CNBC’s Spring Real Estate Guide Gets It Right…and Wrong
March 27th, 2009 categories: Buying a Home, Market Conditions
CNBC has recently complied a ‘Spring Real Estate Guide’ that both hits and misses the mark on everything ranging from the state of the current housing market to listing your home for sale by owner, buying foreclosures, getting loans, and going green. Here’s my take on this jumble of articles from CNBC.com
Open the original articles from CNBC in another window by clicking here.
On Navigating a Mortgage Minefield
The media really shouldn’t be allowed to write about real estate…at all. If they aren’t telling you the ‘amazing deals you can get with no money down and zero interest for the first year’ (like back in 2005) then they are telling you about the current ‘Market Mayhem.’ Playing on people’s vices and fears for ratings and readers is one thing…playing with people’s lives and money is something else entirely.
The article points out just a couple of good points:
Money is more difficult to get than it was before – I don’t think that is such a bad thing. Not everyone needs or has the fiscal responsibility to own a home.
The Manhattan Condo Market now take up to 20 days to get a contract – Whoa…is that 20 WHOLE days on the market?
Mortgage Rates are Low - Not just low…but, like, holy crap, go out and refinance your house or buy a new one LOW.
I’d like to point out something that the writer of this article must not have known…
You can get a 100% loan…heck, you can get a 102% loan. You can get 102% of appraised value at one our local banks in Northwest Arkansas. I’m sure you can get it other places as well. Oh, that is also a NO mortgage insurance loan.
How to Be Your Own Realtor
I’m not going even going to grace this one with a link or much comment except to say this:
Real estate is changing. You (Mr. or Mrs. Homeowner) have a full time job where you specialize in a task that I know I couldn’t do. Whether it’s plumbing, auto repair, accounting, finance, or any of the tens of thousands of specialty jobs out there…I know I can’t do them.
One of the best realizations a person can have is to realize their limitations, know they cannot do something, and then find someone that can do that something for them.
Some home owners think that because they live in the home, they know how to sell it. That could simply not be further from the truth. If you have a home to sell and have had a bad experience in the past. I’m sorry. The way the real estate industry is regulated allows it be be populated with ‘fly-by-nighters’ and unprofessional agents. That’s why 6% of real estate agents do 94% of the business. Don’t make a bigger mistake by trying to do it yourself…find a professional Realtor and get them to sell your home. Here’s a taste of what I do for my clients to sell their home:
84 Marketing Steps that Sell your Home for a Rockin’ High Price
If you are dead set on trying to sell your home yourself…I have some free advertising for you:
Attention Northwest Arkansas For Sale By Owners! This Free Service is for YOU!
Hurdles for Jumbo Borrowers
Getting a Jumbo Loan is always a little harder than getting a conforming (or smaller) loan. Jumbo loans for Northwest Arkansas remain anything above $417,000. If you are looking in some areas of the country though, jumbo loans have changed to more than $729,750. So if you are looking for that semi-affordable second home in Aspen, Napa, Naples, or what ever tickles your fancy, now might be a good time to look at properties under 729 G’s. Remember that you can do the ‘quick credit shuffle’ and add a few points to your credit score for a lower interest rate.
Foreclosures: Courage and Work
I agree with just about everything in this article…in fact…I think I wrote on the subject about four months ago:
Everybody’s Talking about Northwest Arkansas Foreclosures, REO’s, and Short Sales, Oh MY!
Buying a foreclosure can be risky business, but with a seasoned REO professional in your corner, you can make some serious bucks. I happen to have an REO shark in my office by the name of Ryan Russell. Check out his list of foreclosure properties at NWAbankowned.com. Tell him Ben sent you.
A closely related article to “Foreclosures: Courage and Work” is “Investing: Balancing Risk and Opportunity” This article is more generalized but may help some people decide if now is the time for them to consider diverifying their investments into the housing market (It certainly hasn’t dropped 40% like the stock market).
All in all this is a good collection of articles to help the average American home owner decide their next step in this uncertain and sometimes confusing housing market.
If you want to be more than the average American home owner and want to be a highly informed, real estate savvy, Northwest Arkansas home owner, then subscribe to my article feed below and contact me anytime you have a real estate question. Thanks for reading.
