Answer: How you finance the purchase, or even if you pay all cash, has nothing to do with the $8,000 tax credit. The requirements are that:

-- Neither of you has owned a home in the past three years.

-- You are not buying from a close relative.

-- You intend to make the house your principal residence.

-- You fall below the top income limits. The tax credit starts to phase out at $150,000 income for a married couple filing jointly (half that for a single taxpayer) and disappears entirely at $170,000 ($95,000).

None of this tax credit needs to be repaid, by the way, if you remain in the house for at least the next three years. But you must complete the purchase before Dec, 1, so don't dawdle.

GOLD STAR FOR AGENT

Ms. Lank: You real estate agents deserve a gold star! I recommended a terrific real estate agent to my sister. He worked hard and managed to get many people to see her home. She would not take his advice to reduce the price. After three months, she gave the listing at a lower price to another agent who sold the house almost immediately.

Now she thinks the new agent is great, but not the other one! Did it ever occur to her that the house sold because she finally priced it right? Oh, no -- duh! How do you put up with people like my sister? -- J. H.

Answer: That first agent deserves something more than a gold star, after giving your sister three free months of hard work, advertising money and expert advice that was ignored.

You're wrong on one account -- I don't have to put up with people like that. I am not a real estate agent. I gave up my license many years ago when I started writing this column.

SELL QUICK FOR CASH

What are the advantages and disadvantages of going with the Home Buyer Network? Are they creditable? -- L. L. R. Continued...