You have read what I have to say about the current real estate market. Want to know what other "real estate experts" are saying?
Many people are listening to the news media and thinking they are getting "expert" advice. Friends and neighbors, that ain't necessarily so. Most of your network financial gurus are stock market guys. They want you to put your money with them in the stock market and not in real estate. They have been sulking over the last few years because people were buying real estate with the money their stock brokers used to "invest" for them. (But seriously, they deserved to lose you after they sold you all those .com stocks and messed up your 401k plans.)
Click on the link below and see what a real "real estate expert" has to say. While you are there, you can read other stories about the current real estate market, but don't forget to come back to my blog when you are done with this research project.
http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20071126_buyinghomes.htm
You are welcome to leave your own real estate comments by clicking on the link below.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
What mortgage problems?
I watch the news just like you and they keep talking about the mortgage problems. Yes, I understand that a lot of owners are losing houses to foreclosure, but a lot more are not. If you are making your payments each month, you are fine and no one is going to take your home.
The facts are that over 95% of mortgages in America are being paid every month on time and there is no threat to these homeowners. Of the less than 5% who are left, the majority of them are still making some kind of payment and their lenders are working with them. That leaves a very small number of people who have quit paying on their mortgages and are now or will be in the process of losing their home shortly.
Recent surveys of actual people (not news media or "financial experts") show that more than 75% of those who have bought in the last 12 months feel good about their new home and expect to be there for 7 years or more. Further, they feel that their home investment will be as good or better than an equal investment in the stock market. They are keeping their head and not panicking - contrary to what the talking heads are saying.
So, relax and don't worry about the real estate market. If you want to buy a house, you have no reason to wait. Mortgage rates are at near record low levels, regardless of any mortgage problems the media is talking about. And with all the talk about the mortgage market and the phantom housing bubble, the prices are quite reasonable. Further drops in prices are less likely than increases in price as the market comes out of the thaw... I personally am looking to buy any bargains I can Now, before you guys start buying again and the prices begin to rise.
It is time to buy and quit listening to the nay-sayers!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Copyright 2007
The facts are that over 95% of mortgages in America are being paid every month on time and there is no threat to these homeowners. Of the less than 5% who are left, the majority of them are still making some kind of payment and their lenders are working with them. That leaves a very small number of people who have quit paying on their mortgages and are now or will be in the process of losing their home shortly.
Recent surveys of actual people (not news media or "financial experts") show that more than 75% of those who have bought in the last 12 months feel good about their new home and expect to be there for 7 years or more. Further, they feel that their home investment will be as good or better than an equal investment in the stock market. They are keeping their head and not panicking - contrary to what the talking heads are saying.
So, relax and don't worry about the real estate market. If you want to buy a house, you have no reason to wait. Mortgage rates are at near record low levels, regardless of any mortgage problems the media is talking about. And with all the talk about the mortgage market and the phantom housing bubble, the prices are quite reasonable. Further drops in prices are less likely than increases in price as the market comes out of the thaw... I personally am looking to buy any bargains I can Now, before you guys start buying again and the prices begin to rise.
It is time to buy and quit listening to the nay-sayers!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Copyright 2007
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Real Estate - The Current Market
I have written several times in this blog about the current market. People seem to think we are in a recession or homes are just not selling. That is not the case. Do you want to know what the real estate market is doing? The term that seems to fit best is a "correction" and even this correction is not taking place on a nationwide basis. Some parts of the country are up 8-10% in prices and sales for 2007.
Real estate is like politics, it is always local. In the Chattanooga, TN. market, it really does not matter what is taking place in the New York, Florida or California markets. Those markets were inflated as everyone already knows. In those markets, there had to come a slow down at some point. Now is that time. However, most of the Southeast United States (excluding parts of Florida) has never been overinflated. The prices in most of the Southeast are still below national averages. The Chattanooga area is one of the most affordable places to live in America.
The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) tells us that the final sales figures for 2007 should show sales of about 5.9 million existing homes. This is not a record, but is at the level recorded for 2002, the second year of our most recent housing boom. That means we are really still buying and selling at boom market levels. The figures for next year are predicted to be in the 6.2 million for number of existing home sales in America.
Currently, prices in the Chattanooga area are fairly stable. Sellers still want to sell their homes, so they can move up or down while the market is adjusting. That means buyers can take advantage of this "buyer's market" and maybe get the lowest prices they will ever see. Everyone (yes, even you) fully expects prices to again rise and probably very shortly as 2008 begins the thaw.
Realtors® are still bullish on our market, we work in the housing market everyday and we see the American Dream still being pursued and attained. Those who are buying now are stopping the rent cycle and beginning the homeownership/equity building phase of life. Those who buy now will be a step ahead of you, if your plan is to "wait this out."
Most folks will continue to pay housing costs in some form, either as rent or they will realize the American Dream. You know the economy goes through cycles and you know this current housing cycle will end. Are you going to act now and take advantage of a buyer's market or will you react later when everyone else is buying and it is again a seller's market?
In Chattanooga, TN. there is a great team of Realtors® ready to work with you to help you realize your dreams of the "white picket fence" (even if your version is quite different.) Dreams don't just go away! My team at UpwardRealty.com can and will help you realize your American Dreams.
Call us anytime at (423) 847-8001 or check out our company website at http://www.upwardrealty.com/ .
Our goal is to give you such good service, you will become our "client for life."
Copyright 2007
Real estate is like politics, it is always local. In the Chattanooga, TN. market, it really does not matter what is taking place in the New York, Florida or California markets. Those markets were inflated as everyone already knows. In those markets, there had to come a slow down at some point. Now is that time. However, most of the Southeast United States (excluding parts of Florida) has never been overinflated. The prices in most of the Southeast are still below national averages. The Chattanooga area is one of the most affordable places to live in America.
The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) tells us that the final sales figures for 2007 should show sales of about 5.9 million existing homes. This is not a record, but is at the level recorded for 2002, the second year of our most recent housing boom. That means we are really still buying and selling at boom market levels. The figures for next year are predicted to be in the 6.2 million for number of existing home sales in America.
Currently, prices in the Chattanooga area are fairly stable. Sellers still want to sell their homes, so they can move up or down while the market is adjusting. That means buyers can take advantage of this "buyer's market" and maybe get the lowest prices they will ever see. Everyone (yes, even you) fully expects prices to again rise and probably very shortly as 2008 begins the thaw.
Realtors® are still bullish on our market, we work in the housing market everyday and we see the American Dream still being pursued and attained. Those who are buying now are stopping the rent cycle and beginning the homeownership/equity building phase of life. Those who buy now will be a step ahead of you, if your plan is to "wait this out."
Most folks will continue to pay housing costs in some form, either as rent or they will realize the American Dream. You know the economy goes through cycles and you know this current housing cycle will end. Are you going to act now and take advantage of a buyer's market or will you react later when everyone else is buying and it is again a seller's market?
In Chattanooga, TN. there is a great team of Realtors® ready to work with you to help you realize your dreams of the "white picket fence" (even if your version is quite different.) Dreams don't just go away! My team at UpwardRealty.com can and will help you realize your American Dreams.
Call us anytime at (423) 847-8001 or check out our company website at http://www.upwardrealty.com/ .
Our goal is to give you such good service, you will become our "client for life."
Copyright 2007
Friday, November 2, 2007
Enough With the Gloom and Doom!
Do news reporters truly enjoy delivering only bad news? If you have listened to either the local or national news outlets recently, you probably think buying or owning a home is the worst thing you can consider. Regardless of the facts, the press is continuously telling us how the bottom is just falling out of our economy and buying a home now is just stupid.
Well, that ain't so! Most of the so called "experts" are not real estate experts. I have watched investment shows while four experts discuss which stocks they think are right to buy. All four have their favorites and each gives good reasons why the other three experts are really idiots. Then after 10 minutes of this, the moderator will ask them about real estate. All four will give the same response - it is a bad time to buy, prices will continue to drop, it is just bad-bad-bad! This is the only thing these "experts" have agreed on the whole time they have been on the program. However, when they were introduced, there was nothing said about them having any real estate experience - they all work for business magazines, websites, or stock brokerages. They all have an agenda - get your money out of real estate and into the stock they sell.
However, everyone keeps telling us it is a "buyer's market". Doesn't that mean it is a GOOD time to buy? Actually it does! Right now, because of the relentless bad press on real estate, prices have dropped. They have not dropped by double-digit amounts as the press whould lead to you think, but in most markets prices today are 3-5% below the level of a year ago. However, prices have actually gone up in some areas this year. Also, most home owners are not in a "have to" sell situation, so they will not make drastic price cuts, even with the "I'm going to steal a house" mentality many buyers now have.
If you are buying, expect to get a fair price, but not to steal a house. Sellers will just wait you out. Right now, you can buy a house at a reasonable price, but if you wait another year, you may be paying 8-10% or more to buy that same house. That's OK, the sellers are willing to wait.
How about interest rates on mortgages. The press has not been telling you that rates are really low. You can find 30 year fixed rate mortgages at around 6%, give or take a quarter. For 15 year terms, fixed rates are below 6%. Folks, those are LOW rates! Does anyone remember the early 80's - back then 15-18% was common and people went nuts when the rates dropped to the 11-13% range.
Regardless of what the press says, the economy is good right now. Interest rates are low, unemployment figures are low, the economic reports show the economy growing, and if not for rising gas prices we would say the economy is booming.
It is a good time to buy real estate, before the prices and interest rates begin to go back up. And you know they will.
Well, that ain't so! Most of the so called "experts" are not real estate experts. I have watched investment shows while four experts discuss which stocks they think are right to buy. All four have their favorites and each gives good reasons why the other three experts are really idiots. Then after 10 minutes of this, the moderator will ask them about real estate. All four will give the same response - it is a bad time to buy, prices will continue to drop, it is just bad-bad-bad! This is the only thing these "experts" have agreed on the whole time they have been on the program. However, when they were introduced, there was nothing said about them having any real estate experience - they all work for business magazines, websites, or stock brokerages. They all have an agenda - get your money out of real estate and into the stock they sell.
However, everyone keeps telling us it is a "buyer's market". Doesn't that mean it is a GOOD time to buy? Actually it does! Right now, because of the relentless bad press on real estate, prices have dropped. They have not dropped by double-digit amounts as the press whould lead to you think, but in most markets prices today are 3-5% below the level of a year ago. However, prices have actually gone up in some areas this year. Also, most home owners are not in a "have to" sell situation, so they will not make drastic price cuts, even with the "I'm going to steal a house" mentality many buyers now have.
If you are buying, expect to get a fair price, but not to steal a house. Sellers will just wait you out. Right now, you can buy a house at a reasonable price, but if you wait another year, you may be paying 8-10% or more to buy that same house. That's OK, the sellers are willing to wait.
How about interest rates on mortgages. The press has not been telling you that rates are really low. You can find 30 year fixed rate mortgages at around 6%, give or take a quarter. For 15 year terms, fixed rates are below 6%. Folks, those are LOW rates! Does anyone remember the early 80's - back then 15-18% was common and people went nuts when the rates dropped to the 11-13% range.
Regardless of what the press says, the economy is good right now. Interest rates are low, unemployment figures are low, the economic reports show the economy growing, and if not for rising gas prices we would say the economy is booming.
It is a good time to buy real estate, before the prices and interest rates begin to go back up. And you know they will.
Copyright 2007
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)