November 5, 2009--It may be an early Holiday for some. Last night, the Senate unanimously passed a bill aiding the unemployed as well as to struggling businesses and prospective homebuyers. Most of the attention for this bill will center on the extension of unemployment benefits by up to 20 weeks to the millions who are running out of unemployment insurance benefits.

A 98 to 0 vote also extended the first-time homebuyer credit that was set to expire at the end of November by an additional seven months. Also part of this was a provision to include move-up buyers who have lived in their current residence for five years. The tax credit for move-ups is $6,500.

"The data on the present home buyer tax credit show that the credit has had its intended impact -- sales have jumped in recent months to a projected 5.1 million for the year and housing inventory has been trimmed, thus stabilizing home prices noticeably," said Ron Phipps, the association's first vice president, in Senate testimony last month.

This could be a great opportunity to get people off the fence. Is $8,000 or $6,500 enough to be a prod for those not thinking about buying? I don't think so. But for those individuals that had been thinking about it, or were waiting for the economy to stabilize, this could be just the program to get them to commit to buying instead of sitting out and waiting.

November 6-UPDATE: Today, President Obama signed the bill.

What do you think? Is the incentive enough? Too much? Too long?