Unless Congress extends it, the $8000 1st-time Home Buyer credit is set to expire on Nov. 30th. This means you must close - not just be under contract- on your new home by this date. Here are some suggested benchmarks to ensure that your deal closes in time if you start looking now:
- Allow up to 4 weeks for house-hunting including a couple of days for negotiation and counter-offers.
- Shoot to be under contract by Oct. 15th. Although home inspections can be done within a few days, appraisals can take 2 weeks or longer depending on an appraiser's backlog.
- The best times to close are Nov. 2-6 & Nov. 9-13. New mortgage-disclosure rules can delay closings by several days if the loan terms change including any increase in the down payment due to low appraisals.
-Crunch time: Nov. 16-20 & Nov. 23 & 24. Very few, if any, closings are likely to be scheduled Nov. 25-29. Remember that title companies will be very busy in November and there are only so many time slots available.
-Last Day to close is Monday, Nov. 30th!
from a Washington Post article by Elizabeth Razzi