Stars Are Aligned for Buyers – and Time Is of the Essence

RISMEDIA, October 28, 2009-Potential home buyers are seeing a fortuitous combination of low mortgage rates, affordable home prices and the first-time home buyer tax credit. And many who thought homeownership wasn’t an option right now appear to be finding ways to make it work. A National Association of Realtors survey shows that first-time home buyer purchases made up 30% of July existing home sales, which were up 7% from June and represented the fourth consecutive monthly increase.
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Good Housing News Predicted

All the leading indicators say housing is definitely on the mend, economists reported in advance of the official release of several pieces of good news expected this week.Bloomberg News surveyed 53 economists and asked them where they expected the numbers to fall. Here are their predictions:

Construction starts in September are expected to hit a 610,000 annual rate, the most since last November.
Sales of existing homes likely rose to a two-year high.
Because of fear of a relapse, the Federal Reserve is predicted to leave interest rates low for a few more months.
Building permits, a sign of future growth, probably rose to a 590,000 annual pace, also the highest level since November, the Commerce Department is likely to announce.
The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo index is expected to rise to 20 from 19, the economists say.

Google Inc. plans to resume hiring and acquisitions after its third-quarter sales beat analysts’ estimates. CFO Patrick Pichette says: “We weathered what is an incredible recession. If you have all this behind you, the only outcome you should have as management is: ‘OK, let’s build now.’”

Source: Bloomberg, Courtney Schlisserman (10/18/2009)

Start repairing your bad credit rating now

If you’ve lost your home to foreclosure or in a short sale, you may be able to buy another place in as little as two years if you take steps immediately to rebuild your credit.
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Figure financing

Get your money situation straight before you start house hunting
Throughout this year and last, financial consultant Jim Stoops of the Naperville office of Charles Schwab has come away impressed by many of the 60-, 70- and even 80-year-old individuals he has counseled. These are people who decades ago took on mortgages they could afford, and viewed the houses they purchased not as places that could make them money, but in which to live and raise kids. These are the very people who now are able to weather the financial crisis without fear they will lose their homes.
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