I know the two seem incongruent ideas, but with the Pennant Races winding down there is a terrific analogy between the two.  It looks like with the exception of the American League Central, most of the Division races are pretty well set in baseball.  The Twins are doing everything that they can to give the Tigers a run for their money to get to the playoffs. It remains to be seen if there is enough time for the Twins to catch the Tigers or if the Tigers offense and pitching will rebound in time to hold off the Twins.

The same could be said of the Stimulus funds for homebuyers, time is running out.  You may not have enough time left to close your home by November 30, and recieve the stimulus money to help you buy that home if you haven't at least began the process by now.  Most banks here are asking for a minimum of 45 days to close.  That is if there are no problems and it is a "clean" transaction.  If you're looking at a short sale, you may well have waited too long for to get the deal closed.

It remains to be seen if the President will ask Congress to extend this program, but as it stands right now, if you continue to snooze, you will lose this program.  It is time to find a house that meets your needs and get an accepted offer on it so the process can start.  It also remains to be seen just how swamped appraisers and inspectors will get as the deadline nears.  If they become inundated with orders, the process will slow down and you could still find yourself closing after the end of the program ends.

The bottom line is that the early bird will get the worm.  It is much better to get the process started now and get that house closed and move in before the deadline passes and you lose an opportunity for these funds.  Besides, who wants to move during the Holidays anyway?  Why not arrange it so that you can host Thanksgiving Dinner in your brand new home? 

The time to sit on the fence trying to decide whether to buy or not has passed.  To use a Tennis analogy, the ball is in your court, what are you going to do with it?