Pam's Prescott Blog

By now, you might have heard about the stimulus package and its effects on home buyers and sellers.  I'd like to just go over a few key points.

1. For anyone wanting to buy, the $8000 tax credit can only be used by first time buyers (anyone who has not owned a home in the last three years).  This is bad news for my established clients who are considering moves to Prescott, but if you were a first-time buyer last year or will be this year, this is good news for you.  Make sure you take that credit where you can.

I would have liked to have seen some kind of credit for anyone buying a primary residence.  In my opinion, this would have helped the market quite a bit.  Honestly, I don't see a whole lot of benefits to the "new home buyer" credit for the industry as a whole.  But if you ARE a first-time buyer, give me a call and we will certainly make it work to your advantage.

2.  The government will be buying mortgage backed securities in an effort to keep interest rates low.  This is good, but mortgage experts say don't count on low rates lasting forever and don't count on them going much lower.  They will most likely stay at around 5% through summer.

3.  The most important part is what the government will or can do to stem the tide of foreclosures.  Banks, in my opinion, have done a deplorable job of working with homeowners to keep them in their homes and to facilitate sales when Realtors do have interested buyers for distressed properties.  I blame them most of all, not so much for causing the problem (even though they were most definitely a key partner in the crime), but for doing absolutely NOTHING to address it when it reared its ugly head.   While they have been getting a little better, they have dragged their feet for years on this - waiting for a market change?  A bailout?  Meanwhile, things get worse.

Is there good news anywhere?  Yes.  The government IS doing something.  I think we have to take this vat of lemons and make lemonade.  A crisis is a great time to re-evaluate our priorities and our way of doing business on every level.  It really is a great opportunity for making things better for the future.  Will things get better immediately? No.  Do we want to go back to the "bubble" and the way things were?  I don't think so.  Now is a great time to think with an eye toward long term gains, both in our personal lives and as a nation.  Can we do it?  YES, WE CAN! Are there opportunities EVERYWHERE?  You betcha!