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We are now within a few weeks of having the home buyer tax credit expire and those who wish to take advantage of this once in a generation program need to be a bit concerned if they aren’t currently under contract. To be eligible buyers need to have an accepted purchase agreement in place no later than April 31, 2010 with the transaction closing before July 1.

Last year a huge number of buyers tried to qualify for the tax credit program but didn’t start the process until a couple of weeks before the expiration. Then they were spared when Congress decided to extend the program. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like there will be another extension.

When you take a realistic look at the process time line you can see where new buyers that are just starting might be in for a very unpleasant shock.

Assume you start looking for a house and it takes two weeks to find a suitable candidate. If it takes a week to get the agreement accepted you are already out three weeks. As of this writing there are five full weeks until the first deadline which is getting the purchase agreement signed by all parties.

The bottom line is that if you have realistic hopes of qualifying for the home buyers tax credit you should already have been to the bank, chosen a Realtor, and started looking at houses. If you haven’t as yet done all these things you’d better get going because time is running out.