Good News Friday Podcast- Week 7
February 1, 2008
(5 Minutes and 28 Seconds)
(Click The Play Button Above To Listen To The Podcast)
Hello and Welcome to Good News Friday! Today is Friday February 1st 2008. My name is Bruce Karasik.
Each week we bring you good news and positive developments in the Real Estate Market, Mortgage Market, in our economy and our country
Last week we completed our 4 part series on who is Happy in today’s Real Estate Market and we talked about First Time Home Buyers. If you have not already done so, I invite you to go to www.GoodNewsFriday.com and listen. In fact, if you miss any podcast, we have archived all or our past shows so you can listen to them at any time.
Today, I pose the question, Is the Real Estate Market in Thousand Oaks/Westlake and the surrounding areas beginning to make a comeback? I am talking about our area, Thousand Oaks,Westlake Village,Agoura, Oak Park, NewburyPark, Calabasas, Simi Valley, and Moorpark, and the San Fernando Valley. I am not talking about Real Estate nation wide. Each area has a unique set of factors that effect demand. But let’s talk about what is going on here. I also want to recommend a wonderful Book by Willie Joley, called, “A Setback is a Setup for a Comeback” If you have not already read this book I suggest you go the bookstore and check it out.
First, any time there is a turnaround, a “comeback” we on the frontline, the Real Estate and Mortgage Professionals would know it first. Experience shows, that we would first see increased demand. And, in fact over the last 2 weeks, I am happy to report we have seen a dramatic increase in the number of people raising their hands and making it known that they are ready to buy when we find them the right property. We have seen many more buyers who have been referred to us and are now ready to go and look at homes, and we have also seen a significant increase in requests for information about homes on the market from our web site and our internet presence. Buyers are contacting us from as far away as the United Kingdom and asking us to help them. First time home buyers are making offers, and we are also seeing multiple offer situations on homes. This was very common two years ago, but very rare in the last year.
The other thing we would see if there was a comeback on the way, there would be an increase in Mortgage Applications. That is exactly what we are seeing. Since interest rates have dropped significantly over the last month, it is making it more attractive and affordable for buyers. And it has created an opportunity window for people to refinance their homes at lower rates or take out cash or pay off debt.
The other factor is that Fed lowered short term rates again this week and the congress is about to pass a stimulus package which may increase the conforming rate minimum from $417,000 to $700,000. If that happens, not only could mean another refi boom but it could translate into big turn around for the Real Estate Market.
Now don’t expect to read much about this in your local newspaper, or hear about this on the news yet. In takes about 4-6 months from the time the turn around begins to the time escrows close and then finally stats are reported. In today’s economy there is so much volatility, any thing can change, but sign are all there now. Increase demand, more buyers and sellers, lower interest rates, government grants and a stimulus package on the horizon, mortgage applications up. All point to a comeback. This could be the time to act.
But the key to success again is having the right advisors and consultants in place so you can have the right strategy. As your trusted Real Estate consultants and advisors, we at the Karasik Team work in our unique ability. My unique ability is consulting, negotiating and overseeing the transaction details. We take a customized approach and enable our clients to make informed decisions to accumulate wealth through Real Estate. In addition, we at Karasik and Associates Mortgage Consultants, can help you come up with a strategy to determine whether this is the right time for you to buy your first home or to refinance your existing home.
We continue to believe that homeownership will remain to be the best avenue for American families to secure their financial future. I look forward our continuing dialog and we invite your feedback. Please feel free to email me at Bruce@TheKarasikTeam.com , call me at my office at 805-267-0366, or you can post your responses on our blog at www.GoodNewsFriday.com.
So we do have some good news to be grateful for. And so, my friends, I wish you and your families a Happy, Healthy, and prosperous week. And that’s it for now. I’ll see you back here next week for another episode of Good News Friday
