A New Year and Maybe a New House Too!

Many people have been holding off on buying a new home because they wanted to wait and see what the market was going to do. Well, 2010 is almost gone and my advice would be to put buying a home on your resolution list for 2011. There are many reasons now is the time to buy. I will outline just a few of my thoughts:

1) Interest Rates are going up! Interest Rates have been creeping up for the last few weeks and are predicted to be into the 5% range at the first of the year. Holding off too long will mean maybe changing your price point on that new home. The higher interest rates go, the more a buyer might need to drop their price in order to stay in their comfortable range of monthly mortgage payments.

2) Home Prices are still at an all time low! The Phoenix Market place has had another drop in price from July to October. The prices have stabilized since October and are moving up and down slightly. It is a great time to buy with the prices so low. Even if the prices drop slightly, they are expected to rebound again.

3) Competition is Down for now. Many buyers seem to start looking in the Spring. This adds more competition and likely a bidding war on the house you might be putting an offer in on. I know, you think I am crazy when I say "a bidding war". But it is true. Even in the past 4 years, I have had multiple homes that my buyer's have gotten into bidding wars on. They say it is a buyer's market but when a nice house comes on the market, many buyers jump for it and creates a frenzy. So, if you start looking now, before the Spring Rush, you may dodge a bullet and not have to compete.

4) Real Estate is a good investment! In the past few years, many have lost money in the Real Estate Market. But the old Theory stays true "Buy Low and Sell High". This is the Low that everyone talks about. So you might as well start making an investment in your future now and see how it grows in the long term.

I am anxious for the New Year and can't wait to help many people find that new home, or vacation home here in Arizona.

Happy Holiday!