D.C.'s Latino Home Buyers Scramble To Meet Deadline

An agency helping D.C.'s Latino community jump on the property ladder is shifting into high gear, as the deadline approaches on a federal tax credit for first-time home buyers.

The Latino Economic Development Corporation helps low-to-moderate income residents buy their first home using government programs - such as the $8,000 credit for first-timers who close by November 30th.

Eric Qutierrez helps run the non-profit corporation, located in Northwest D.C. near Columbia Road, a traditional stronghold of the city's Hispanic community.

"There has been a surge of applicants interested in buying a house," says Qutierrez.

Nancy Miranda, a Remax sales agent in D.C., works closely with Qutierrez's clients. She says her clients are crossing their fingers that their banks will finalize loans in time to meet the deadline.

"It is definitely crunch time," she says. "A lot of them are counting on this money to remodel the homes that they're planning to buy."

The city offers $5,000 tax credit to buyers who do miss the deadline.

Mana Rabiee reports...