Alright, we’ve all know that this is the PERFECT market to be a buyer -especially a first time home buyer. The prices on homes are teasingly low any many current homeowners are kept at bay with “for sale” signs planted their yards; it’s time to get out of the parent’s basement.

And today, if it’s possible, it may have just gotten better for everybody.

The Senate passed a new amendment granting a $15,000 tax credit on the purchase of a primary house. Of course, that means it’s a tag along on the enormous stimulus bill that has yet to pass. As of right now, the entire bill comes with a price of $920 billion.

So this may just be the thing that undoes the log jam releasing all that pent-up real estate pressure -or at least that’s the big hope.

There is some precedent for this. Back in 1975, Then-President Gerald Ford rallied a tax credit for home buyers leading to a housing supply drop to 10 months.

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A friend of mine confessed that she’s upside down. Of course what she meant by that is if they were to sell right now, their home wouldn’t fetch as much as the balance of their mortgage - and she’d be bringing money to the closing.

She’s been doing a fair amount of research on the subject and what keeps coming up are two things: Stay in the house if you can AND if you can’t, use a discount broker (like Webdigs) to salvage as much cash in the transaction as possible.

My friends are planning to ride it out and take the advice that’s out there to fix up their home as nicely as they can afford . This accomplishes a couple things. Like Buddha says, the key to happiness it wanting what you have. By making their little home as nice as possible, they can reframe the feeling of “I’m trapped here” to more of a “bloom where you’re planted” scenrio.

This motivated them to watch the sales and they scored an excellent deal on click flooring at Ikea. It was almost 2/3rds off its normally good price. They’re installing it themselves and then plan to move on to painting their kitchen cabinets.

So now, when they feel the time is right, they’ll be ready to plunge into the market and  avoid that resentful feeling of “I’m doing this all these improvements for the next people.”

My friend was also very interested in the Webdig’s concept of being a full-service brokerage that is able to charge less. I explained that’s because consumers are so savvy now and do some much of the legwork themselves on the Internet - usually way before they ever meet with a Realtor. She was pretty excited about paying a reasonable flat-fee to eventually sell their home, while knowing that there is a professional there to dot the i’s and cross the t’s for her.

You won’t see a For Sale sign in front of their bungalow anytime soon, but when there is she won’t be looking at any Realtor who wants to charge 6.

Well, I’ve been rung through the ringer of another house shopping experience. It wasn’t the dream house, but it sure is in a dreamy location. We bid a bid my husband said we could afford, they countered, he countered and then, through the genius of my Webdigs Realtor, they landed on a not so faraway number.  For a moment, I was delighted.

Then I did our numbers again - just to be sure. I’ve since decided I’m a subscriber to “downer math” while her husband is a practitioner of the “audacity of hope math”. Either way, we’re not getting the house and my spouse and I will continue to “share” 2 feet of closet space in a comfortable, but small house we’re renting.

His numbers were based on my clients paying me. Just as we were in decision making mode, I heard from yet another magazine  that they “weren’t cutting checks to the end of the month.” This sealed the deal. I’m in no position to take on another debt when I’m not sure how I’ll pay for my kids’ Rx - even with Webdigs giving half of their commission to me, the buyer. (And not just because they know me, it’s a deal open to everyone.)

I’ve been sending out story pitches everyday this week and I’m sure I’ll get work - but it has been an average of 12 weeks to get paid recently. Just because I somehow have a credit score of 810, doesn’t make me a magician.

But this isn’t a total bummer of a post. People with steady jobs own the market right now - and honestly, the deals I’m seeing out here are amazing to me. That I was this far from owning a beach house is shocking. My advice, if you have the ability, now is a fantastic time to buy.

Yeah, I’m a little down right now. But maybe this is what an adult decision is supposed to feel like.

Lucie

Now that I’ve moved a considerable distance away from my Webdigs pals, I was relieved to find out how easy they made it to still use them.

Of course, I should have known this. Webdig’s is all about making things cheaper/easier by using the Internet as much as possible, but until you call about an offer and the whole thing arrives in your email box with places to click to sign - well, then it’s when you know it’s handled.

And as the Twin Cities get bigger, it’s a nice conveniece whether you’re living in Shakopee or Blaine not to have to drag yourself across town to John Hancock a document.

I’m pretty calm about the offer. I guess I feel supported and mostly, while I like the home, I’m using my head and not my heart. If the offer doesn’t happen, I’m truly okay with walking away from the deal.

I’ll keep you posted.