Does anybody have any good real estate news to share?
We have a client in Boone, NC that closed 92 transactions in 2008 at higher prices than the 107 in 07 or the 187 in 06. They have a great product at a great price and have succeeded when no one else was. It is called Echota, http://www.echotanc.com. Condos priced from $300,000-600,000 with awesome amenities and great views. Has anyone heard of any other successes out there?
Clarification added 11 months ago:
An update on Echota. They have written 2 contracts in the first 9 days of 09!
Answers (22)
Ok so on a much smaller scale... Spoke with a new home construction site agent who wrote 5 contracts this past weekend... Also a home builder who wrote 7 contracts for brand new semi custom homes in December... Not everyone is waiting for the tempting - 4.5% loan rate we keep reading about... First time homebuyers this is your hour - should be a daily chant.
Cheers Heather
I'm a broker in both North Carolina (south of Asheville) and Jupiter, Florida and I see increased activity too - in both markets...more showings & sales - which is odd over the winter. A lot of investors looking & buying here in Florida as the deals are pretty amazing...properties selling well below original developer pricing when product was new so this is finally bringing people back to the table.
I've got three clients under contract within a week......and i've started servicing section 8 and other NYS housing programs
There is alot of good news concerning real estate. Interest rates are low and expected to get lower. Many first-time home buyers are actually trying to get into a home in order to get to use the $7500 tax credit. And depending on your area, both FHA and Rural Housing loan options are available, which works for those first time home buyers and people that may have less than perfect credit (more common than not, these days).
As to successes, here in Hickory, NC and surrounding, business has picked up, too, though we didn't have a big drop-off either (at least not by the numbers). Of course, we benefit from both Boone and Asheville, as we have several sells that come from people that looked at those markets, then visited us where they can buy much cheaper compared, but still with mountain views.
Success is also measured by the person. Good agents generally do better in down, or slow markets, not worse. By "good" I mean agents that have built their business on a business plan rather than riding the wave of easy sales that come with boom markets. An agent with a plan is going to work that plan in good and bad times. Bad times generally mean that so-so agents and the "easy sale" agents that became an agent because of the boom, will quit, leaving more of what is left for the prepared agent.
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As a residential Real Estate sales agent in the St. Louis, Mo. area, I have been having success with an increase in showings to Buyer clients looking to make a move within the first quarter of 09! I'm constantly reminding Buyers that this is their time for awesome opportunities like no other!
Vito B
Senior Executive with success in driving top- and bottom-line performance in global consumer packaged goods.
Best Answers in: Risk Management (1)
We are seeing a general increase in traffic, both online and with showings on listings. Wrote one buyer contract this week. Online activity (which I track very closely and look at as a pre-cursor for field activity) has been very variable. Up significantly over the past weekend, and dropped to virtually nothing on Monday and Tuesday. General economic climate in Ohio is fairly negative. It appears that many consumers have pulled back from making significant purchase decisions of any kind. Vehicle sales stats for December bear this out. Foreclosure and REO pipeline is very full and continues to depress pricing. Listings in the MLS continue to decline, which is interesting, as many sellers appear to be waiting on the sidelines. My guess is that they will start to jump back in at the littlest sign of market strengthening which will contribute to a further downward spiral in pricing. Not sure if Buyer's are waiting for lower rates, or are just not interested in trying to "catch the falling knife". MLS dues were due this week. Will be interesting to get a feel for how many agents decided to pursue other lines of work. Agent competition is definitely dropping. Those that are undercapitalized, unmotivated, or simply outclassed from a skills perpsective appear to be disengaging from the industry at a rapid rate. Good news for those of us with survival plans and strategies in place.
Stream of consciousness... Gotta love it.
Vito Boscaino
Managing Partner, MBA
North High Realty, LLC
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In our newspaper this morning Jan 7th the following article appeared
Erie Real Estate Strong , this was a nice boost for our local market i think. It's nice to see a positive article being written.
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Craig G
Realtor® at CENTURY21 DELA Group
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Well relative to my region (South Texas), there was some encouraging news in the "Brownsville Herald" today regarding the state of housing down here. It seems our home values have decreased only about .95% compared to 10% nationally (I am quoting the paper's stats), and they seem to be holding. So if you are looking for solid investment opportunities, I would check out this region. We have good economic growth, strong rental base and it is a highly desirable region for retirees with a great climate and extremely low cost of living. We call them Winter Texans.
Your readers might appreciate this, especially in this economy. For classified ads, at no charge, for house, apartment and condo rentals, TreeHouseForRent should help.
I am a relatively new Realtor in the North Atlanta Metro area. Since the 1st of the year, I have 3 pending deals. People are receiving financing, contrary to everything broadcasted in the media and great deals are available. Remember, real estate markets are extremely localized. Location is key!
I have felt an increase in interest, My company, has been growing in a down market while many are shrinking. We are rocking all over the country by investing in training and making sure our customer service and technology are top notch.
Sherry R
"Because WHERE you live determines HOW you live...
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Good news? Absolutely! Current market conditions (my market is Colorado Springs) , sinking prices, high inventory and record low interest rates, make this an excellent time to buy! The timing won't last, though, in my opinion, because as soon as we start to see the market strangthen, we'll also see inflation shoot upward (because of all that new money we're printing) and the Fed will increase the interest rates to slow inflation. Results? Plan to buy now!
Hi Jami, We are also seeing an increase in calls, showings, sales, etc. in Boston and Rhode Island. So, despite the media I think people are finally realizing that now is the time to buy and there are many deals out there. If anyone has any money to invest, they should do it now. We all know real estate is cyclical and the only way is UP! So anyone who invests now will make money in the long run.
All the agents in my area are expecting a very active spring market despite media reports!
I had a great year in 2008. My best year ever since I got into real estate in 2001.
Homes are selling in St. Louis. This week 2 homes that my buyers were considering sold before they wrote contracts and one of my homes just got 3 contracts on it in the last few days.
James C B
JCBCapital.com, JCB Capital Performance - Personal Wealth Management, Asset Manager, Financial Planner, Wealth Adviser
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Hi Jami,
Already:
Bank of America modifies (cuts interest rates and/or principal) 265,000 mortgages and 400,000 of acquired Countrywide's mortgages - the largest predatory lending settlement, $8.6 billion. J.P. Morgan Chase will modify 400,000 borrower's mortgages from their acquisition of Washington Mutual. Citigroup will modify 500,000 borrower's mortgages.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (own or back 31 million U.S. mortgages) modify mortgages: resident homeowners 90 days or more late, owe at least 90% of current value, have not filed for bankruptcy - payments would not exceed 38% of their monthly household income through interest rate adjustments and/or longer repayment schedules.
Re-default rates according to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision - 50% mortgage modifications fail within 6 months. Of 950,000 loan modifications for 2008 about 2.2 million foreclosures will have been prevented in 2008 - 3 million prevented since the program began in 2007, as of 12/08.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guarantee or hold 10.5 million nonprime loans worth $1.6 trillion (1/3 of all subprime loans and nearly 2/3 Alt-A loans). Nonprime loans make up 1/3 of the total single-family mortgage portfolios at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (linking them to 8 million - 16% of future foreclosures), as of 12/08.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is advertising 30-year mortgages as low as 4.75 percent on its Web site, Wells Fargo & Co. has an offer for 4.875 percent and Bank of America Corp. has rates at 5 percent. The offers are for borrowers with excellent credit who put 20 percent down. The Federal Reserve earlier this week began purchasing $500 billion of mortgage securities backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae to help lower mortgage costs. - Bloomberg
JC Brandon
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Real Estate is always a sound investment(they aren't making any more land) with interest rates at all time lows and great pricing opportunities this is a great time to buy! There is ample inventory in desirable areas and credit is beginning to loosen. A fabulous time to buy a first home or look at purchasing for investment. Prices are reasonable and so are sellers. We, the people, are the only ones who can turn this market around. And we are doing it! We must believe in our communities and build toward the future.Home ownership is the best means toward that end. Investment in ourselves and our neighborhoods creates stability and optimism. A home is still the biggest asset and wealth builder. You can't build equity if you aren't in the game.You're going to pay rent to someone, why not have it be to yourself.
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Josh C
General Manager at Web Industries; Itinerant Writer; and Decent Little League Coach
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Hi Jami,
Just an observation, which is that home values have held up much better in towns with excellent school systems. It goes to show that investing in public education has more than one return...
Josh.
David N
Real Estate Professional in Greater Seattle Washington
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There is good news in real estate at several levels.
First, and by far the most important, is that buyers and sellers are thinking more about their potential real estate decisions and acting far less impulsively. This is the start of a healthier, truer market.
Second, with very low interest rates, activity is increasing. There are buyers qualifying for loans and buying houses.
Third, most people didn't go into 2008 expecting their country or the world to be in the midst of an economic dissaster by the end of the year, so the news as this all developed was shocking and therefore exceptionally unsettling. But most people have gone into 2009 expecting a continuing stream of bad news. Most people have factored in to their attitudes that there are going to be some more ugly surprises; that the worst isn't necessarily over. So 2009's news isn't likely to be shocking, as 2008's, even when the news isn't any better or is even worse. Most people have some sense of where we're at and roughly where we're headed, and for some that is stirring opportunism.
Fourth, prices have fallen nearly everywhere from a year ago, bringing affordability in some areas to some people with good credit who were previously simply priced out of the market.
Finally, the governments around the world are clumsily acting on various initiatives aimed at priming the market. Whether these are good or bad for the long term, some of them will probably be good for the short term.
For all of the reasons above, I expect 2009 to produce real estate transactions at a faster pace than the second half of 2008. Overall, transactions will take more work to close because people on both sides of the transactions are back to caring about more details that they should have been caring about all along. And that's especially good news for true industry professionals in the various functions that support real estate transactions, because many of their competitors who simply want to make easy deals and collect commissions without working hard for their clients will be forced out of the business.
Good news? You bet!
The Arizona market is speaking affordability. Buyers are coming out in droves. Our owner occupied buyers are excited to own below the price of rent using our exciting new buyers funding program. Not FHA, 580 FICO basement!
Likewise, our solid investors are buying multiple properties that finally cashflow at closing!
Oh I forgot, our Realtor partners find the benefits of our passionate marketing strategy which extracts buyers from all levels!
As the only national franchisor of residential assisted living, we are seeing a dramatic increase in inquiries from individuals who are interested in shifting investment funds away from the risky stock market and into a long term investment that offers protection from market flucuations. In fact, in the month of December, we awarded 8 franchises to people seeking to capitalize on the rapidly increasing need for assisted living services, expecially in smaller rural markets. Debt financing is available for these projects because most smaller banks have not experienced significant mortgage loan losses. Also we are seeing interest in people creating self directed IRAs and 401Ks in order to access retirement funds without creating income tax liablity in order to invest in a real estate based business where they can have greater control over the funds and generate personal income from operating the business.
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Carlisle M
Carlisle Mitchell - Transcend Realty - Personal - Business - Community Development
Houston Heights, Houston Heights, Houston Heights... appreciated in 2007 and 2008. If you are looking for investment opportunities with a market to support value, high rents and booming local commercial development... this is one of them.
I am a Realtor in Northern Virginia, based in Arlington. We are seeing great activity among first time buyers and trade ups (selling to buy a larger home). I just held a listing open Sunday and had about 60 groups of people through, and this was for a $815,000 home, which is a price bracket that has stalled a bit due to the lack of Jumbo money available. However, some lenders, such as Bank of America are starting to offer low rates on Jumbos and there is word that the new administration could try to reinstate the $729,750 Jumbo conforming limit for higher priced metro areas. The current limit is $625,000. I just posted an article from the New York Times about this. For non-Jumbo prices, which in this area is mostly first time buyers or people with a lot of cash, the opportunities are amazing when you combine the negotiability of prices with super low interest rates. If you've been waiting to buy, the deals are out there. 4.8% on a $417,000 loan is fantastic! The same loan amount was around 6.5% as recently as October.
