Linda Morrison

It's the busy time of year and if you haven't had problems with the new appraisal guidelines, you probably will. Every transaction we've done this spring, we've had to get comps for appraisers, get the Previous Settlement Statement to the new lender (unheard of before) and all kinds of information to the lenders and then the buyers are asking for all the furniture in the house--and adding it into the contract sales price (???), wanting to rent and then buy later in the fall til they see what Congress is going to do (supposedly raise the $8,000 credit to $15,000) and they don't want to miss out on the house AND the tax credit for First Time Homebuyers....just crazy off-the-wall things. I do think Realtors need to educate their buyers more on the homebuying process. But I don't know how to get buyer's "off the fence" so to speak about purchasing a home...we just can't predict the future or what Congress is going to pass.

Hope everyone had a great holiday season and ready to get back into buying and selling homes! I personally wrote an offer on Christmas Eve! First-time Homebuyers and singles are my specialty as I enjoy walking them through the homebuying process. The homebuying process has changed so much over the past year or so--so both buyers and sellers need updates on the changes that are being made.

My partner, Celeste Lovelace, has also been busy talking to both new and past clients and getting listing presentations in order. She is great doing the front-end of the real estate operations while I enjoy doing the "behind the scenes" marketing and paper-pushing.

We work closely with several mortgage loan officers, but have been very pleased with Provident Advisory Group and GENA CAUDLE, President. You can get pre-approved at her website www.providentloans.com

I think this spring is going to be a very strong buying season--it usually is---but after the winter slowdown and economic crisis, I think everyone is going to want to take advantage of the continuing low interest rates and high inventory of homes. Prices in the Central Texas area have remained stable and we have not been hit with a very high foreclosure rate. I think after the inauguration, we should see a surge in sales.

See you on the other side!