It's Spring again and you can feel the energy in the air. As the flowers blossom so have the buyers. They are out in full force. For the longest time buyers were suppressed in the darkness of the winter. Cocooned by the news that was plastered to the TV and the papers. All negative thoughts and images. The image that most stands out in my mind was the picture of a family walking away from their home. Their daughter was holding on to her teddy bear by the arm. People were afraid to buy, afraid to look, action was still like the Christmas night.

My Question is this: Was it really the buyers that were not out and looking or was it the attitude of Industry professionals? Loan officers did not know what they could offer, Realtors were tired of writing offers on short sale properties simply to get no response and loose that buyer, appraisers were afraid to appraise because they were under severe scrutiny. The negative energy that surrounded our market was being passed to the buyers and sellers in the market like a bad winter cold. Conversations for lending went like this: "I would love to do that for you but I am not certain that it will be there after we get into contract. So we can move forward but I cannot guarantee that they will honor this loan and if they do not, here would be the alternative." The alternative generally was something that the buyer did not want to do. Other conversations went like this: "you can write an offer on this property but it is a short sale and we have to wait for the bank to respond to the request. It will be difficult to lock because there is no way to anticipate their response time."

Spring is back and so are the attitudes. The conversations that were filled with uncertainty have turned to that of positivity and optimism. As a consumer, I am starting to receive the little notepads and information from Realtors on my doorstep. As a loan officer I can again tell my clients that we can get you this and it will be approximately at this rate and payment depending on the day that we lock. Get out there and start writing offers. I am beginning to hear, "I think this is the bottom" and all other statements that are subjective. Who cares what is being said. I am just happy to see the  "Spring" back in the step of the industry.

I have also seen this in the blogs themselves, "A dose of happiness." Welcome Back Everybody!