No, I won't be a cheerleader for the first time home buyer tax credit. Maybe that's heresy or blasphemy for a Realtor®, but allow me to explain....

    I don't have a problem with the home buyer tax credit (the current one or any future incarnation of it), it's absolutely an additional benefit that buyers wouldn't have had a year ago. 

    What I DO have a problem with is when the "home buyer tax credit" is used or implied as either a reason to buy a home OR a reason to buy a home right now.  In my opinion both are faulty logic at best and reckless at worst.  A tax credit is not and will NEVER be a valid reason on which to base the decision to become a homeowner.

    A tax credit is momentary, it's fleeting, it'll be gone and just a memory before you know it.  Owning that home won't be.  The decision to buy a home is a big deal.  It's a commitment and responsibility you're agreeing to take on, and it'll last long after the thrill of any tax credit that came as a result of buying that house.

   It'd be like someone buying a car to get the free tank of gas that came with it.  SERIOUSLY?!?!

   Maybe it's just me but I don't believe that a potential tax credit has any place at all in the very personal and serious decision of whether to buy a home, and if so deciding when the time is right for you. 

   So no, I really won't be a cheerleader for the home buyer tax credit (I've never been the cheerleader type anyway).  There's so much more to the home buying decision and process than whether or not you'll get a tax break next year. 

   Any potential tax benefit would be a nice treat but it just doesn't belong as a factor in the home buying decision or deciding when the time is right for any given home buyer.  There's never, ever a "right time" for everyone to buy a home.  Circumstances and personal needs/considerations will be different for everyone.

   If you have bought or are on your way to buying your first home recently...congratulations on becoming a homeowner!!!  Now enjoy having a home of your own, it'll be around long after the thrill of any tax credit :)

Thanks for reading!
Real estate for home buyers and sellers in Charlotte NC

Copyright©2009 by Diane McDermott, All Rights Reserved, "I Won't Be A Cheerleader for the Home Buyer Tax Credit"