I Resolve To.....

We all make lists of things that we swear we're not going to give up on this year.  Blogging has been one of those things for me.  For the last three years I have attempted to start and continue a blog, each time, posting an article.  Four days later writing another post, a week or 10 days later, another one, another post a month later, another post... well I'm done. So this year, I am going to get off on the right foot and hopefully next year I will not be sitting here on January 1st starting again.

This will not be a "one subject" blog.  It will be on just about any subject that comes up.  Some might be by Starr, some might be contributions from friends, but whatever it is about, we hope to keep it interesting.

What a year it's been in the real estate Market.  Everyone has been trying to figure what the economy is going to do.  Are we going to get some certainty back?  Raise taxes,  don't raise the taxes, have another stimulus program, bribe people to buy homes, who knows what the right thing is that will get things moving.

One thing that I know right now is that it feels like it's going to be a good year as already there a lot of people out there starting to look at houses that are on the market.

So, is it the right time to buy a house?  Only you can answer that question.  What I can do is help give you some information that might help.  It seems to be the opinion of most experts around is that while we saw some interest rates in the mid three percent range recently, it is not likely that we'll ever see that again as we're already starting to see interest rates creep back up, approaching the 5% mark.  

Those younger buyers in the market right now might start to panic if they see 6 or 7 percent interest rates again (which we are likely heading that way) but those buyers were not in the market in the seventies when mortgage rates were 18%.  So in retrospect is a 6 or 7 percent mortgage is a great mortgage rate. If you're also waiting for prices to go down, don't, they're not. The answer is that if you are in a financial position to purchase a home and want to purchase a home, then do it because it's doubtful interest rates or prices are going to go back down significantly anytime soon.

Here are some numbers to think about.  If you are looking at purchasing a  $200,000 home at a 5% interest rate, and rates go up one percent to six percent, that little 1% interest rate difference will make about $30,000 difference in the price of the home you can buy for the same payment.  Now instead of the $200,000 home you will only be able to buy a $170,000 home for the same payment.  

It's not likely that the market is going to take off this year but it is likely that as people start to take advantage of the low interest rates before they go up, that will bring down the supply of homes, demand goes up, and you will start to see a slight rise in prices.  Some experts say that here in our area, later in the year, demand for a resale homes could go up as it appears there may be some shortage of new home availability due to the lack of lots that are in the pipeline.  It takes several years to bring a piece of land to the market but because of the economy, many builders slammed on the brakes in a moment of panic before they realized that the world was not coming to an end here in Central Texas. 

So there you have and it's done, the first post of 2011.  Now I can get onto my other list of things like losing weight, more exercise, eating better, being a nicer person and so on and so forth. Will I be able to keep all of these resolutions? Who knows?  I can tell you this, just like every other year I am going to  give it the good old college try.  Hope you All have a great new year