Home Buyer Incentives Multiply

"$5,000 here, $10,000 there"

To paraphrase a *famous quote, "$5,000 here, $10,000 there, and pretty soon you're talking about real money."

In this case, the money consists of incentives offered to first-time home Buyers.

New home builders have been offering Buyer incentives for quite some time (upgraded finishes, discounted loans, plasma TVs, etc.). However, now government is joining the party in a serious way.

At the federal level, there is increasing speculation that the $7,500 repayable tax credit now offered Buyers will simply become a straight credit -- no repayment required.

Locally, a number of municipalities are dangling increasingly fat incentives to first-time Buyers to tackle foreclosed and abandoned homes.

The leader so far appears to be Brooklyn Center, offering a $10,000 package to qualifying Buyers.

Do I hear $15,000??

*The original quote was from Senator Everett Dirksen, whose decimal place was actually billions.