Cheryl Dooley

All of the lenders in our area e-mailed all of the real estate agents last week about the potential for Rural Development loans to very soon deplete their funding.

In the Hutchinson, MN and surrounding area, the RD loans make up about 60% of all the first time homebuyers financing. So, there is real reason for concern.

In talking to many lenders over the last week, I am getting a real mixed signal. Some feel that there isn't any question that the Federal Government will allocate more funding for Rural Development, while others are quite skeptical.

Having been in the real estate business since 1975, I have seen these programs run out of money before. When that happens, we as real estate agents need to get creative and help our buyers find other sources for financing that are available. FHA is always a good option for first time buyers.

So, here we are, just waiting to see what happens. Seems like we have done a lot of "wait and see" in the real estate business during the last couple of years! That's what makes our business so exciting!

The November/December issue of "The Residential Specialist" arrived in our office today. We are proud to have one of our marketing ideas featured in the article titled "The Bright Side."

If you would like a copy of this article, just e-mail me and I'll be happy to send it to you.

Isn't it just great having the speculation of a new stimulus incentive for everyone? Now I am starting to hear buyers say, "Well I'm going to just wait to buy a home in Hutchinson, MN because there is an even better stimulus package that will be available to all home buyers coming soon." Well, if the people who think that the $8,000 tax credit has inflated prices in some markets, imagine what a $15,000 tax credit will do! Is it any wonder why this market has been so crazy? Maybe it's time to just let the housing market correct itself without all of this.

Last year I had a past client who contacted me and said that she wanted to sell her home here in Hutchinson, MN and get into a townhome. She had only owned the home for about 1 1/2 years and after looking at the market, I suggested to her that she wait until the real estate market had a chance to improve. She took my advice and about a month ago we reconnected. She put her home up for sale at an asking price $12,000 below what she had paid for it. Within a couple of weeks she had an acceptable offer on it and was able to purchase the townhome she had found. She needed to bring about $15,000 to closing in order to sell her current home and purchase the new one, but she was well prepared to do so. She has thanked me many times for advising her to wait because it would have cost her much more had she tried to make the move last year. I know that it is difficult to be brutally honest with our clients, but it is essential and they will appreciate you even more.

Now is the time for all real estate people to wake up and realize that nothing is going to replace the face-to-face contact that we have with customers and clients. I keep seeing all the agents going goo-goo over the newest technology and I have to wonder, "why are these people in the real estate business?" They are tripping over themselves to put technology in place that eliminates their having to have face-to-face contact with their buyers and sellers. The best example of this is the "showing" technology where an agent sets up their appointments to show a home via the Internet. Then after the showing there is a "showing response" form filled out by the showing agent. Most listing agents simply forward these comments to their sellers via e-mail. What happened to the good dialog that a listing agent and their sellers used to have over the showing comments. Don't get me wrong, there are many wonderful things that technology can do for us in our day to day activities, but let's not lose sight of the importance of face-to-face dialog.