Here are the some latest statistics that bold well for the housing market here in Louisville, KY:
| LISTINGS | Residential (Single Family & Condo) |
| August 31 - Sept. 6, 2009 | 652 |
| Last Year | 533 |
| SOLDS | |
| August 23 - 29, 2009 | 288 |
| Last Year | 261 |
Mike Brown, BROKER/Realtor- On the Move Realtors, Inc.
I have witnessed and represented many first time home buyers over the last 6 weeks in the Louisville, KY area. First time home buyers are a very special group in that they seem to really appreciate your efforts as their Realtor. They love for someone to actually hold their hand through the entire process. They are excited and look forward to owning their own home.
And of course, as a Realtor, I get excited to see their excitement in the American dream- owning their own home. One of my latest clients has paid rent for over 8 years. Do the math.... $750 x 12 x 8 = $72,000. Actually hard to believe. Had it not been for the $8,000 tax credit I'm not sure this first time buyer would have made the leap- so it's all good, right?
Well, not really sure what this $8,000 tax credit may do or already is doing to our National debt. The unfortunate issue may be seen down the road when we discover that our debt on a National level might really be a bad thing. Even though for now, it seems that many first timers are taking advantage of this opportunity.... I know I would if I were in those shoes. It's definitely helping the real estate market overall, but may be placing a bind on our Nation.
Only time will tell if this decision of the $8,000 tax credit was a good move or not so good.
I just finished up my 3 miles on a treadmill and 5 miles on a bike at the Louisville Athletic Club. This morning I read an article in the LEO Weekly. The LEO sat down and interviewed the Mayor Of Louisville Jerry Abrhamson.
I want to share with you 2 things that our Mayor said in his interview that really stand out to me.
1) He said that he is no different than any other CEO of any business when it comes to trimming the budget. There seems to be a small outrage of people that were against the closing of a small fire station. Although it seems that City of Louisville did their home work. They have been studying the issue of this firehouse for over 3 years. The media would want you to beleive that all of the sudden the City is closing this firehouse. Point is that CEO's of companies and Mayor's of cities are paid to make decisions that support the big picture. However, I know government is government and business is business.
2) The Mayor said that we have people in our community that are "enragers" and people in our community that our "engagers". Enragers are involved in the process of enragement- getting people or groups of people enraged. Unfortunately, most of the time these are the people depicted by our media. And of course, our city or our businesses go no where in the process of enragement. On the otherhand, the Mayor stated that we have many people in our community that are "engagers." Engagers are invovled in the process of engagement- getting people or groups of people engaged. Just think how far we could go if we had more engagers surrounding us.
After reading the article, I started to reflect on how true this is in everything we are invovled in. Whether it is a real estate transaction, or Church function, or family, or relationships, or any other business... there are "enragers" and "engagers."
Where do you fall most of the time? Are you an enrager or an engager?
As you gear up for this holiday season deciding on what to purchase for this person or that person----- what deals you can get from Black Friday (known as the biggest shopping day of the year), I would like to make a few suggestions:
1. Don't over spend. Only spend what you can afford to spend. Just because that credit limit is $5,000- don't run that credit card up unless you can afford to pay off the balance the next month.
2. Don't buy on the spot. Make sure you have done some research to make sure you are getting the best deal. Sometimes the best deal is not all the best deal- you just think it might be the best deal.
3. Don't forget to save some money this Holiday Season for those that are less fortunate than yourself. Charities still need your donations. If you cannot give monetarily than perhaps consider a food or clothing donation. Go through your clothing drawers, dresser and closet, if you have not worn an article of clothing in a year, then perhaps consider donating it.
4. Ignore the TV announcers- commit to saving more than you spend this holiday season. Consider putting away some of that paycheck. Perhaps, now would be a good time to go back to the days of the 70's and 80's when people saved money.
5. Lastly, contrary to what you might hear on the major news channels- you can still obtain home mortgages (yes, loans are still available). Currently, for first time home buyers there is a $7,500 tax credit available to you. If you have good credit and stable employment for the last 2 years- your chances are very good that you could get a loan. However, based on the above I just wrote about it- be careful on how much debt you take on. The higher the debt you have the more difficult it may be to get a loan- of course it depends on how much money you make in a given year.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and upcoming Holiday Season!
Mike Brown, On the Move REALTORS, Inc. Broker and Owner
 |
|
|
Serving the Louisville, KY area with 11 years as a Realtor. Experience is a plus when bringing me on board to serve your real estate needs. Energetic personality. Residential and commercial.
ActiveRain Corp. is not responsible for the accuracy of the site's content (which is written by members of the ActiveRain Real Estate Network) and does not endorse the views of the real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and others listed here.
Powered by the ActiveRain Real Estate Network
© 2013 ActiveRain Corp. All Rights Reserved
