By now, everyone has heard there are some great real estate deals out there. Foreclosures and short sales, sad as they are for the people who endure them, mean opportunities for buyers — not only in themselves, but also because they drive down the prices of neighboring market-rate homes. And with the government extending its first-time home buyer tax credit of up to $8,000 to contracts signed by April 30 and offering a credit of up to $6,500 to some repeat buyers, who also must commit by April 30, who can resist jumping in?
Lots of people, it turns out. Many, seeing news reports about tightened credit, think they won’t qualify for a mortgage and so refuse to get their toes wet. “There is a perception out there that it is impossible to get a loan,” says John Battaglia, president of Cambridge Mortgage Group in Hingham. “People are gun-shy because they don’t think they can qualify, or they have to have 20 percent down, or they have to have tremendous credit.”