Paul Perez, AHS

We receive negative energy here in Austin when we are compared to the rest of the world. Fortunately for me for the last few weeks I have seen a flurry of activity reviving the faith in Austin and a few other metro cities. Here is a great link about the 10 Least Most Stressful Metros, and how Austin is among the LEAST stressful metros at number 5! Does anyone else have a great story to share about Austin? If so, I would like to know.

Everywhere you turn you see another market reporting record losses from stocks to residential equity in homes. Only Austin seems to be chugging right along. Not to say that things have been unaffected, 30% less people qualify these days since the sub-market slow down. Things seem to be going back to the way I remember when I was growing up with mostly FHA. That's not so bad, with Affordable Housing Programs, sub-prime just take more effort and paperwork.

I wan't to know what the average consumer is WILLING to pay. What do you think they would pay for an average 700 sq. ft. 1 bedroom place near Downtown? You can see what I thought of at Commercial Property News.

A few days ago I finished my last module to become an Affordable Housing Specialist. There are all kinds of programs out there to help almost anyone get a place to call home. There is a program here in Texas that will contribute 5% of the price of the home to help pay for down payments and closing costs. This program is a grant and does NOT have to be paid back.

Can you believe that there is also a program that requires you to be denied from other lenders in order to qualify for up to 105% of the cost of a home. In other words, there can be NO Down Payment! Over the next few posts I will show you the programs and where to go to for more information.

Not overlooking out vets, the Texas Vet program offers our Vets a great opportunity to borrow upwards of 400k for a home with interest rates as low as 4.25%!

Visit often to see what we can do to help you own a home of your own.