Congress has extended the $8,000.00 tax credit for first-time home buyers and the $6,500.00 tax credit for repeat buyers, but before you get your hopes up, this extension is only for those who had a property under contract by April 30, 2010.

Originally, buyers had to have a contract in place by April 30th and close by June 30th. But even though everyone knew the rules, all the bankers and all the mortgage lenders couldn't get all the financing in place to close by the deadline. The closing date has ben extended to September 30th.

In addition, some of the properties simply were not ready to close - homes under construction that were not finished being built. Short sales - where the mortgage holders agree to take less than the full mortgage amount owed without having to foreclose,  are also notorious for their dragged-out processing.

According estimates by the National Association of Realtors®, up to 180,000 buyers would have been cut off if the closing deadline were not extended, including more than 3,900 here in MA.

So let's give a cheer that Congress acted with good sense and timing to smooth the way for many happy buyers and of course, the sellers as well!