Derek Ogle's agent, Gail Angel of Long & Foster, was sitting with him the day he signed the contract, and she remembers representatives for the builder and lender saying "they would make every effort to settle so everyone would have their tax credit."
Both Ogles expected a July start for construction and were dismayed when it didn't begin until around Aug. 10.
"It's almost certainly not going to happen at this point," said Chad Ogle, a government contractor.
It's not impossible, Meade said.
"Our automated scheduling system is showing an early December completion at this point, but that doesn't mean we can't make up some time," he said. He added: "We're not going to go to the point where we sacrifice quality."
It seems to Angel, the real estate agent, that the law should have been worded so that new-home buyers would only have to sign a contract by Nov. 30. Throw in some bad weather and supply delays, and "you're going to have a lot of very unhappy people," she said.
Assuming the credit expires in November, that is. The uncertainty is making Chad Ogle think gloomily of ways he could end up without that $8,000 even if Congress extends it. For instance, letting it lapse and restarting it next year without making it retroactive to December, when his home will probably be finished.
"The ultimate disaster," he said.
