For residents in the market for a new home, this Saturday is an event not to miss as the Covington Association of Realtors sponsors a countywide open house event.

Similar events are being hosted nationwide in an effort to remind potential home-buyers of a soon-to-expire federal housing tax credit, which ends April 30.

“We will have approximately 30 homes that we are going to be doing open house on,” said association president Debra Donaldson. “The majority are in Andalusia – I’d say about 20. We have eight in Opp, two at Point A, one at Gantt and one in Kinston.”

The event will begin at 1 p.m. and will last until 3 p.m.

Donaldson said the properties are scattered throughout the city with listings on Thames Street, South Three Notch Street, White Oak Court, Point A Isle, Academy Drive, Plantation Drive, Maddox Road, Stanley Avenue, Lindsey Bridge Road and Prestwood Bridge Road.

In Opp, there are listings on Adams Road, Highway 331 South, Jeffocat Avenue and Horn Hill Road.

A complete list will appear in the Saturday edition of The Star-News.

The homes that will be featured are in all price ranges, Donaldson said.

“We have some that are priced below $100,000 and some that are about $300,000,” she said.

“There are also a wide variety of floor plans and layouts to choose from.

“We have anything you could want – from a three bedroom, two bath, to much larger,” she said. “Some have a lot of land, and some have small lots.”

Donaldson said there are about seven local agencies participating in the event.

Donaldson said that residents can start anywhere on the tour and each house will have a list of other houses that are going to be open.

Donaldson said this is the last opportunity for those interested in taking advantage of the first-time homebuyers credit.

In order to qualify for the Federal Housing Tax Credits, which means up to $8,000 for first time buyers and up to $6,500 for buyers who have owned a home for five years or more, buyers must sign a contract to purchase a home by April 30, but they are not required to close on the home until June 30, 2010.