I was looking at a real estate news show on YouTube earlier today talking about the November/December real estate market. It was discussing that right now is a good time for buyers to purchase a home. I performed some research and here’s the current trend:

·         Interest Rates: Holding at 6%

·         Home Sales: Increasing

·         Home Prices: Decreasing

·         Home Inventory: 9.9 months of supply

·         Affordability: 18.5% (highest in 5 years)

·         Current Home Price Appreciation: 4%

With this information, it does appear that it would be an excellent time for people to purchase homes. There was one drawback to that good news, financing. The lending market is at a halt. Banks are not comfortable with lending money to one another, which also means that they are not comfortable with lending to companies and every-day people.   

The requirements for a new loan is blood and your first born, on a silver platter. And don’t for the family dog either. 

A lot of my real estate pears are finding that they get to the closing table and the bank will say they need additional information or they can’t finance the person because of some new criteria their management has implemented. Scary! And that’s even happening to the real estate here in Sandy Springs, Georgia. 

So, back to my original question, are you able to afford a home? Take my advice, do your home work and prepare for your home purchase. 

That means:

·         Get an agent and hit the streets and look at some homes in your desired neighborhood. 

·         Get the prices of those homes and see if it’s in your budget.  

·         Get a copy of your credit report and find out what you can do to improve your score. 

·         Ask a lot of questions and study the market.   

 

And do it fast because right now it’s a buyer market and there are some great deals out there.