Gabe Sanders, Stuart Florida Real Estate

If you're a homeowner, what do falling prices mean to you? You might assume that it's a bad time to sell. But guess what? It could mean it's the perfect time to buy the home of your dreams!

Do the math, and you see that market downturns can actually work in your favor. Homes are listing at prices that are truly affordable. If you've already built equity in your current home, you could parlay that into the purchase of a terrific property.

When prices do rise again, and you know they will, you will have made an excellent investment for the future. If the home you really want was previously offered at $500,000 but the price has fallen - let's say 20% to $400,000 - that's a sweet deal, even if your own home has lost some value.

In any home purchase, there are usually some concessions: location, style of architecture, or any number of features. If you made some concessions when you bought your current property, and you can replace the negatives with the positive features you've found in another home, now is the time to make your move!

Once the market turns around - and again, you know it will - you'll find your appreciation will be greater in the new, larger home. It's an upgrade at an opportune time that makes good investment sense.

Here's a useful tool to give you knowledge of your local market, it's called an MLS Market Snapshot and is customized for your neighborhood. Set up is quick and easy and located at this link: Market Snapshot .

If you need information to help you solve a real estate puzzle, call us at (772) 323-6996, or visit us on the web at www.GabeSanders.com or www.TreasureCoastFLHomes.com. We'll be happy to share our knowledge with you at no cost or obligation, and if we aren't sure of our answer we'll direct you to the best Martin or Saint Lucie County resource. Our office is located at 2 N. Sewalls Point Rd. in Stuart, Florida (Sewall's Point); please ask for Gabe Sanders or Susan Maxwell.

You've been reading negative stories about the housing market, and while some are experiencing a slowdown, it's still no reason to keep you from pursuing the American Dream.

Anyone who's watched the industry for the last thirty years will tell you that it's a natural cycle, much like the adjustments the stock market experiences. All's well that ends well after a period of time passes.

Remember that housing is a long-term investment. Some people tried to create high yields over the short term, and that's part of the reason so many markets are experiencing readjustments now.

Regardless of whether housing is up or down, individuals and families will always have a need to buy or sell. Home sales last year actually surpassed those of five years ago, which was another record year. Interest rates and prices are at historical lows, creating an excellent atmosphere for qualified buyers.

When reading the gloom and doom about foreclosures, it's important to keep the reports in perspective. Most defaults are associated with sub-prime loans, which account for less than 10% of all mortgages. Of those, only 0.6% are currently in foreclosure.

Now is the time to turn to the advice and guidance of a trusted local real estate professional, whether you're buying or selling. Keep a level head and take advantage of positive forces in the current housing market.

If you're considering purchasing a home, Susan Maxwell and Gabe Sanders are your local resource and are intimately familiar with the current market. Feel free to ask us what's happening in real estate on the Treasure Coast today at (772) 323-6996 or visit us on the web at www.GabeSanders.com or www.TreasureCoastFLHomes.com. Our office is located at 2 N. Sewalls Point Rd. in Stuart, Florida (Sewall's Point)

If you are thinking of home improvements that will offer the best return when you sell your home, you may want to wait before updating the kitchen or adding a new bath.

Your greatest return on dollars invested now could be for increasing a home's curb appeal. Wall Street Journal advisors say your goal should be to make the outside of the house look really great so people fall in love with it before they even step out of the car.

Freshly painted trim and new hardware also help a home show well. And landscaping, including well-manicured trees and shrubs, can help older homes compete in the marketplace.

New windows, doors and siding are more expensive improvements but make homes look well-attended. They also help make homes more energy efficient, which is a factor with today's high energy costs.

During the housing boom, kitchen and bath projects brought a 90 percent return on investment when the home was sold. That's not true anymore. Now the return is about 70 percent.

Remodeling activity peaked in 2006, declined in 2007, and is expected to decline by 4.8 percent through 2008, according to the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. If a remodeling project makes a home stand out from others in a similar price range, it might still be a good idea. But beware of remodeling on the cheap.

Inferior cabinets and poor workmanship won't fool buyers. Home searchers aren't making snap decisions in these times. They're taking their time and paying more attention to value.

That being said, go back to improving the appearance of your home from the outside. Potted flowers, trimmed bushes, and an edged lawn are less-expensive projects that give buyers that all-important, positive first impression.

If you're planning to sell your home soon and would like accurate and up to date information on its current value, give us a call at (772) 323-6996 or visit us on the web at http://www.gabesanders.com/ or http://www.treasurecoastflhomes.com/. Our office is located at 2 N. Sewalls Point Rd. in Stuart, (Sewall's Point) Florida; please ask for Gabe Sanders or Susan Maxwell.

Rising real estate inventories are presenting buyers with more options and sellers with more competition. In the center of it all, you'll find the guidance and expertise of professional full time real estate agents. If you price a home reasonably, buyers will buy. If buyers make a reasonable offer, sellers will sell. It really is that simple.

For sellers, pricing is still the biggest factor in a listing's success or failure. Sellers, buyers and real estate agents all stand to lose from an overpriced property.

Likewise, buyers also need to be aware that negotiating skills are more critical now than ever. Contrary to widespread media reports of sellers panicking under the weight of foreclosure, most sellers are in fact in good enough shape to wait for a fair offer.

Buyers and sellers are still coming together in record numbers that would have been unthinkable just ten years ago. What everyone needs now is a big dose of perspective, since most home sales are still taking place for the most traditional of reasons: job relocation, growing families, retirement, or even simply downsizing.

Whether buying or selling, your best insurance for a satisfactory sale or purchase is with the knowledge and skills of a professional representative. If you're unsure about our local market, schedule a cost-free, obligation-free consultation with an agent you know and trust. Then move with confidence!

Understanding the Treasure Coast real estate market dilemmas and their solutions is our business, and we'll happily share our knowledge with you. Why not give us a call at (772) 323-6996 or visit us on the web at www.GabeSanders.com and www.TreasureCoastFLHomes.com. Our office is located at 2 N. Sewalls Point Rd. in Stuart, Florida (Sewall's Point); please ask for Gabe Sanders or Susan Maxwell.

The Federal Reserve Board appears to have finished with its interest rate cuts and mortgage rates have been moving slowly up.

If you want to know how rates will change, I'll polish up my crystal ball and make a prediction: They are going up. Now mind you, this is my crystal ball and I'm not saying the view is always perfect.

Still, at this writing, rates are about 6.3 percent and fluctuating up and down for the past few weeks. This could very well be the lowest interest rate we will see for a while.

There are currently more factors pushing interest rates up than anything out there pushing them down.

What that means for home buyers is that, if you have the ability to buy now, you will be getting a mortgage at a rate that will look like a huge bargain pretty soon.

Keep this in mind when you go house hunting. Likely, the longer you wait, the more you will pay on your mortgage month-to-month and the more you will pay over the life of the loan.

I'm polishing up my crystal ball to take a second look and... yes... I still see rates creeping up.

Understanding real estate dilemmas and their solutions is our business, and we'll happily share our knowledge with you. Why not give us a call at (772) 323-6996 or visit us on the web at www.GabeSanders.com and www.TreasureCoastFLHomes.com. Our office is located at 2 N. Sewalls Point Rd. in Stuart, Florida (Sewall's Point); please ask for Gabe Sanders or Susan Maxwell.