Buyers on Fire -- For Now - Are Tax Credits Right?

On our BestHomePro blog I have written two posts entitled Buyer on Fire and Buyers on Fire II about the federal home-buyer tax credit and about the newly proposed extension, plus expansion of tax credits.

When will this silliness stop? Am I too fiscally conservative? Isn't it like an individual using two credit cards to transfer balances from one, then three credit cards to transfer balances from two; while never making a payment on any card at all.

Doesn't it seem that the real estate marketplace is correcting itself? Aren't homes (on average) 30% lower in price than two years ago and aren't mortgage rates near all-time lows? Is "affordability" quite high right now?

I want to make it clear that I am not "anti-Obama." I desparately want him and for The United States to be successful, but come-on! With these kinds of incentives you only puff-up sales during the offer period and then destroy demand later that would naturally occur.

Am I missing something? Help me with your comments, and follow are common sense blog posts at www.BestHomePro.com/blog.

Urgency in Home Sale Forces Trade-Offs

When the decision has been made to sell your home, everyone wants to sell quickly and at the optimum price, but that is not always possible. In fact, in today's market that is extremely unlikely. I wrote a blog post on my company website recently entitled House On Fire. It talks about how sellers need to consider their options and make trade-off decisions. The lower the price (most often), the faster it sells. The more exposure a property gets, the more likely it will sell. This translates into deciding between selling it yourself or hiring an agent at 5% to 6%.

Life is filled with trade-offs and most have an economic impact.

Where do you stand? What factors influence your trade-offs in home selling or buying.