November 18, 2009
I had been thinking about putting a blog together for some time now, but other things always seemed to get in the way. Finally, after our regularly scheduled weekly meeting here at Windermere where I again heard the different stories about how hot the market is to, oh wait, its really horrible out there, I thought to myself, go to your office right now, push aside your to do list and get writing. So, here I am. There are many stories out there capturing my attention that I think are relevant to understanding what is happening out in the real estate market and our economy in general that I want to write about, but let's just start out slowly and see what is important to you. And as they say at the big box home improvement store, "let's build something together".
My idea here is to focus on what is positive out there. This is not to say that I have not had many difficult conversations with sellers over the last 18 months. I have and they have been heart breaking, especially if they spent well above 550,000 in the last 4-5 years and expect to sell their house for more than they paid for it. So, while this is an unfortunate part of the real estate reality, it is not the only side to the story we have been hearing so much about. The other story is there are some incredible opportunities out there.
I look at houses every day and I am telling you that for the first time in my nearly 10 years of doing this, first time buyers have some really great houses in the 345,00-550,000 range to choose from. Houses that don't need major work, close to amenities and homes you can live in for years if say, you want to have a family. They are that good. And so, part of what I want to do is start showing you some of these that I really like.And let's not forget the tax credit they have recently extended. Clink on this link to help you understand the new parameters. It's pretty amazing and has been extremely successful in helping the real estate market recover, as well all the ancillary services that have been affected by the downturn in the market.
Now, for my favorite house I have seen over the last few days. Click on this house to check it out. You know how sometimes the pictures on listings make a house look better than it really is? Well, in this case, the house actually looks a lot better in person. It's on a great street, close to amenities and in a great school district.
Curious?
