Houses do sell...No Matter What You Hear on the News

I don't know if it's the interest rates, people getting tired of renting, a perception that home prices are pretty darn low (relative to recent home values) or what but homes are selling. At least a couple of my listings.

I serve a community near the University of MD called College Park Woods. It's a nice subdivision of single family homes built in the mid '60s. Community pool. Community park. Close to METRO and some fairly big employers (USDA, NASA, Archives, to name a few). So the location is good, the prices reasonable.

Yet, because of the "meltdown" and subsequent tightening of mortgage standards sales have slowed down pretty significantly and short sales have started to pop up.

Yet, if a Seller is not "in trouble" with their mortgage and actually have some equity they can sell their home. I went to settlement with one of my Seller clients on December 30th. It was a nice year-end gift that she was tickled to receive. The home was in good condition, the price was right and the Seller was willing to make repairs and negotiate on financial terms. I wrote a little bit more about this on this post.

The Buyer made creative use of FHA financing. It was a father/son deal where the owner occupant couldn't possibly qualify by himself but the co-signer (the father) was plenty qualified and FHA guidleines did not require him to actually live in the house. The buyers got a lot of the perks of FHA financing:

1. low rate
2. 30-year fixed
3. low down payment (3% in 2008)
4. the $7,500 first time home buyer credit (the son's first home)

So it all worked out wel for all concerned.

Hey, it ain't over 'til the fat lady sings and she ain't close, yet.