Savings Splurge: Local Experts on Federal Tax Credits

Those aspiring to own real estate who didn’t think they’d make the deadline for a tax credit now have eight thousand more reasons to buy: On Nov. 6, the government extended the $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers for another six months. Instead of expiring on Nov. 30, buyers now have until April 30, 2010 to sign a contract for a home.

Secrets of Swift Sales

BRANDON GREEN RESOLVED to try his hand at real estate after watching a late-night infomercial in 2000. Bored with his job in sales as an IT recruiter in Silver Spring, Green paid $19.95 for Carlton Sheets’s “No Down Payment” video, and applied himself. “My first project was a complete overhaul of a house, 727 11th Street, NE,” he recalls.

Renovation Frustration

WHEN JUDITH MATLOFF moved back to the U.S. after a career in foreign journalism, she dreamed of buying a home — and did just that in 2000. What she didn’t count on was that her dream brownstone — four floors, almost 5,000 square feet — in West Harlem would be surrounded by crack houses and … Continue Reading