Top 10 Reasons to Buy Real Estate Today… Window of Opportunity

10. The First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit of $8,000 can generate $100,000 Net Equity or Net Worth in 8 years with an average of 5% annual appreciation!

9. 8 out of 10 economists agree homes will appreciate over the next 5 years.

8. St. Charles has been selected by Forbes & Money Magazines as the “Top 100 places to live” and one of the Top 10 areas poised for early Real Estate recovery.

7. Home prices and Interest rates are low and home inventories are plentiful, this is a true Buyers Market.

6. It has been proven that it is Better to “Buy Real Estate and Wait” than to “Wait and Buy Real Estate”.

5. Historically, real estate downturns have lasted from 18 to 24 months. This current market peaked at its highest values in July 2006, suggesting we are at or near the current down trough.

4. 70% of Loans today are FHA Assumable Loans. If a buyer today locks a 30 year rate of 5%, this will make that home more marketable in the future when it is time to sell.

3. Interest rates are the lowest in our lifetime nearing 5%! In the last two Buyer’s Markets, rates were 18% to 20% in the early 1980’s and 11 to 12% in the early 1990’s. The average Mortgage Rate over 44 years was 9%.

2. A 1% increase in Mortgage Rate on a $150,000 home equates to a $100 per month increase in payment or $1,200 per year and $36,000 more over a 30 year loan. It is twice that on a $300,000 home or $72,000. Waiting has its perils.

1. Buy Low / Sell High…Basic Investing Economics at play.

All Indicators suggest the time to buy…is NOW!!!

Just Met with my financial planner

If you're like me your wondering if you should add to your SEP account by April 15th to avoid paying as much in taxes as possible. With the stock market falling daily it's scary and sometimes leads to confusion. I sat down with my financial planner to discuss my options and thought I'd share some excellent points he made. He showed me a chart of the last 10 years and believe it or not there have been three times the stock market has fallen to it's current 7500 level. I was shown two more graphs showing what would have happened with a $100,000 investment in 1987 (8/25) right before the crash if an invester liquidated his assets & placed them in a CD (until June 30,2008) he would have $185,999; If he would have waited until after the crash and waited until assets reached $100,000 then placed it in a CD he would have gained $265,329 BUT if he stayed invested in the market the entire time his gain would have been $541,894!!!! I have read may financial books and listened to many tapes on the subject and they all say the same thing, stay invested, don't panic. With all the negative news, unemployment rising and a stimulus package that seems outrageous one can begin to waiver. I was glad I took the time to sit down with my planner and left reassured and convinced that NOW is the time to invest not only in Real Estate but in our own retirement accounts. Things will get better- always have- always will.