Live Chat Will Be Postponed For 2 Weeks

While I’m on vacation, I won’t be able to log in at 3 pm to chat with you.  However, if you have any real estate questions, please feel free to email me at dpace@weichert.com.  I’m happy to answer them!

The Buyers Are Back!

I have definitely noticed a recent increase in homes going under contract.  I’m working with several buyers right now in all different price ranges, and we’ll come up with a list of properties to view.  Within a week’s time, a third of the properties on their list will be under contract.  Properties that have been on for hundreds of days are now being snapped up.  It’s almost amazing.

The buyers are back. 

There is more competition right now.  Perhaps some buyers are rushing to settle on a home before down payment assistance programs, like Nehemiah, vanish this fall.  Perhaps the first time homebuyer tax credit is encouraging people to buy.  It’s still a little too early for the Election moves.  Is there something in the water?

I think a variety of factors are contributing to the latest spur.  Interest rates are still relatively low.  The market is correcting itself…prices have come down allowing more buyers to enter the market.  Sellers are more realistic about pricing their homes.  They may also be more willing to make updates to their homes…because the ones I’ve seen go under contract are the ones that show well.  Or like the author of one of my latest blog entries said, when the economy is uncertain, people turn to real estate for a long-term investment.

Whatever the reason, buyers should be as prepared as possible.  Get your pre-approval before looking at homes.  Because it often works out that you’ll find a home you love more quickly than you thought!  Don’t assume that because a home has been on the market for a long time, it will continue to sit.  If you like a property, but need time to think about it or see others to compare it with, have your agent contact the listing agent and ask to be notified if another offer comes in.  That way, you won’t miss an opportunity to write the offer you were thinking about.

DC Home Sellers Are Smiling

Channel 9, WUSA, had a good story which aired Sept. 11, 2008, with quotes from Steven Fuller, the head of the Center for Regional Analysis at George Mason University.  (If someone knows how to embed this video, let me know!  I’ve tried the code offered by WUSA and read the WordPress how-to’s…but it just doesn’t want to make it that easy!)

Channel 9 newsclip

Fed Leaves Rates Unchanged

By BRIAN BLACKSTONE and MAYA JACKSON RANDALL

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve on Tuesday held interest rates steady and in a disappointment to Wall Street didn’t appear to signal that rate cuts are forthcoming anytime soon.Though officials continued to warn about inflation risks, they also signaled that economic concerns have intensified in the wake of the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and a steep selloff in equity markets Monday.

“The downside risks to growth and the upside risks to inflation are both of significant concern to the Committee,” the Fed said in a statement.  (Read the full statement).

The Federal Open Market Committee voted unanimously to keep the target fed funds rate for interbank lending unchanged at 2% for a third-straight meeting. The Fed took no action on the discount rate for loans to brokers and commercial banks, which stands at 2.25%.
It was the first unanimous interest rate decision in one year. Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher, who had dissented in favor of higher rates the previous five meetings going back to January, voted with the majority this time.

No Live Chat Today

Hi everyone.  I won’t be able to do the regularly scheduled live chat today because I’m doing a photo shoot for my new website (coming soon!).  If you have real estate questions, please email me at dpace@weichert.com and I’ll answer them when I get back tonight.

I’m also working on my next blog article about whether to buy or sell first.  That should be up in the next couple of days.  Stay tuned!

How Does the Economy Affect the Real Estate Industry?

I saw this article today, and thought I’d share it with you:

RISMEDIA, Sept. 4, 2008-I’ve been in the real estate industry for so long that I feel like I should be 90 years old. The truth of the matter is that I’m only 57, but I’ve been in the industry since before I was even of legal age to drink. That is a story in itself, not being able to have a glass of wine when you get home after a day in the real estate industry.

However, what I want to address a subject that seems very apparent to me after witnessing several up and down markets in the industry over the last 36 years. The subject is really a question-how does the economy affect the real estate industry?

I’ve noticed that when the citizens of this country start to feel insecure with our country’s direction, coupled with a fear of the economy and the stock market, they start to take the money out of the stock market and put it into real estate.