Lilburn, GA

AgainWell, yes, you can.

The question is "Should you?"

There are a few things to keep in mind as you decide about timing on purchases using the First Time Home Buyers Tax Credit (up to $8000)... and Move Up Buyers Tax Credit( up to $6500).

• How is the inventory in your local market? Will it be going up or down over the next several months?
  

Here in the Atlanta area, inventories generally increase in the spring and decrease around the holidays. This means that there are more homes to choose from during the spring and early summer.

• What about buyer competition? Will there be more buyers competing for the available properties in the future?

Suppy and demand has two variables. Demand is the other one. Here in the Atlanta area, there are generally more buyers in the market during early spring until mid-summer. The buyers in the market around the holidays are generally more serious...

• Will interest rates move up or down?
  

That is always a tough call. Many experts have been expecting increases for the last several months. So far they have been wrong, but the basics of why they are expecting increases is still valid. There is increasing competition for the available capital because of increased governmental borrowing. Also, low rates often cause currency devaluation, so there is an expectation that rates will need to be increased at the federal funds target level.

• What about prices?

Again, with the Atlanta market, prices tend to be stronger during the spring and summer and weaker during the fall and winter.

Of course, each year and each market can be radically different. But...

• Does it matter if there are more homes on the market if you find one you REALLY like?
• If you are buying when there are fewer buyers, you have more power.
• Can interest rates go much farther down?
  
• Do you really expect prices to move down? Keep in mind that on many attractively priced properties there are multiple offers.

You need to make your own decision. I think it is a good time to buy, but I'm not the one signing the contract... So, do your own research. When you are done, feel free to give me a call.

One of the things that is challenging for families selling homes is dealing with toys and other things that clutter up the house. We still have to live in the home, but we also need to make it attractive for buyers. In the video are some great tips for accomplishing both goals.

We can even do this in the garage... same idea, we still need to be able to work on the toys, but we need to keep it neat and presentable.

from LaneBailey.com

We are thinking about migrating to the Clear Internet plan. they are running a special for two devices at $50/month. We could have home and mobile internet...

The Home package is supposed to run between 6 - 12 Mbps. The local computer store that we use is running on clear and even though there are officially on the edge of the service area they are running around 6 Mbps.

The Mobile device will run up to 4 Mbps. That is easily in the 4G realm...

The biggest downfall we see is coverage outside of the Atlanta Metro. We would love to be able to take the home modem with us in order to fire up the network when we are on vacation.

So, what I am wondering is if any of you are currently using Clear, and what your experience has been...

Do you know what those initials (FTHBTC) stand for?

First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit...

If you aren't already familiar with it, it might be gone before you get a chance to get more familiar... It is currently slated to expire at the end of November. And the clock is ticking.

In a nutshell, the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit is the governments way to push a few first time home buyers (people that haven't owned a home for 36+ months) off of the fence and get them buying sooner rather than later. It is $8000, in form of a refundable tax credit, for those targeted buyers if they buy a qualifying home.. and don't earn over the income caps.

There are a LOT of posts written about the tax credit... this post is about the clock. Or calendar, rather.

While talking with one of my "Go To" Mortgage Gurus, the subject of mortgage application turn times came up. He is up to his eyeballs in applications, as are other Mortgage Originators. They are currently turning from application to close in about 21 days...

The credit is slated to expire on November 30th... about 33 days from now. Given that most homes take a few days to negotiate, time is short...

Scratch all of that...

Alright, literally as I wrote the last line I got word that the credit is likely to be extended until April of 2010. The details haven't been hammered out yet, but it looks like the credit will survive for a few more months...

Nevermind.

But, don't wait until the last minute. Over the last few weeks we have seen homes in multiple offer situations. We have seen a little inflating of entry level home prices. Acting sooner, rather than later, might be a good idea... things usually slow during the winter here.

While I don't generally serve the Lilburn area, I do have a lot of friends there. I just thought I would post this chart of average homes sales prices for the area. The info is captured straight from Georgia MLS. It's hard to come up with an intepretation of the data. It's all over the place so take it for what it is: just raw data.