The weekly poll is tied up in legislation. Why don’t you go tell it it’s time to vote already?

This week’s topic is about the $8,000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit and whether or not you think it should be extended or even expanded.  The deadline for getting the tax credit is coming up on December 1st, which may seem like a ways off, except that in order to be eligible for the credit, your sale must be finalized (read: closed) by Nov. 30th. So, a lot of folks are saying that the real date to keep in mind now is Oct. 16, as that’s the date a buyer would actually need to have a home under contract by in order to safely be able to close a home loan by Nov. 3oth.

As of right now, there are six (!) bills circulating in the House and the Senate that would extend and/or expand the $8,000 tax credit.

Now, there’s no question that this tax credit has been popular with first time buyers: the National Association of Realtors (NAR) estimates that almost 2 million buyers have taken advantage of the tax credit and that at least 350,000 of those sales would not have taken place without the credit (I know that credit is part of the reason I’ve stayed so busy this year). And it’s no secret that the NAR – as well as most real estate agents – would like to see this credit extended into 2010.

But as the deadline for the credit draws near, more and more folks – some of them (gasp!) agents – are coming forward with arguments as to why it should not be extended.  Some argue that the ultimate financial costs to the country outweigh the short term benefits to individual buyers and real estate markets. Others argue that that extending the tax credit will only delay the final bottoming out and recovery of the housing market.  Greg Cooper over at AgentGenius puts it this way, “[The tax credit] is really like pouring sugar in a 10-year-old: eventually there’s going to be a terrible crash.”

But I’m a real estate agent, not an economist, so I’m curious what you guys think. Do you think the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit should be extended? Should it even be expanded to include people other than first time buyers? Or do you think its served its purpose and it’s now time to let the market recover naturally? Cast your vote and let me know.