Juan Carlos Visbal

The holiday season gives me the opportunity to extend my thanks to those who have helped me make the past six years as a real estate professional so wonderful. _______________________________________________________________

We are (since December 2007) in a recession initiated by the collapse of the real estate market, and made worse by the financial crisis that followed. As it has happened in the past the market will turn around and recover from this, in the meantime those buyers who qualify have the buying opportunity of a lifetime! Consider the following:

Time to refinance. Rates are at a historic low. (as low as 4.75%!!!) Keep in mind your credit score and the appraised value of the property will have to meet certain guidelines, and some areas have lost value so please contact me if you need to know how values are doing in your neighborhood, nevertheless rates are amazingly low.

Time to buy. Interest rates for home buyers are very favorable, FHA loan applications have almost tripled in Metro Atlanta due to low rates and the available 3% down payment programs. Please keep in mind that not all areas of Metro Atlanta have decreased as drastically as others so is a good idea to research the area to know what the "trend" is, and always stay alert to the deals that become available, also make sure you are pre approved.

Time to invest. Most of my clients today are new investors taking advantage of the available deals. Excess in inventory, low prices (according to Smart Numbers and FMLS the average price in Metro Atlanta year to year for detached homes have dropped 9.1 % and 13.1% for attached), also increase of foreclosure properties and low interest rates are great reasons to invest. Most of you have thought about investing...this is the time!

Happy Holidays to all and a very prosperous 2009!

Fathers Day. I wanted to start the blog with a big congratulations to all fathers on their day, all fathers outhere reading this.... Happy Fathers Day!

Real Estate Statistics Report for April 2008. During the month of April there was a decline of 33.9% of single family residence closings and 41.5% decline for Condos and Townhomes for the same period last year. What about prices? Have they come down and how much? That is a tough question to answer, as we all know real estate is local, neighborhoods, cities, counties and states are affected different however the average price of single family was down 9 % from April 2007 and 10.1% year to date, for condos & townhomes the numbers are 7.8% and 8.2% respectively.