Closing Deadline To Be Extended

Posted By Cliff Tuttle | July 2, 2010

No. 463

The closing deadline to qualify for the tax credit for  first time buyer transactions was set to expire on June 30.  However the Senate passed an extension, already passed by the House, to September 30.  The measure is expected to be signed by the President as early as today.

However, this only affects those who signed agreements before April 30. As every real estate savvy person knows, it is getting harder to close in 60 days and some kinds of deals, like short sales, may even take longer than the additional ninety days to close.  Thirty years ago, 90 days was the norm to get to  closing.  Competition in the go-go broker-driven era, when requirements were relaxed or waived, drove the approval times down and many closed in 30 days.  No longer.  Extreme compliance is back.  Plus, and this is important, the new loan disclosure regulations guarantee that the process will take longer, even if pushed.

There are undoubtedly many qualified and even proven borrowers out there who cannot find loans.  Banks have been cautioned to build up capital and that is what they are doing.  Some other sector of the economy is going to have to lead the economy back to health this time.  Real estate can’t handle the load. Not now

But in the long run — here’s the good news — demand for real estate does not decline, it just defers.  Some day, some way, all that pent up demand will burst  through the dams and happy days will be here again for the survivors of the great real estate bust of 2008 and following.

Welcome

CLIFF TUTTLE has been a Pennsylvania lawyer for over 45 years and (inter alia) is a real estate litigator and legal writer. The posts in this blog are intended to provide general information about legal topics of interest to lawyers and consumers with a Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania focus. However, this information does not constitute legal advice and there is no lawyer-client relationship created when you read this blog. You are encouraged to leave comments but be aware that posted comments can be read by others. If you wish to contact me in privacy, please use the Contact Form located immediately below this message. I will reply promptly and in strict confidence.

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