In looking at today’s real estate market we see a lot of homes actually on the market.  Is now a good time to buy or not?  We’ll look at that question and let you make that decision.  Obviously, with a lot of properties on the market prices are clearly low or at worst reasonable compared to a few years ago.  Many people are even willing to look at the short sales and foreclosure sales to try to arrange a “better deal”. It is imperative in those situations to be aware that you may fact many projects to bring you home up to the appearance and need you will want.  It’s more than one buyer who brought a short sale or foreclosure that had to spend a lot more money to fix certain items. 

Another consideration is what type of interest rate you will get.  Recently, I saw a review that today’s rates are the lowest they have been in decades.  We have even seen a 3.75 fixed for 30 year rate. That’s truly a great rate.  If someone has a credit score over 620 he can get a FHA rate that is very reasonable with a small downpayment. 

The big thing in today’s market is looking a your own job stability.  To be blunt, if you don’t know for sure you are going to have a job you shouldn’t buy a new or existing home anyway.  However, if you do feel confident in your job stability and comfortable with your present financial situation then today may be a terrific time to get started in you real estate ownership experience.  Good luck in making these decisions and happy house hunting.

In looking at sites to build a new home you have to consider many factors.  First, consider the type of home you will be building and will it fit on the lot.  Oliver Homes has a community in Greencastle, Pa called Pleasant Walk Estates that has 2 acre homesites that would accomodate most any size home.  They have two other communities near Mercersburg, Pa called Deerwood Mountain Estates and Mountain Brook Estates.  Deerwood Mountain Estates has only 1/2 acre lot sizes and a new home buyer would have to be careful as to what type of home and how large of a home that could be built on that site.  Mountain Brook Estates has 3 acre lots that would not really be any issue for size of a home.  Those lots would have to be looked at individually as some allow for walk out basement exits and some do not.  These are just some basic things to look for in the purchase of a lot in building a new home.  In addition to size one must also consider what particular convenants are for each community- i.e. is there a minimum square footage requirement, is brick or another cladding material required, are any special roof pitches needed, and many more.  Finding the right site to put your new home is something that needs to be looked at and analyzed to find what works not only for you but for the also new home you want to build.  Good luck in your search.

Some people may still not know about the $ 8,000 tax credit for first time homebuyers and the $ 6,500 credit for the second time buyers but it’s still here until April 30, 2010.  We are happy to have the new year upon us but the deadline to sign a contract to buy a home is still April 30 and will get here sooner than we think.  Give us a couple weekends  of bad weather and it’ll be March before we know it and then we’ll be busy with spring type things and soon it will be April 15th and we’ll need to do our taxes and next thing you know we’re scrambing to find a home to buy the last couple weeks of April.  I encourage you, that if you’re in the market for a home under the tax credit don’t wait.  I know you read about the availability of homes on the market but a lot of them are not in excatly “live-in” condition.  If you think you’re going to buy a short sale or foreclosure between now and the end of April unless you’ve had it under contract for about 6 months right now it will not happen.  Note- I did not say it probably will not happen – I said it will not happen. You cannot at this stage get a contract on a bank owned or short sale and get it ratified by April 30, 2010.  You can talk to anybody that has tried to do it and you’ll find I’m telling you the truth. 

Remember, you second time buyers also get a tax credit also but only for $ 6,500.  Really, that’s a great deal.  I didn’t get a tax credit when I bought my last home.  This warning holds true for you in finding a home.  You need to start ASAP.  You also need to deal with selling you current home.  Don’t think it can’t be done either.  I know a guy who recently decided to put his home on the market and sold it in 10 days and then had to figure out where he was going to move because he heard all the things about the real estate market being slow so he didn’t really look- so get started and be persistent. 

Good luck in you home searches.