Beltran Properties

2009. This is the first time I am writing that date. How fast the time does pass. 

We hope your holidays are progressing well and you are looking  forward to the new year.

Thinking of the future, are you watching the market? Is there anyone who is not? We are all trying to predict when the best time is to invest. Well, if you are one of the lucky ones, this market is for you. Lucky, meaning that you have your loan pre-approved, you have necessary funds to close, and you are keeping within your price range. If you are there, then there are bargains to be found. If you need to sell your existing home to move up, you will have to wait until it is sold to start looking or offering. REO's and short sale offers will be less sensitive to your need for time to sell, they want to sell and sell fast. If you ask them for time extensions, they will not be as patient.

Clients are always asking is the market at the bottom? When will it go up? I have been told this will happen only when buyers get into the market. When people begin to spend, and stop waiting for the market to change, the invintory of homes for sale reduce, and the "supply and demand" causes prices to rise. Already I see battles for some properties that are desireable or a great price. If they wait until it changes, then they have already missed the peak or bottom. Here is a good exercise to show that idea. Take a blank piece of paper and draw a line down. When you think it is at the "bottom of the market" then turn it up and proceed up. When you think it is at the top, turn down again. What that exercise shows is when you think the market has changed, you are already too late to respond at the very top or bottom.The best time to buy is when you are ready and have found the home you want. Holding back will only cause you to loose the home you wanted or the best interest rate.

Here is a good example of the missed interest rate.A mortgage broker I know had qualified a client for a great loan, at a great rate and could perform in the time frame to purchase the home they wanted. His client had heard on the news that rates were to go down, so he said he would wait until that happened to his loan. What happened was that loan stopped being offered by the lender, and when they tried to get another, the interest had risen another 3/4 of a percent. 

What they tell you on the news is not always going to happen right away. Remember most of their figures are nationwide, and generally do not represent your area. And bank interest rates?, they change constantly as they fill their needs for income. If one program stimulates enough borrowers for that time period, then they will change programs. 

I worked at a mortgage brokerage, and the one thing that was constant, was the fact that the lenders changed their programs often. We received faxes daily on the updates of the programs, interest changes, and requirements.

So have a great New Year, and listen to you real estate professional.