Archive for the 'Vermont Market Conditions' Category

It’s official. President Obama has signed a bill that will give first-time homebuyers’ an $8,000 tax credit if they purchase a home before December 1, 2009. If you are thinking about buying your first home, this is an excellent opportunity that you can’t miss. Not only are prices lower than they have been in years, interest rates are almost record lows and now to top that off you can receive up to $8,000 back from your taxes. It doesn’t get any better than this. If you would like some help in this process give me a call today and check out our web site to see the details of the plan at www.c21-advantage.com you will be glad you did. Brian

There are a number of people out there that are struggling with large mortgage payments and other outstanding debt that has become too much of a burden. If you are one of those individuals and have fallen behind on your payments and have tried to renegotiate your loan to no avail, then a short sale may be your best option verses having a foreclosure. A short sale is where you sell your property for less than what you owe the bank. In this case, the bank would have to be willing to accept such a transaction. In many cases they would prefer to have something verses reclaiming the house and not getting any of their money back. In most cases, short sales net the banks more money than they would ultimately receive with a foreclosure sale. If you think you may be in this type of situation, contact me and I will help you out. It is not an ideal solution, but it is one that may be worth discussing. Brian

Have you noticed how negative the print media and television new’s anchors have been recently concerning the economy? Well I certainly have and I wonder to myself, do you think they might be creating some of the misconceptions out there? Sure things are not what we would like them to be, but on a local level, the real estate market is prime to be taken advantage of. We have a better than average supply  of homes (homes for sale between $100,000 and $250,000) with better than average interest rates and people can make great purchases at this time. Don’t believe that you can’t get a loan. We have a number of local lenders that are more than happy to loan to a good qualified customer. Are you trying to time the market? If so, you are gambling a potential good thing away.

After watching the political debates it made me stop and think what people must be thinking about the current real estate market. On one hand, we have the group that thinks it is better to wait and not purchase to see if they can time the market, and on the other hand, we have those individuals that are out looking to purchase their dream home at these reduced prices. The sideliners would tell those people to wait, prices will come down more. In truth, they may come down more in some areas of the country ,but what you are risking is  the rise in interest rates to pay for these homes. In the end,  you may pay more in the long run because of the increased interest you will pay over the life of the loan.  These past couple of weeks we have seen interest rates rise at least a half of a percent. Is this the beginning of a trend ? I don’t know but what I do know is, that there are some incredible deals out there right now when the interest rates are hovering at 6.5% or less. In fact, I am in the process of buying a property right now that will be a great investment in the years to come. Prices will rise again they always have.

To say that these past few weeks have been an emotional roller coaster ride would be a huge understatement to say the least. With that said, I have had a front and center seat to what is happening in our local real estate market. First and foremost, the interest rates are extremely volatile right now, although all in all, they are still extremely attractive, although once this past week they did reach 7% only to come down to 6.875% the next day. The price adjustments some people have made are extremely exciting if you are looking to buy.  The inventory and choices are incredible and most Sellers  want to make a deal work. The market right now favors the Buyers. When was the last time that happened?  A long, long time ago. So if you are trying to time this market, I would suggest getting on board soon, before a rise in interest rates eliminates any small savings you may see in pricing.

Well the Senate just passed a bill that they say will help the economy get back on track. It will now go to the House for their vote. I wonder what the real impact is going to be on us down the road. If we really knew how much this is going to cost us, I wonder if we would be in favor of this bail out. It is amazing to me that Wall Street has put our economy in such dire straits. We are damned if we do and damned if we don’t. Not a real positive place to be considering the market was already feeling the effects of over pricing and over speculation.