Deborah Deschamps

A brand new agent was doing real estate phone duty here in our Wilbraham, Massachusetts office. Two young men, in casual dress walked in and started chatting with her about homes for sale here in the town of Wilbraham. One of them asked about a house he saw on Main St. and could she tell him how much it was? She printed out an MLS sheet, with her name on top, and gave it to him. They thanked her nicely and walked out. Some time later, she recieved a letter in the mail from the Division of Licensure, citing her for not having an agency disclosure form signed by the man who asked her about the property. It turns out he was a spotter. I'd be curious to hear other Massachusetts Realtors thoughts on this occurance.

In the days between oh... somewhere around the last days of July, and the 28th day of August, - I was checking, every 10 - 15 minutes to make sure I had a working cell phone number. I'd call myself from another phone to see if it would, in fact, ring. I suddenly felt sort of... unemployed. more on that later - or maybe that's another blog post, because that's an interesting concept actually, now that I think of it. And then WHAM! I listed three houses, and put four under agreement and scheduled home tours for buyer clients and began negotiations on several different properties until my daytimer was positively BURSTING at the seams. Nothing makes me happier than to be short of time. that has it's own little stress activators, that's true. But there's an adrenaline there that I really like. so the point of this.... Even if it's in fits and starts ladies and gentleman, real estate is moving. i have a buyer client who just got a mortgage commitment at 4.7% STOP IT! Are you kidding me? and that's a 30 year conventional. Go buyers - GO! No! that's not what I mean. I meant, come HERE buyers! but seriously, either way. It's a great leap to make, and clearly - at least until I'm checking my dial tone again, you will be in excellent company along with all the other smart home-buying population. If you're a homeowner thinking of selling, get it out there while the fish are biting.

Saw a quote today worth sharing:

In the never-ending battle between the rock and the stream, the stream will always win. Not through strength. But through persistence.

Even if just from an interest rate standpoint, the best time to buy is Now. Interest rates always rise faster than they fall and who wants to wake up to find that the house they thought they could afford is now out of the question because the rates rose dramatically. I'm one of the world's great procrastinator, so I am compassionate - but think of it as dollars and cents. And that's not even considering the first-time-homebuyer's $8,000 gift!

Depending on what resource I use, real estate is either making a resounding rebound or is still slumping to the tune of increasing foreclosures and continuing downward sloping sale prices. If I use my own personal experience and perspective based on the activity of other Realtors in my office, things are DEFINITELY improving in the residential real estate sales department. I have the following local statistics that I think are dependable: from June to July of ‘09, in Hampshire County, inventory was down by 1% and the number of sold homes was up 8.7%. In Hampden County, inventory is up 2.4% and solds are down 14.6%. I've watched the first-time homebuyer incentive program lessen the glut of foreclosure and otherwise distress-sale inventory as well as fair market value homes in that starter-home price range. If you look at sold prices historically in the different counties, you may find that the lower-priced inventory is greater in one county over the other. Consequently, those areas will have an increase in sales. If unemployment doesn't wreck things, and we should all keep our collective fingers crossed - then we should be in pretty shape in the months to come.