Brett Tousley | Tacoma WA Real Estate | (253) 820-2745

$8,000 first time home buyer extension is on it's way. Contrary to reports I saw in the news media last week, the extension is not set in stone at this point. However; It now appears that it's headed for President Obama's desk soon.

Here's what we expect to see as a final bill:

The $8,000 first time home buyer credit will be extended through April 30th 2010

A new $6,500 home buyer tax credit will be available to buyers who have owned a home for 5 of the last 8 years.

Qualifying income limits are raised to $125,000 for individuals and $225,000 for couples.

Extend the credit for one year to military personel having served at least 90 days outside the USA in 2009 and 2010. Military members get a much needed break here.

The bill also provides for Military Homeowner Assistance Program (HAP) to be tax free.

Great news for my Fort Lewis and McChord military clients that have received orders unexpectedly out of the area. There's help for you, just give me a call 253-820-2745.

Now remember, this bill still needs to pass in the house and must be signed by the President to become law. BUT, all indications point to this bill sailing through the house this week and possibly hitting the President's desk sometime next week.

Brett Tousley is the designated Broker and owner of NW Home Brokers. Specializing in residential real estate sales and marketing in Pierce, King, Thurston and Kitsap counties Washington.

Last weekend my family made our yearly pumpkin hunting trip to Spooner Farms in the Valley. There's a lot more to do than just pick out a pumpkin at Spooner Farms and it's become something of a tradition for us.

My five year old led the way as we took in all the sights, starting with the activity barn. The activity barn held several pens of chickens, quail and turkeys for the kids to see and had a coloring area as well. Then we were off to see the goats, mini donkeys and the pony ride.

Once he burned off some steam we hit the 5 acre corn maze. This year's theme was "honey I shrunk the kids" and they had it dressed up as though we were tiny insects inside a giant world. Spooner hands you a map to the maze with instructions to find 6 stations hidden inside. Each station has a hole punch for the map. If you find all 6, you win a candy prize at the end. We stuck to the game plan and found each station with relative ease this year.

Once we cleared the maze and collected our rewards, it was time to pick out a pumpkin. Always up for an adventure, my son found his perfect pumpkin in a large mud puddle.

As any Dad would do, I waded in there and grabbed his "perfect pumpkin". :)

If you are still in the hunt for the perfect pumpkin, you may want to give Spooner Farms a visit, it's a blast!

Here's some quick tips on how to make the most of your private control panel on www.brettsellshouses.com.  Watch the video and learn how to save a listing, save a search and send and reveive private messages.

In this video we'll cover how to use the home search function of our website. The search function offers some useful and powerful tools you won't find on a run of the mill real estate website.

Here's some of the key features you'll want to know about.

1. You'll find all the pictures for all the listings on our free home search including, single family homes, condos and multi family properties.

2. Integrated Bing "bird's eye view"

3. Google street view of home

4. Mortgage calculator with amortization schedule

Visit our real estate website www.brettsellshouses.com

I've put together this short set of screen capture videos to help you navigate our Tacoma real estate website. When you next visit, you'll find new information and a more powerful home search.