Yes! Today is the day I will begin blogging. And so with a craving for McDonald's sugar free, fat free vanilla latte, I head out to take my daughter to work and drive through to get my latte. Then when carrying in my latte and bacon, egg, cheese biscuit, my latte in slow motion goes flying through the air then splat on the floor. What a mess! Well, what are ya going to do? Clean it up and have hot spiced apple tea instead. What's going on in the Lebanon, MO residential market? We're cleaning it up. There are currently 432 listings with an average of 18 selling a month over the last five months. That is painful as a Realtor and as a seller. But as a buyer, the selection is great and the prices and interest rates are hard to beat as well.
As an agent with my CDPE certificate (certified distressed property expert) I have been able to help sellers who were facing foreclosure avoid that and use a short sale as way of moving on with less of a hit to their credit and, in these cases, no fear of a future deficiency judgment. That is a great feeling and one I would like to repeat. Locally, there seems to be a fear of these short sales and while certainly understand the fear of a lengthy closing or worse something falling apart. I feel the changes that the government has made in governing the process length is helping. Contact me for a list of short sales listed by me and other agents in our area - it can be a great deal for the buyer and seller.
Land prices are falling too. I used to believe that the land was sacred and that the price of land would stay somewhat steady. Not any more. We are seeing listings of land with the price per acre being under $1,000 an acre. We used to see a standard of $2,000 and acre around here more or less depending on the amount of ammenities available or use value of the land.
Buyers in this market tend to think that the best deal is just around the corner. Ok, it is possible that after you write on the dotted line, a similar home will come on the market priced $10,000 less. But, if you know what you want when you start shopping, know your price range, and shop for those features (with your informed Realtor) be confident when you make an offer that you are getting what you want and don't look back (on line or around the block).
The key to making it in this economy is to just keep going! Make adjustments. Blog if you have to!
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