$8000 HOMEBUYERS TAX CREDIT-FREIND or FOE??

Now that the end of the first time homebuyers tax

credit is upon us and the government is thinking of extending it, I’ll put my economic 2 cents in.  I don’t hold myself out to be anything but a concerned tax payer.  I will agree that the tax credit has spurred on people to buy homes.  However, as in all these types of programs, there is massive fraud.  It’s so disheartening when you hear about people purposefully scamming other Americans to this degree.  And, why is this even able to happen?  Could it be because the government is keeping as much of an eye on this as they do every other program they run?

I am not a proponent of artificially “propping up” the economy.  It does no good.  Cash for clunkers is a prime (and recent) example and so this this first time home buyers tax credit.  Are we putting ourselves into the same situation that got us here in the first place, i.e., allowing people who cannot afford to maintain a home buy a home?  I’m sure there are people who will do fine, but what are the odds that we’ll end up with more foreclosures out of this?  My guess is that yes we will…..

When are people going to realize that “the government” consists of its citizens.  It’s not some magical pot of gold that the elected officials in Washington are going into each day.  It’s borne on the back of us the American citizenry.  We are saddling our children and their children with massive amounts of debt.  The free market should be allowed to ride this storm out without “Uncle Sam”.

I believe that the low interest rates and the affordability of homes in this market would have brought buyers to the table.  Perhaps the numbers would have been smaller, but maybe it would not have cost us as much.  I am a realtor who loves to work, but sometimes it’s as if the hurrier I go, the behinder I get.  Basically, buyers should just go door to door and ask their neighbors for the $8000, because that is in essence what we’re doing.