JoAnne Poole, a broker with Poole Realty in Anne Arundel County, says some prospective buyers are starting to hold back.
"People are afraid they won't meet the deadline and are saying 'Maybe I'll just wait and see what happens, see if it's extended,' " she says.
But that's a gamble. "They could be out in the cold," Meszaros says.
One bill introduced months ago would extend the credit through next year. Another would raise the maximum credit to $15,000 for one year to anyone buying a principal residence. But passage is iffy.
"One of the reasons the housing market has firmed up this summer is the tax credit," says Mark Zandi, chief economist with Moody's Economy.com, who supports expanding the credit to up to $15,000 for all buyers.
But David Wyss, chief economist for Standard & Poor's, says making the credit too generous could create other problems.
"We would get another housing bubble with people buying houses to take advantage of the credit when they don't have the ability to maintain the payments," Wyss says. And giving the credit for all purchases "just encourages flipping again," he says.
The Baltimore Sun's Consuming Interests blog answers questions on the credit and some readers are seeing how far they can stretch the rules.
One homeowner considered filing taxes separately from her husband or even divorcing him if that would help him get the credit.
Parents ask if a child can claim the credit if they refinance their mortgage and put the child's name on the new loan. And one parent acknowledges that she and her husband don't qualify for the credit but asked if they could get the money by buying a house under their 3-year-old's name.
The IRS' answer to all these scenarios is "No."
Don't get creative. The IRS warned consumers in July against schemes to claim the credit. The agency says it has successfully prosecuted a case against a Florida tax preparer fraudulently claiming the credit and says it is working on others.
Even if you qualify for the credit, it can take time to get the money.
Joshua Redman bought a four-bedroom house in Pasadena in February, and shortly thereafter claimed the full credit on his tax return. The 22-year-old is still waiting for the money. The IRS recently wrote him to get more information and told him to expect the check in several weeks.
"I expected to have the money a little faster," he says. "At the same time, I'm not bad-mouthing it."
What will he do with the cash once he gets it?
"I need a new roof," he says. "I guess I'll save the rest of it."
First-time homebuyer credit eligibility
* The house must be your principal residence.
* You cannot have owned a home in the prior three years to qualify as a first-time buyer. For married couples, both partners must be a first-time buyer.
* The full credit is available if modified adjusted gross income is under $75,000 for singles and $150,000 for married joint filers. It phases out for singles with income between $75,000 and $95,000 and for joint filers with income of $150,000 to $170,000.
* The sale must close by Nov. 30.
* The credit must be repaid if the house is sold within three years of purchase.
