It was amazing to see how the buyer's vanished on May 1, 2010 when the deadline had passed on getting into contract for the $8000. first time buyer's tax credit. However, if you're thinking this windfall opportunity has passed you by, think again.
Two major things have transpired since then:
First interest rates dropped to an all time low (at least in my 41 years of selling real estate). Rates can be had as low at 4.5% for 30 year fixed rate loans and 4.13% on 15 year loans! Wowzers! This actually calculates out to an approximate $10,000+ savings over the life of your loan.
And, if that wasn't incentive enough, many sellers with the diminished number of buyers are lowering their prices on many great properties. Those buyers who are still in the market are finding that homes they could not qualify for before they can now add to their list of properties to choose from!
If you are thinking about either buying your first home, or adding to your future wealth by acquiring an investment property, now is the time! As confimation to that, I had a very seasoned professional real estate investor in my car this weekend. This gentleman has been in real estate since 1965 and is a partner in one of top commercial real estate firms in the country. He is looking to puchase property in our area and ride the next tide up. As we looked at homes in our lovely 100 degree temps, he shared his forecast for our area with me. It confirmed what I thought and I felt compelled to share them with you.
He felt it will take 18 months from a turn around in our local employment market before we can expect home prices to start their rebound. The employment numbers that came out last week were still pretty grim for our region. If he is correct, we have a ways to go! Bad news for sellers - perhaps, but continued opportunities for buyers. And if you are thinking about moving up, it is the perfect time to do so. In this client's case, we were looking at homes that sold at the top of the market in between $650,000 and $800,000. which are now listed in the mid $300,000 range.
If you are a seller, this information can be even more important. Based on this expert’s calculations, it will be a minimum of 5 years before we see prices climbing substantially above today's levels. That kind of forecast is critical for sellers who need to make time line decisions.
So if you would like to explore how this market can benefit you, give me a call. Let me put my 40+ years of experience to work for you and prove,
experience is not expensive, it is priceless!
# posted by
Viki Benbow @ 2:41 PM
