LOCAL REAL ESTATE AGENT OFFERS "LAST CHANCE" SEMINAR ON HOW TO REDEEM FIRST-TIME HOME BUYERS TAX CREDIT

LEAWOOD, Kan. – These next few weeks may be the last opportunity for first-time home buyers to start the wheels in motion to take advantage of the federal government’s tax credit of up to $8,000. That’s why one local real estate agent, Michael J. Maher, a sales associate with Realty Executives of Kansas City, created a tax credit informational seminar specifically for first-time homebuyers at 4 p.m. Aug. 14 at the Overland Park Convention Center.

Maher, who is one of the top agents in Kansas City, is calling it the “Last Chance Seminar” because as first-time home buyers begin looking for homes late this summer and fall, they need to leave time for financing, inspections and other transaction processes to ensure their closing is complete before the Dec. 1^st deadline. The seminar is free and anyone is welcome to attend. Other real estate experts will be on hand to offer advice on lending and other home buying tips. Attendees are asked to call 1-800-441-7699, ext. 466 to hear more information about the tax credits or to register for the seminar.

“As I speak to first-time buyers, I’ve gotten the sense that there is a lot of confusion out there about the tax credit,” Maher said. “This seminar is designed so that people will walk away with simple, easy-to-understand information about how to take advantage of this one-time opportunity.”

Unlike the media coverage that the “Cash for Clunkers” has received, many buyers reported they were unfamiliar or uninformed about the tax credits, Maher said. There are many first-time buyers who simply didn’t apply for the credits because they didn’t know they qualified. However, Maher says with the deadline approaching more buyers are scrambling to get information on this opportunity that ends soon.

Maher works out of the Realty Executives of Kansas City office at 11401 Ash in Leawood. It is part of the Realty Executives Mid-America Region, which operates 43 offices with more than 1,000 executives. The company closed more than 15,000 transactions worth more than $2.5 billion in sales in 2007. Realty Executives International, Inc. is one of the fastest-growing real estate franchises in the United States, with more than 14,000 sales associates and over 760 franchises. For information regarding the first-time home buyers tax credit or additional company information, please visit www.realtyx.com or www.realtyexecutives.com.

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