The Ultimate Tease…

The action was swift. Our esteemed California legislators rose to the occasion, set aside their relentless partisan bickering, and focused their energy on solving “the problem”.

What problem you ask? School funding? No. Crumbling infrastructure? Nope. Unemployment? Nyet. Our government in California enacted a $100 million program to provide tax credits for first time home buyers, which was just recently signed into law by our movie star turned “Call-lee-fon-ya” governor. You see, the federal tax credits for first time buyers (and move up buyers, for that matter) expire at the end of April. So to the rescue rides our dysfunctional, politically expedient state government. Except you just have to wonder if there is really a problem to solve.

Now I’m certainly no expert. All I do is sell houses, day in and day out. And what I am seeing (which is eerily similar to what my colleagues are seeing) is a first time home buyer market that is OVER-HEATED; Multiple offers, bidding wars, low down-payment buyers getting out gunned. And from what I am hearing, this is true for much of the state. Not all price ranges mind you, but definitely in the lower end of the market, where first time buyers generally shop. So offering a tax credit to encourage more buyers in this segment is ineffective and a total waste of taxpayer money. And it is one giant tease.