Bad News? Or Not So Bad?
In This Post
It's not all bad, folks.
I read in the newspaper everyday about bad news in the housing industry. The numbers from last year (a bad year, by the way) were better than this year. And last month was better than this month. Well throw another log on the fire, if you must. The country's housing market is not what it was from 202-2007 and it won't be, ever again.
We all know the old real estate saw about location is everything. So take a minute and think about where you live. Are you in a location swamped with foreclosures and short sales, or are you in an area with a somewhat stimulating job growth profile? Either way, what are you doing about it?
If you live in the first type area, an area not doing so well, most people, I think, are just putting their heads in the sand and muttering, "I wish someone would do something about this." But some are actually going to work and helping to improve those neighborhoods on a local level. Neighbors getting together and mowing lawns of vacant houses is one way. Buying locally to help stimulate small company growth is another.
If you live in area type number 2, what can you do? First off, you can talk positively about your neighborhood and your city. You can encourage neighbors who are in a funk because of continuous bad news from the press to continue sprucing up their homes. It's not about making big bucks in the housing industry, it's about pride of ownership.
Another thing you can do is encourage renters you know to look into buying a home. Homes are more affordable now across the country than any time in the past ten years. Home prices are low and interest rates are way low.
And, because there are renters who will never buy, why don't you look in to picking up a nearby property so that some of these renters can help you pad your retirement by buying a property with their rent checks to you.
No matter where you live, if you have bad credit, start working to improve it. If you have good credit talk to a real estate professional. Don't think about buying to make a quick buck. Think about buying for long term gains, a significant tax write off, and quality of life.
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