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Latasha Hall never envisioned herself a homeowner. But by the end of the
month, she will be. Just in time.

With the soon-to-expire tax credit for first-time buyers as an assist, the
single mother plans to close on a $166,650 three-bedroom house in Clifton
Heights, Pa. "If it hadn't been for the credit, I wouldn't have done it,"
Hall said.

To be eligible for the federal tax credits-up to $8,000 for qualified
first-timers and up to $6,500 for certain repeat buyers-houses must be under
contract by April 30, with settlement by June 30, 2010.

With those deadlines in sight, some real estate agents say they are
relishing their first busy days in months.

For some buyers, a tax credit is an added perk in an already-friendly market
with good inventory and low mortgage rates.

For those like Hall, who is working toward her bachelor's degree in behavior
and addictions counseling and who works two jobs, it's the last piece that
fits the puzzle. In January, Hall visited Weichert Realtors for help finding
a rental home after her landlord's lender foreclosed.

Steve Madonna, a loan officer with Weichert, looked at her income (about
$54,000) and her credit score (which needed some work, but not much) and
suggested she buy instead. Madonna connected Hall with a state loan program
that would provide $5,000 of the $8,000 credit up front, for use on closing
costs or maintenance on the house. Hall set to work paying off two past-due
bills and bugging the credit bureaus-sending weekly faxes and calling
often-to update her score quickly. "If I hadn't heard about this credit, I
wouldn't have worked so hard to get it done," she said. "This is my time to
go out and do what I have to do. I kept thinking about my kids."

The new Clifton Heights neighborhood is safer, she said, and it's just two
blocks from the school her 9-year-old son attends. The credit has been "a
blessing," Hall said.

To Realtors like Daren Sautter, it's a relief. "It's nice to be busy," he
said.

Sautter, of Prudential Fox & Roach in Cherry Hill, N.J., watched showings
and Internet leads triple in the first three weeks of March.

He expects to be slammed through the April 30 deadline, then figures he'll
see a lull before the spring market picks up some. "If you don't sell a
house in April," Sautter said, "you're not selling it."

Sellers likely will be thinking the same thing, Realtors said, and listing
prices could drop this month.

Sautter recently helped Pat Poole price her four-bedroom Cherry Hill house
to sell. At $290,000, it went after just one day on the market. Recently
divorced, Poole was looking to downsize. She sold the house to a young
couple who used the repeat-buyer credit. Her next task: finding a new house
for herself and her 17-year-old son in time to secure her own tax credit.
"I'm going to get in under the wire," Poole said.

A flurry of activity is noticeable in areas with a strong inventory of homes
affordable to young families, Realtors said.

But some brokers are seeing a "trickle-up" effect. Would-be buyers are able
to sell their homes, aided by the rush for the tax credit, and upgrade to
communities with better school systems or more historic charm.

In Haddonfield, N.J., the proximity to Philadelphia and access to the PATCO
High-Speed Line were big draws for Jeff Minors and Amy Henry. Minors will
commute to his job as a financial-news editor in New York City. The couple,
longtime renters, were looking to move to southern New Jersey from Norwalk,
Conn., with their 2-year-old son. They recently moved into a four-bedroom
home in Haddonfield that cost about $575,000. The first-time-buyer credit
was an added bonus, Minors said. "We were more concerned about finding the
right house at the right price," he said. "But it's definitely a nice
benefit."

(c) 2010, The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

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