We have experienced an obvious result of the $ 8000 stimulus programm.Many renters bought a home ,mainly in the below $ 200,000 range .
It will be interesting to see in about two years how many of those buyers are still in their house.I expect another foreclosure wave.
As I have expressed before, this stimulus should have gone towards selling additional homes to people that can afford to buy .I know this is contra what our present ruling class thinks , because they will see it as helping the rich .Let these so called rich , I would call them self supporting and financially stable people , buy a second or third home for them selves or for their kids.
I also propose that we should, for a limited time, maybe 2 years, make remodelling ,renovation and major maintenance of residential homes tax deductible. as long as the work is done by certified contractors.
This might be a great stimulus because most of this work can not be outsourced to China and it will emply local craftsmen .
In this time it is easy to sell the cheap houses but impossible to sell the higher end because of very high rates on jumbo loans , tighter restrictions on condo purchases ,etc. Lets get a tax credit that works to get the higher end houses sold.Make the loss on a house tax deductible and dont tax the" forgiveness "amount.
I am not a politician, just trying to help our nation to get out of this recession.
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The people you suggest giving incentive to actually stimulate the economy in a lasting way are not traditional democrat voters. There is an agenda behind all the spending madness currently flowing from DC. Watch for a 'helping hand' proposal for those currently being helped in 18 - 24 months to keep many of these voters in the home they will be in trouble with then. Some people are not meant to own homes. They are not savers as shown by their ability to bring a downpayment to the table. When repairs are needed the funds have already gone elsewhere. You are probably correct- we will see some of these same homes on the market before a very long time.