And here is why……  I know prices are dropping still (although last month they went up slightly) but is this a good time to buy?  The answer is a resounding YES.  If you bought a $200,000 dollar home (and for the purpose of illustration obtained a $200,000 loan), and that house drops 10% in the next year the math is easy, you just lost $20,000   BUT - and this is a big BUT - if you obtained a loan today for that house at 4.25%, and if that same loan in one year costs 6% then the difference in payment is a lot LESS if you buy the house now.  ($200k @ 4.25% = $984 / $200k @ 6.0% = $1,199) for a difference of $215 every month  Over 30 years that difference is a whopping $77,400!  One thing we have been assured of is that interest rates have to and eventually will be going up as the economy improves.

 DID I MESS UP BY MISSING THE OBAMA TAX CREDIT? NO!

At the end of April (when the tax credit expired) the interest rate was hovering around 6.0% so as stated above you would be spending $77,500 more if you bought a house on April 30th vs. today.  Despite what you read and see, homes ARE selling.  Our team has been having a stellar year selling lots of homes for our sellers and finding quality homes at good prices for our buyers.  We have become experts at distressed sales (short sales) and are CDPE certified, and I am even listing and selling some bank owned homes (REOs).  For the third year in a row, our team is Prudential’s top Portland Realtor and  this is largely due to the generous referrals from you, our buyers and sellers, so thanks for that!  We are well aware that you have a choice in Realtors, we feel that now more than ever experience counts and we all thank you for choosing our team now and in the future.