Rates, FSBO's, Pre-foreclosure

It's been a while. There are several things that I wish to mention today. Firstly, I wish to apologize because we are still working on the links on our website. That problem will be remedied in the near future.

The Fed made another increase, as was expected. Of course, there are the concerns for inflation. Mortgage interests have been climbing. Presently, they are hovering around 7%. Yes, this is higher than we've been experiencing in the past several years. But, when you reflect upon it, you realize that this is not so bad. Eight years ago we were at this level and even 1% higher the previous year. And, who can forget the 80's. My Goodness!! So, when you put it into perspective, it's really a different story.

Now, granted, housing costs have risen substantially in that same period of time. Have wages increased as much? We know the answer there. Now, I'm not going to get on my soapbox. But, we continually each day lock more and more people out of the housing market. Condos are costing in the 100K's; a nice relatively reasonable 3/2 single-family home will run approximately the mid 200's.

Enough of that, but it is something that we do have to keep in mind. We should never forget, because that only leads to possibly losing the lesson.

Real Estate has returned to what it was normally. The market is very healthy. We are very lucky in the Greater Orlando area, because we are a destination city. We are also the #2 city in the nation for Conventions, even knocking Chicago out of that position.

But, there is a lot of competition out there. There are over 19,000 MLS listings available. This is going to be a difficult time for For Sale By Owners, unless they are willing to wait, what I would think would be, quite a while.

I’ve even noticed what seems to be more homes going into pre-foreclosure. The summer of ’05 is no longer. I’m not saying this for doom & gloom. But this is reality. In regard to pre-foreclosures, people should speak to their lenders before it is way too late. And by too late, I mean, when they are already starting the papers. It takes several months before a homeowner is served with a pre-foreclosure notice. If you are late with your payments, there are some lenders that will allow you to tack those onto the end of your loan period. Granted, this will definitely cost you, but what will losing your home cost you?

There are also other ways, but you must speak with your lender. You have to understand that the lender does not really wish to own your property. They are not making money on it. They make money from the payments that you send in each month. Anyway, enough for now.

Call me & I’ll be more than happy to discuss this and any other topics with you.

Until next time….Marc It Sold!