Admin

Why Are You Waiting to Buy?

By
Real Estate Agent with EWM Real Estate

It fathoms my mind why anyone at this point is still sitting on the fence to buy a home. Unless the buyer is completely unable to purchase for a solid reason, waiting no longer makes any emotional or financial sense.

Emotionally, most people were not budging when it came to buying a home back in 2007. Today, in 2010, the Ft. lauderdale real estate market, in particular, has seen it worst times and now we are on the rebound. With several consecutive months of inventory reduction, most buyers the Ft. Lauderdale area are now aware that optimal selections are quickly becoming a thing of the past. I will update everyone on the inventory levels from December when they become available next week. With that said, some still are procrastinating. Why?

If you are jobless, with a credit score substantially below 600 or penniless, I can understand not purchasing a home. People that fit into this category are really not buyers. There must be three items met before qualifying as a true buyer. You must be ready, willing and able. An absence of any of these criteria puts you out of the buyer's arena.

To those who are true buyers, what other signs are you needing to see before you act? Interest rates which bottomed out late last year at 4.71% are now 5.09% as of today according to the Florida Association of Realtors. Most experts claim that interest rates are likely to be hovering around 6% by year's end. Let's put this into an example of value.

Let's say you are mortgaging $100k. When the interest rate was 4.71%, the cost to finance $100k would be $519.24 per month. If the experts are right and the interest rate climbs to 6%, which is still historically low, the same $100k financed now at 6% will cost $599.55 each month. The is like paying $15,500 more for the home at the end of this year from the one prior. This represents an increase of 15.5% in your payment. Do you honestly think that prices will drop another 15% by year's end? They likely, will not. Clearly, anyone waiting is now starting to lose money. The bottom has come and will quickly leave along with the best choices of a place to live.

In the Ft. Lauderdale real estate market, conditions continue to improve each week. There are new home builders that are seeing orders for new homes briskly picking up. While prices for new construction have mainly remained constant, they are NOT falling!

The real estate market continues to be fueled by the Federal Government's first time buyer's tax credit of up to $8,000 and the $6,500 credit being offered to qualified current homeowners or people who lived in their homes for the past 5 of the last 8 years.

Again, I say why are you waiting. With free money, some of the lowest interest rates ever seen, choices shrinking, this is the time to act and turn 2010 into a feast instead of famine.

If you need help in understanding your options, please....dont's hesitate to contact me at your earliest convenience.