Matt Thomas

Sure, we all know someone struggling to make their mortgage payments. It's affected all of us on some personal level. But, the effects of the recent government bailout of Freddie & Fannie backed loans has a much more far-reaching effect than just individual homeowners.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac owned or backed about half of all US mortgages, but investors worldwide, and especially Asian banks, were highly leveraged in their bonds. Stocks worldwide soared yesterday on the announcement of the government bailout, and the news seems to have provided some confidence to otherwise hesitant investors that viewed the US market as being too risky.

If you've read my blog in the past, you know how I feel about government interference with the private markets, but this is one scenario where the result might produce worthwhile results.

Turn on your local news tonight, I'm sure the media will mention the "dreadful" housing market. But, remember, real estate is regional... and while there's no denying that our market isn't what it was 2-3 years ago, there are some encouaging signs ..

In the Athens-area market for the month of August ...

• the # of sold units was up by 12% from the month before
• the average sales price was up by 5.1% over that same time
• the average days on market for homes that sold in August was down 15.3%

Was it just a good month? Maybe so. I certainly don't think we're out of the woods yet, but I thought it might be nice to project a positive spin for a change.

Labor Day, the first Monday of each September, is observed in both the United States and Canada to recognize working people for their contribution to society.

I'd never taken the time to really research statistics on my occupation until today, but I found several stats that I thought were interesting:

• according to the National Assn of Realtors, there are 1,257,491 realtors in the US
• the highest NAR membership was 1,370,758 in October 2006
• membership in NAR has doubled since the mid 1990's

I couldn't find any stats on the # of builders, lenders, investors, etc, but the real estate industry employs a large # working-age citizens in the US, without question.

On this Labor Day, even in this slower-than-normal market, I'm proud to be a Realtor ... and more importantly, I'm thankful to live in a country where I have the opportunity to work and provide for my family.

As most of you know, credit scores range from 300 to 850, and lenders place a significant amount of weight on the score when making lending decisions. Consumers that score over 700 are typically charged lower rates than normal, while those under 600 are charged higher than normal rates.

If you haven't seen a copy of your credit report and score, you can obtain one free of charge once a year (email me for details).

If you do follow your credit closely, you'd probably be interested in the following tips for keeping your score at or above par, even if you're not in a position to pay off debt right now.

• pay bills on-time ... sounds simple, but it's not always. The credit bureaus allow you a "30-day grace period" to pay, but if your bills are more than 30 days late, your credit will be damaged
  
• keep balances low on credit cards ... even if you have to open a new card and "share" your total balance, lenders like to see that you have an outstanding balance at or below 30% of your limit
  
• don't open too many new accounts ... I know I just told you to open new ones, but you don't want to if you can help it. The "average account age" is important in proving to the credit bureaus that you're a seasoned borrower ... a new account will lower your average age
  
• don't ever close an account ... it's great to pay the balance down to $0, but don't close the account. If the account is closed, it's removed from your active record. But, if you have a $0 balance on a card with a $10,000 limit, your golden in the lenders eyes

If you would like more info on how to obtain your credit score, of if you'd like advice on how to raise your score, please email or call me anytime.

To spur activity in the real estate sales market, the federal government has once again stepped up to the plate ... and struck out, in my opinion.

In an attempt to help 1st-time homebuyers, the gov't is offering a $7500 tax credit for qualifying purchasers (call for details) ... it has to be paid back, so it's just a short-term loan of sorts ... but, given the state of our national debt, and the other more critical areas of need, is it really the government's responsibility to interject funds here?

We just don't get it, do we? One of the main reasons the housing market is slow now is due to the concept that everyone "deserves" to be a homeowner. Just a few years back, everyone with a heartbeat and a 500 credit score qualified to buy a home. Now, there are more foreclosures than ever. That very sense of entitlement is how we dug ourselves this hole to begin with ... and to fix it, the gov't has just picked up a larger shovel by throwing more money at the problem and encouraging more and more people to buy.

Now, don't get me wrong ... as a Realtor, I hope this program increases sales, and I would be happy to share the details of the program with anybody that has an interest ... but, as a tax-paying citizen with a sincere interest in the well-being of our economy as a whole, I just don't think this is the long-term answer.