Dasmarka Real Estate

Questions from my blog readers.

Rayz said...
Looking at the current market trend, I’m afraid that a house I buy today will not be worth what I paid down the road. Right now I'm concerned whether I should play the waiting game some more. Also I would like to know how are these cash for properties schemes. Are they any good?

First I would like to thank everyone for stopping by and checking my blog. It was a little tuff getting started but my business strategy is to help people and the work will come. I didn’t buy my first home until I was 34 years old. I owned my own business for 10 years but was totally clueless on what was involved in buying a home. I was one of the lucky ones that happen to find a Realtor that cared about his clients. It wasn’t until I decided to become a Realtor and had finished my first year of work that I realized on just how much he had help us find the right home. I have heard many horror stories and have seen those who only care about the paycheck. I want to be the Realtor that helps his clients they way I was helped.

Now about the question. The market in our area was on overdrive. When the national average growth was 2.5% we were seeing 4.5% increase on home prices. Then lenders (the ones that only care about the paycheck) where telling clients that if you buy now we will get you money in 3 years to pay off your debts and keep your house payment the same for you. Well buying a property is an long term investment, you can't expect price boom in a year or two, the market will correct itself as it is doing now and things will get back to normal. Most Realtors believe that we are close to bottoming out in our area and I agree on that. We are fortunate with the area that we are living in. There are other areas getting a much larger down swing than what is going on here. Another large factor is that interest rates are still low. Now for an example say you want to pay around $3,000 a month on your home loan with everything included for taxes & etc. At 6% interest you’re looking at a loan amount of about $428,000 but if the interest goes up to 7% now to keep your payment at $3,000 you are looking at a loan of $382,000. You could wait to get a little better price but I don’t believe that home prices will drop over $45,000 to equal the change in the interest rates. True there is a lot more involved in setting your loan up with credit scores & down payments but I’m sure you get the main point.

Second on the cash for properties. There are a very small few, maybe 1% that this is a good idea for and even fewer that can qualify for it. The main goal here is to make that phone ring (only caring about that paycheck again). The nice thing for the people that run these ads are when someone calls them they know that person is looking to do something quickly. Now unhappily there are all kinds of persons in whatever business you’re doing and there are those who care and those who don’t. Even if you are “Upside down” on your home there are true Realtors that can help you. Sometimes it is not the answer you where looking for but there should always be a win for you and a win for me in anything we do.
I have wonderful tools that can help you be informed on what the market is doing today. If you would like to move forward on buying or selling a home please give me a call.
Lonnie Snyder
REALTOR®
Keller Williams Realty Southeast Sound
Phone: 206-406-2710
E-Mail : snyder@kw.com
Website: http://www.callsnyder.com/
Blogsite: http://renton-real-estate.blogspot.com/
Lonnie Snyder is a full time real estate agent and REALTOR® with Keller Williams Realty specializing in Residential Real Estate for buyers and sellers in Washington’s Kent, Renton, Newcastle and South Bellevue.