With home prices falling, interest rates low, and a new federal tax incentive on the books, real-estate agents all over the Valley are touting today as the time to buy.

Cooper Kalisek is no different. But Kalisek offers an additional reason: a soon-to-be-prohibited form of seller financing — one the Internal Revenue Service has labeled a scam.

Kalisek is a house-flipping entrepreneur and a real estate agent. A Treasure Valley native, he started buying, improving and selling houses in 2004 while still a sophomore at Boise State University. In 2006 he graduated with a degree in entrepreneurial business management. In those years, the Valley’s housing market was booming. He earned his real estate license and joined Expert Realty, a Meridian brokerage. “I was their top producer my first year in business,” he says.

He says many first-time home buyers in recent years have relied on sellers to offer down-payment assistance. “This saves people from having to come into a house with $5,000 or $10,000,” he said. That’s why the pending restriction on seller financing could hurt, he said.

The restriction is part of the Foreclosure Prevention Act that President Bush signed into law July 30. It will end what Kalisek calls a “creative” loophole to traditional requirements that buyers put at least 3 percent down on Federal Housing Administration mortgages.

Here’s what the National Association of Realtors says about this loophole:

“FHA has long had a prohibition on anyone party to the transaction contributing to the down payment. However, a number of organizations developed a model whereby the seller would give them money to them, and they would funnel it to the buyer. These were structured as nonprofits, and therefore permissible under FHA rules.

“Over the years it has been apparent that loans utilizing seller-funded down-payment assistance have a high default rate and have had a very negative impact on the fiscal soundness of the FHA fund. In May of 2006, the IRS published a revenue ruling, expressing concern that seller-funded down-payment organizations may not meet the IRS criteria for 501(c)(3) status. The IRS is currently in the process of reviewing these organizations, and has begun withdrawing the charitable status of those which do not meet the necessary criteria.”

Big names in this field of “nonprofits” include Nehemiah, based in California, and AmeriDream, based in Maryland.

In its 2006 announcement, the IRS labeled organizations like these scams.

“So-called charities that manipulate the system do more than mislead honest homebuyers and ultimately jack up the cost of the home,” IRS Commissioner Mark W. Everson said. “They also damage the image of honest, legitimate charities.”

To Kalisek, the organizations offer another tool to help people of limited means get into a house. “I can tell you that none of my clients have defaulted on a loan,” he said.

But Congress has spoken. If you want a home and haven’t got much money, you’ve got through Sept. 30 to take advantage of the loophole — or scam. Kalisek suggests you do. You can reach him at CooperKalisek@gmail.com.