Taking Stock of the Situation

I’m sure you’ve heard a bazillion times by now that the real estate market slows down near the end of the year. It’s like the car industry; not that many people typically think about making a major purchase right around the holidays when they’re all ready spending their bonuses on gifts for the family or holiday parties. So, you know, things usually get a little quiet. Well listen to this oddity: things haven’t been quiet around my office. Things haven’t even been quiet around my desk.

I was having a conversation with my manager last week about how I had been expecting extra time to finish up my Christmas shopping and crafts, but that I hadn’t even had time to fit in all my real estate appointments lately, and she totally agreed with me. She said she has four closings this month and that it’s been years since she had such a busy December. Her opinion is that the market is starting to perk up a bit. I tend to agree.

In case you haven’t heard, interest rates are back down to under 6.5% for a 30 year fixed and of course even lower for a 15 year fixed. Both of our mortgage representatives at the office have speculated that rates will continue to dip slightly in the new year. We still have tons of inventory on the market and prices remain on the plateau (or even slight decline) they hit about a year ago, but there seems to be some awakening of activity going on.

In the next year (hopefully sooner), I plan to take advantage of buyerness of the current market and acquire a rental or possibly a fixer-upper. It’s a great time to get a deal!