By now most everyone in Auburn, WA is aware of the $8000 tax credit for 1st time homebuyers or buyers that have not owned a home in the last 3 years.  But what Auburn home buyers may not be aware of is that the deadline is coming faster than you may think!  In order to take advantage of this tax credit, you must close (by definition “closing” means be recorded with the County) the sale of the house by November 30, 2009.  FHA now allows the tax credit to be used upfront for some closing costs, but not the down payment. To keep everything in perspective, here is the timeline that you will need to keep in mind in purchasing and closing by the deadline:

____ Allow 2 to 4 weeks for your search to buy a house, which means you should be starting NOW.  You should have your purchase and sale agreed to and in escrow no later than October 1st.
____ Allow 45 to 60 days due to system delays and/or lender issues.  There is a much longer closing time now than previous years starting from the point of making an offer on a home (a purchase and sale agreement with mutual acceptance) to actually owning the home (recorded with the County).  Your part of it includes providing the lender will all the necessary documentation, etc. in a timely manner.
____ Other delays can be caused by new lender procedural issues, or delays in appraisals.
____ Overload with the lender and escrow caused by too many home buyers all at once, causing processing and underwriting to get backed up.
____ Delays caused by new rules that require the home buyer to receive another Good Faith Estimate 7 days before closing, and which will not allow transactions to close if there is a variance of 0.125% higher in APR (annual percentage rate) from the last Truth-in-Lending provided to the consumer (upon application,or another one upon locking in an interest rate)
____ Last but not least, there is something else that good real estate professionals realize.  The last week in Nov. is the Thanksgiving Holiday week!   This is extremely important especially this year because it means that you basically lose most of the last week in Nov. because:
1.  The Wed. before Thanksgiving is a King County furlough day (Nov 25th) when the King County Recorder’s Office will be closed due to budget cuts.
2.  Also closed will be Thanksgiving (Thursday, Nov 26), and Friday, Nov 27th, which is a legal holiday. (And of course Sat. & Sun.)  No escrow offices or lenders will be doing business on any of these days.
3.  This leaves Monday, Nov. 30th, 2009 to record the sales, and there is a limit on how many sales can physically close on that last day.

Time is of the essence.  The sooner you buy a home and the sooner it closes, the more confident you will be that it will close far in advance of the deadline.  I will be glad to help guide you and assist you in finding the best home in Auburn or elsewhere for your needs, and minimize the stress for you by handling your purchase efficiently and as stress-free as possible.  Call me today to get to work for you right away.  Remember, the seller pays all the commissions, so it doesn’t cost you to get started!