My New Blog

It it still a good time to buy?
August 4th, 2007 9:36 PM

Is it still a good time to buy? In my opinion the answer is yes. I understand that the media has been overwhelming buyers with the negativity of the subprime market and the fact that the rates are going up. Yes rates are going up slightly and lenders guidelines have been getting tighter for those clients with less than perfect credit. But if you can truly afford the payments I say go for it. The costs of homes are going down, at a much faster pace than the rates going up. Does it matter that rates are going up? No it doesn’t. Rates are still considerable low compared to its historical trends. I think buyers need to capitalize on the fact that it’s a buyers market and you can save thousands of dollars on your home. Now if buyers decide to wait until the market gets better then home prices are going to go back up. Now granted no one really knows if the market as reached it’s low and won’t go any lower, but we can make a safe bet that it won’t. With all the media attention and congressional hearings on the housing market, changes will be made soon. So why not go for the sure thing and buy that house when the price is low. Remember you can always refinance your house if the rates go lower, but you won’t be able to save on those thousands of dollars if the home prices increase. We have to look at the housing market like we look at the stock market, buy low sell high. Prices on homes are very low. Take advantage of that.

Let’s do some math here to show you what I mean. Let’s say the price of a home you are going to buy right now is 200K. A 200K loan on a 30yr fixed loan with an 8% interest rate, your mortgage payment (not including taxes and insurance) will be $1,467.53. Now if you wait and the prices of homes increase that same home is going to cost you 250K. A 250K loan on a 30yr fixed with a 7% interest rate your payments are going to be $1,663.26 (not including taxes and insurance). So as you can see it is really the price of the home that drives your payment up or down, not so much the interest rates. Also keep in mind rates usually gradually go up or down, you won’t see rates jump or decline by 2% over night. But you will see the prices of home increase or decrease by thousands and thousands of dollars. Like I said before if rates do go down in the future you can always refinance to that lower rate, but you can never turn back time and purchase that home with the savings that you are getting in today’s’ market.


Posted by Jack Watlington on August 4th, 2007 9:36 PMPost a Comment (0)

Realty Blogging
July 25th, 2007 11:59 AM

Well if your like me new to the Blogging scene, then I will definitely recommend you reading this book. Realty Blogging by Richard Nacht and Paul Chaney has really allowed me to get an understanding of the purpose of blogging and how to use it effectively. The book covers things from search engine marketing and explaining how google and other search engines rank your website, to exploiting the niches in Real Estate. The book even goes over the details of spiders (what search engines use to review content of website).  Realty Blogging also gives you some great example on how a blog website should look like, as well as how to keep your blog pertinent to services/speciality. If you haven't read this book and are interested in getting into the blogging scene, then I definitely recommend you investing $20 to obtain some marketing knowledge.


Posted by Jack Watlington on July 25th, 2007 11:59 AMPost a Comment (0)

Lake Mary Florida voted as one of the top places to live by Money Magazine
July 18th, 2007 2:40 PM
Money Magazine Names Best Places to Live
Middleton, Wis., is Money magazine’s top 2007 Best Place to Live.

The magazine, whose annual selection of attractive locales has the power to turn a sleepy borough into a blossoming hot spot, says that this year it focused on small cities, between 7,500 and 50,000 in population. It chose areas that offered the best combinations of economic opportunity, good schools, safe streets, things to do and a real sense of community.

It also added a ranking for ethnic and racial diversity, and it paid special attention to home prices and property taxes. That meant that some expensive locales that had done well in the past slid in the rankings.

Visitors to the "Best Places to Live" section of CNNMoney.com will be able to see the latest homes for sale, recent home sales and "Million Dollar Homes" for all of the cities highlighted in the annual feature. Users can click on city maps powered by Trulia.com to view data for each home, including location, price, photos, bedrooms/baths and square footage,

Here’s the top-10 list:
  1. Middleton, Wis.
  2. Hanover, N.H.
  3. Louisville, Colo.
  4. Lake Mary, Fla.
  5. Claremont, Calif.
  6. Papillion, Neb.
  7. Milton, Mass.
  8. Chaska, Minn.
  9. Nether Providence, Pa.
  10. Suwanee, Ga.

Source: CNNMoney, Kate Ashford, Asa Fitch, Stephen Gandel, Josh Hyatt, Sarah Max, Jennifer Merritt (07/16/2007)

Posted by Jack Watlington on July 18th, 2007 2:40 PMPost a Comment (0)

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