Ethics?, or mind your own business.
Lately I've been hearing a lot of mis-information about the Governments tax incentives to buy a home.
Everything from "how long will it take to the check to get here" to "I heard I don't really have to live
there".
I was showing a home to a woman and her son when she posed this question to me, "if we write a
contract on this house, how long will it take the check to arrive." Of course I asked what check, and
she said the government check. I explained to her the reality and sent her to the official website. (I
don't think she believed me.)
Apparently she had been talking to a real estate agent who let her know that if she bought a house from
him the Government was going to send her a check. A check she could cash, deposit in an account or
whatever she wanted. A check for $8000.
She was shocked when I told her that wasn't the case and looked at me like I didn't know what I was
talking about. True story. She ended up not buying as she was counting on that money to help. Or
maybe she just was upset with me and went somewhere else.
Another one was an honest mistake that could have been a disaster.
Sitting in a seminar not purposely eavesdropping. I overheard someone tell someone else that you had
to live in the home when you buy it to get the tax credit. True enough. What followed was you can
move out right away and turn it into a rental as long as you own it for three years. Not true.
The someone doing the telling was a Realtor. Maybe it wasn't my business. Maybe it was, being a
Realtor myself. I interjected and set the facts out. No, you have to live there for three years and if you
move out before then the money has to be paid back.
Imagine if this person had gone through with a deal thinking that the case. That he could move out right
away and make the home a rental.
Whether by purposeful dishonesty or honest mistake either situation could have had grave
consequences for the buyer. It is imperative that a professional, in whatever field, know the facts.
Anot