Real Estate Marketing & Beyond
You may have missed the best opportunity to buy a house at the bottom of the market back in 2010 and 2011. But there was probably a good reason since unemployment rates were off the charts and the economy was in chaos. However, this winter is presenting another top opportunity to purchase Arbors Homes for Sale that might not be seen for some time to come.
Winter is the slow season for home purchases which means there will be fewer buyers in the market but there are several other factors that make this an appealing time to make your purchase. Let's start with the fact that mortgage rates continue cruising along at near record lows. However, don't expect mortgage rates to stay at these low rates when the hot spring real estate market comes around. Based on low unemployment rates, a slow but consistently strengthening economy, and the persistent threat of hyperinflation, the Federal Reserve is expected to soon raise interest rates. You want to strongly consider locking in a low interest rate before that happens.
Home prices have been appreciating in value for several years. Keep in mind that many of these homes values were under water for many years. Today, these home values are just getting back to prerecession values. We are eight years down the road. That means even at prerecession values, these homes are still a good value based on eight years of inflation.
Over the past two years, the market has been tight. There have been more buyers than sellers. Going into the slow winter market and with recovered home values, more houses will come onto the market. But the buyers' market slows down. Although prices are higher, they will stabilize during the winter and there will be fewer buyers competing for the inventory that is out there as well as more inventory to choose from.
But beware, come the hot spring and summer market, buyers are expected to swarm onto the market. Predictions are that as many as six million houses will sell between April and August of 2016. That is an important fact that makes buying this winter an important consideration.
In many markets, especially major metropolitan cities, rents are seriously outpacing home appreciation. When all costs are considered (mortgage, insurance, property taxes, etc.) it is less expensive to buy than it is to rent. Rents will only continue to go up. That's not difficult to understand since landlords, as owners, have to cover all of those costs and add another 10 percent or 15 percent as their profit margin.
The problem for many people wanting to buy a home is either coming up with the down payment or a flaw on their credit report or both. One thing that hasn't changed is that major banks still are not approving mortgages to these people for the most part. A few of them have slightly loosened the qualification standards but not much.
However, the mortgage market has changed dramatically over the past three to four years. For some borrowers, private money is filling in the gap left by big banks. Seller financing has become much more widely available as well as well as financing notes provided by private individuals that prefer a 7 percent loan secured by a real estate first mortgage over the uncertainty of investing in Wall Street.
This winter is your next best chance to find a home to purchase and explore your financing possibilities.
Please leave a comment if this article was helpful or if you have a question.
Author bio: Brian Kline has been investing in real estate for more than 35 years and writing about real estate investing for seven years. He also draws upon 30 plus years of business experience including 12 years as a manager at Boeing Aircraft Company. Brian currently lives at Lake Cushman, Washington. A vacation destination, a few short miles from a national forest. In the Olympic Mountains with the Pacific Ocean a couple of miles in the opposite direction.
