Archive for the 'Vermont Market Conditions' Category

 All indications are that consumer confidence is up in Burlington, Vermont and the real estate market is more active this year than last year during the same time period. More people are thinking of making a move which will increase the inventory and buyer options on the market.

The interest rates are still extremely low and the Federal Government is still offering tax credits for those individuals that qualify and make the move in the required time frame. Don’t get left behind wishing you had done something a few months from now. Drop me a line and I can help you through the process. Contact me Brian at Brian@c21-advantage.com and I can help you with your real estate move.

View what’s on the market in Burlington, Vermont.

Now that summer is officially over with yesterday being Labor Day, I hope everyone got to enjoy it to its fullest. It definately was a shorter summer with all the rain we had in June and July. Mother Nature was kind to us these past 4 days though with no rain even predicted. With that said, the real estate market is still chugging along and the interest rates are still great. Now is the time to make that move before winter takes its toll. We bought our annual ski passes this weekend thus confirming that it is inevitable and not that far away. But for now, we will enjoy the rest of the warmer weather and look forward to the changing colors that are in our near future. If you have a real estate need, drop me a line. Brian

Recently I attended a Realtor function where I was able to talk to a number of my peers about the current market. It appears that we are seeing a resurrection of sorts for deals being done. The attorneys that we work with said that most of their business is now purchases instead of refinances and all the Realtors that I spoke with seemed to be optimistic about the current condition of the market. It has picked up and with the rates still at incredibly favorable status, it really is a great time to buy. We are starting to see multiple offers on properties that are priced properly and we are seeing more inventory that is representative of the market conditions. If you would like to see how you can plan for your future in real estate, drop me a line or give me a call. Brian French

Finally mother nature is finally showing signs of warm weather and summer like conditions.  Along with that the real estate market has warmed up these past two months as well.  There has a been a lot more activity and if it continues through the fall, this winter will be a lot easier to handle than last winter. The interest rates are still fantastic after an initial bump up into the 6% range, but they have slowly made their way down to around the 5.5% range just recently.  There are a lot of motivated sellers out there and prices have made their way down to reasonable figures.  If you are thinking about buying, now is the time before interest rates bump back up. Call me or drop me a line,  and I can help. Brian. 800-445-6298 ext 34.

Recently, I have been working on a few short sales that have been extremely frustrating. A short sale is when the person selling a home owes more than what it is currently worth and the bank is willing to sell the property without them recouping the full amount owed. It is a long and difficult process that sometimes does not work out and the bank ends up foreclosing on the property. Normally, you would think that the banks would rather lose some money than gamble on reselling it once they have gone to the expense of foreclosure but that is certainly not the case.  Like I said, I have been working on a number of these cases and have tried to get a couple of banks to respond to offers that have been presented on these properties. In one case, I have had 6 offers for over 3 months and the bank still has not responded to these offers. It is costing them, the consumer, and the tax payer lots of money each and every day that goes by without a closing taking place. In one instance, the United States Government bailed this bank out which is even more frustrating to me, because it is our tax money they are gambling with. A few weeks ago, I wrote our representatives in Washington, only because I don’t know what else to do to speed up this process. It is agravating to say the least. In other parts of the country this process is happening much quicker, i Just wonder why it can’t be the same in Vermont. What do you think? Brian

It has been awhile since we talked about the real estate market in Burlington Vermont, only because there wasn’t much to talk about until now. June was a fantastic month for people putting homes under deposit. Interest rates bumped up this past month, but have slowly worked themselves back down under 5.5% in most cases. We have closed the gap for closings -time homebuyer tax rebate has helped our economy and more and more people are taking the plunge into home ownership by purchasing their first home. There are lots of deals out there if you know where to look and I can help you out with it. Just drop me a line. Brian French

There is an article today on the internet that states that the Government is predicting that the Recession has started to subside.  Expectations are such here, that we are hoping that things will noticeably change by the end of the summer. I was talking to another business owner yesterday and he said that the glacier has started to move slightly in reference to the economy, and I for one, think he may be right. We are starting to experience more phone calls and more showings on our listings which is the first sign of more activity. Yes our numbers are far behind last year’s but there may be a light at the end of the tunnel. The price decline that we have been experiencing has slowed dramatically which means we may be at the bottom of the market. It is a great time to buy before the interest rates take a hike on potential inflation discussions. If you would like to make a move, let me know. I can help. Brian

Mortgage Reform is a must. I am currently dealing with two potential short sales on properties that have loans larger than what a buyer has offered on the properties. It becomes a short sale if the bank agrees to take a loss on the property and convey it to the new buyer. The current process of trying to get answers from the mortgage company is incredibly frustrating and totally inefficient. In order for the mortgage company to talk to an agent a letter from the Seller needs to be sent to the mortgage company authorizing them to communicate with their agent. No problem there. I understand the privacy issues at stake. If the mortgage company does not lose the document, you need to give them 3 days before they will talk to you if it is faxed. Now that is efficient. Once they have the authorization and you have sent them a contract they have up to 14 days to let you know that they have received it. At least in my case, that is what they told me. At that time, they will let you know if they received it, and only, if they have a complete short sale packet. Of which, there are not standard forms that they supply agents, but apparently you need to have ESP to figure that one out. If you don’t, they will not respond to your offer. The complete short sale packet includes, but may not be limited to, seller’s last two year’s tax returns, last two months bank statements, a letter of hardship if they are not working and a whole list of more items that seem pretty standard to me. Unfortunately, they don’t supply this standard list? Why I ask. For each day that goes by, the bank is losing money and it is costing the borrower more money. There is no urgency to this process. Deals get lost because buyers don’t want to wait the 30-45 days before they really know if their offer is going to be accepted or not. It is a ludicrous system and needs to be changed. The people that got us in this mess, are dragging their feet to help get us out of it. The longer it takes, the more that is lost. Where can we go and who can we turn to for help in this situation? Not long ago banks wanted to get in the real estate business and were turned down. Thank goodness for congress recognizing that it could lead to huge problems. Oh wait, it was their lending problems that did lead to huge problems in the real estate market and our global economy. Now who is going to change the rules to make sure they don’t make things worse than they already are. Someone needs to take control and institute new regulations that will expedite the process. Based upon my experience it won’t be the mortgage companies.

After reading a number of articles dealing with our dire economy and future predictions, I can only wonder in amazement how we got in this mess to begin with. Years ago, communities could count on their local friendly conservative bankers to help them do the right thing in terms of loans. You know, not giving you a loan unless you had the werewithal to pay it back. Establishing an equity position, so if you did default they could unload it without a significant loss. Having you have a viable ongoing place of employment for at least two years and your last two years of tax returns to prove your income just to name a few. I wonder now, as we all endure the incredible pain and uncertainty of our current economy if some of the mortgage giants and banks who caused this mess, think about what they have done and really care at all. It is a different world today then it used to be when i was growing up and looking to buy my first property. I wonder what our economy would be like now, if all our friendly conservative bankers with the old rules were the ones that were the ones  giving the  loans a few years back. I bet we wouldn’t be where we are today. Yes, things aren’t like they used to be, and that is not always a good thing.

Have you ever heard your parents talk about the good old days? If you haven’t then I would be surprised. When it comes to real estate in Vermont the “Good Ol Days’ are here now. Interest rates are unbelievably low and home prices are lower than they have been in years and the supply is ample. So when it comes to having it as good as it was in the good ol days the time is now to buy. These rates and opportunities will not last forever. If you are sitting on the sidelines trying to time this market, you may may be in for a big surprise. Interest rates can adjust upward extrememly quickly and the market can change just as quick for the seller as it did for the buyer. So if I were you, I would take advantage of today. Because not too long from now, we will be looking back at this time and wishing the “good ol days” were back again, but then it will be too late to have made that fantastic investment. What are your thoughts? I would love to know.