Let's Talk About It

While we may not have seen the bottom yet, here is some good news about the housing market, all posted about the same time.

Existing home sales spike

Mortgage applications spike

New housing starts surge

The official word from Freddie Mac said that we are seeing the bottom for mortgage interest rates.

Currently a buyer with good credit can get a 5% fixed rate for 30 years. If you want to buy down the rate 2 points, you can get a 4.5% rate.

Come on fence-sitters...what is it going to take?

Mortgage interest rates are now at their lowest point in 52 years. Analysts do not expect any more dramatic drops, but expect rates to fluctuate around their current levels.

Here is the article from CNN Money.

I don't want to sound like a broken record, but now is the time to make the move into a new home.

Yes, many economists are optomistic about the housing market, some more than others. In the last week, there have been numerous reports that are beginning to shed light on a recovery. Buyers are starting to buy and banks are starting to lend money again.

I personally have experienced increased interest in my web sites and many potential buyers who are actually providing me with some contact information. I am also seeing foreclosed homes moving off the market at a faster pace lately...many that I have looked at for one buyer or another has a pending offer after only days on the market.

My suggestion is this. If you are going to buy a new home, now is probably the best it is going to get. Interest rates are at or below 5% for good buyers, invenotory is still good and banks will lend money to those who are qualified to borrow. Below are a few recent articles to reinforce what I am saying.

Betting on a housing recovery

Existing home sales spike 5%

Mortgage applications spike

Here is an excerpt from an article I just read today:

"Over the past two and a half weeks, a period when the entire market has surged, the homebuilders ETF has been one of the big leaders -- it is up more than 40% compared to about 20% for the S&P 500.

In fact, even though the broader stock market is still down sharply this year, several homebuilding stocks are actually in the black, including D.R. Horton (DHI, Fortune 500), Lennar (LEN, Fortune 500) and Pulte Homes (PHM, Fortune 500)." (Paul R. La Monica, CNNMoney.com) Here is the entire article.

Call or email me ASAP to take advantage of the deals to be had.

I have a listing that I need to get sold quickly. My seller will now accept a short term (2 year) contract with 10% down.

It is a nice 3 bedroom 1 3/4 bath home near Irvington.

Please check it out or pass this link to anyone you think might be interested.

http://www.indygm.net/38catherwood 

Since the President has signed the stimulus bill, there has been an alarming number of stimulus scammers crop up, many with official looking seals and logos.

Many will send you an email asking for your personal information so they can alert you as to how you can receive your share of the stimulus monies. Others want you to send them a few dollars for the same info...now they have your credit card info or bank account info.

Others are mailing to homeowners under the guise of helping with their troubled mortgage.

PLEASE...do not reply to anyone who CONTACTS YOU. Do not give them ANY information.

If you are having trouble with your mortgage payments, contact a Realtor® or a reputable mortgage company or broker. If you have tax questions regarding what the stimulus package will do for you, contact a reputable tax preparer or a tax attorney.

Please alert everyone you know of these scams. To file a complaint in English or Spanish, visit the FTC's online Complaint Assistant at https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/  or call (877) 382-4357.

I hope you have. This is a great video commentary put out by Honda.\

Since I don't have much to write about, I will push you again to really consider making the home purchase that you have been putting off now. Mortgage interest rates are way down again...near 5% for a fixed 30 year loan.

I could write about the AIG bonuses but that is old news by now.

No, I did not watch the President on the Tonight Show.

I have been working on an investment property for one of my out of state investors. I am fixing what our contractor ((*^((&&% up. I trusted a contractor based on a referral from a very picky client of mine. I just got tired of dealing with poor workmanship and loooooooonnnnngggg delays that I decided to fix and finish. Water pipes froze last winter because the furnace was taken out and the water lines were not blown out...I have to open up a wall and fix at least one leak.

I should be a General Contractor rather than a Realtor; I don't make any money doing either.

Come on, contact me and let's go buy a house. By the way, I did update the short foreclosure list on my web sites; I can't update my home page to reflect the new date.

Fannie Mae has just rolled out what appears to be a fantastic mortgage program for some of their foreclosed properties. I have a lender checking into it, but so far it looks like a fantastic deal.

I think Freddie Mac has or will have similar programs. The FHA 203K is also a good program if you are considering buying a foreclosure.

Check out the Fannie Mae program and search their current inventory by clicking the icon below. Please be sure to contact me for more info about any of these homes or to make an offer on any and for help with financing.l

Fannie Mae has just rolled out what appears to be a fantastic mortgage program for some of their foreclosed properties. I have a lender checking into it, but so far it looks like a fantastic deal.

I think Freddie Mac has or will have similar programs. The FHA 203K is also a good program if you are considering buying a foreclosure.

Check out the Fannie Mae program and search their current inventory by clicking the icon below. Please be sure to contact me for more info about any of these homes or to make an offer on any and for help with financing.l

Rather than printing new regular business cards which I needed, I printed these and have been handing them out and mailing them to everybody I know.

Refer me to a friend if you are not interested in buying or selling right now, I really need the business and really appreciate your confidence in referring me.

A couple days ago, I went by a bank owned property to get pictures for an investor I am working with. It is next door to the house I spent my childhood years in. It is one of those tract houses where all have the same floor plan, maybe reversed and different brick on the front, but otherwise identical. It is amazing how much the rooms have shrunk and the windows are much closer to the floor. Anyway, that got me to thinking about what we did as kids and some of the things that are long gone, but still fresh in my mind. I will be showing my age, but here are some things I remember; can you add to the list?

• Since there were mostly girls in the neighborhood, I got pretty good at playing "Jacks".
• Have you ever played "Mother May I?" Gosh, that was hard to master.
• Going barefoot in the summer time and the gravel in the driveways didn't even affect you while running.
• Mud flaps on my bicycle.
• I had a headlight/radio combination on my ride...of course it was AM radio and you had to be going a certain direction to receive your favorite station.
• Speaking of bicycles, my friend got a brand new Sting Ray bike that had a wide slick rear tire and a 5 speed stick shift; oh was I jealous.
• "Put a kick in your tank". Gulf filling stations gave away a pair of plastic stick-on horse shoes to put on your car. In my case they went on my bike.
• How about WIFE-AM radio. Everybody had to have one of those styrofoam balls on their car antennae.
• Milk boxes.
• The corner grocery store. No such thing as the big box "one stop shopping".

Add to my list. By the way, the house I looked at was in fair shape and is priced at $10,000.00. Click the link above to see pictures of 3314 S. Laurel.

I prefer to get my real estate news from other agents, both locally and across the country.

Recently, agents in some of the areas that saw the balloon burst first and experienced the largest decline in home prices are reporting a tremendous surge in buyers and inventories dropping significantly.

Here is a link to a recent post to a blog that I participate in that tells it like it is. Home buyers, if you want the best deal, you might want to disengage your rear from the fence you have been trying to hatch for the last year or two...times are a changing.