to spend the time primarily listening to their impressions and opinions. Working with First Time Home Buyers in the Lilburn, GA, area is both fun and rewarding. After all, I am placing new neighbors, not just random buyers. I live where I prefer to work.
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