Whitt Piker

I am proud to be a Realtor and carry that name. It is an honor for me and I want to represent it well.

You see I have an older brother! That is probably enough said but he is an older brother who wasn't too thrilled to have a younger brother. In fact he always told me I was adopted. So when I would get in trouble or my parents would be especially hard on me he would always remind me it was because I was adopted.

One day when I was about 12 and I was about to go away on a church trip my Dad came into my room and shut the door behind him (which is never a good thing) He then proceeded to ask me this question "Son what is your Last Name?" I immediately thought "Oh crap, I am adopted, and he is about to tell me right now!" and I answered "Piker" and then he said "and what is my Last name?" and I said "Piker" and then he said this: "That's right we carry the same last name and every where you go you carry that name, just like I carry and my father carried and his father before him, so if you leave this house and act like a fool or do something you shouldn't do then you are not only representing yourself but every one who carries that name and has ever carried it" Needless to say I have never forgot that conversation. And now when my nine year old gets ready to leave the house, or to walk on the ball field I look at him and say "what's your last name?" enough said he knows what I am talking about.

I carry the name Realtor, and I know who that represents, and if you carry that name realize today that you are not just representing yourself, but everyone who carries that name as well!

Home sales have been down in Russellville and Pope County over the past year. Those in the housing industry are hopeful that consumers will take advantage of several factors working in their favor and that the industry will pick up in the next few months. According to the Arkansas Realtors Association, home sales for January through November 2008 were down 14.3 percent from the same period in 2007. For the month of November alone, the report said, home sales were down 57.01 percent year-over-year.

Ethan Nobles of the Arkansas Realtors Association said the National Association of Realtors has predicted existing home sales will pick up in the first quarter of this year. However, he said, "We don't do predictions, and here's why. (Recently) the federal government announced they were going to buy $500 billion of mortgage backed securities held by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. When they announced that, those securities became much more desirable, and investors started to buy them. When that happens, yields decrease on those securities, and that has a direct impact on mortgage rates. They go down. So we're hovering around 5 percent on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage. That is an historic low. No one really predicted that happening. We just don't know what action the government is going to take to make purchasing a home more attractive for buyers.

"There's a perception that banks are out of money, but banks are lending. A lot of those zero down loans are pretty well gone, unless you qualify for one under the U.S. Department of Agriculture or under the Veterans Administration. Chances are you're going to have to come up with a down payment. That can be through a (Housing and Urban Development) loan, which is 3.5 percent. Conventionally they're looking for about 5 percent. If you're looking in Russellville, Right now is the PRIME time to buy, you have heard the term "Buyers Market" used ad nauseum but never has that been more true than right now! Interest rates are excellent. We're in a situation where rates are the best they've been in some time, below 5 percent, It really has stirred a lot of refinancing in our market which has the ability to lower payments for folks, which is a good thing.

Although we have not seen dramatic increase in new home sales, but the area is better off than many other markets. Some homeowners have experienced depreciation in their home values below what they owe, but certainly not the 20 and 25 percent that they've seen in California and other areas.

That's one of the good things about living here. The market tends to be more stable. We don't have the big upswings, but we don't have the big losses when things turn down.

So I leave with this: If someone tells you that you look sick long enough it won't be long until you start to believe them. Don't believe all the reports, Russellville Arkansas is fine. So go ahead and sell your house, Go ahead and buy that dream home. There is no better time than now! It is kind of all explained in this story:

"The Man Who Sold Hot Dogs"

There was a man who lived by the side of the road and sold hot dogs. He was hard of hearing, so he had no radio. He had trouble with his eyes, so he read no newspaper. But he sold good hot dogs. He put signs up on the highway telling how good they were. He stood on the side of the road and cried "Buy a hot dog, mister?" And people bought. He increased his meat and bun orders. He bought a bigger stove to take care of his trade. He finally got his son home from college to help him out. But then something happened. His son said, "Father, haven't you been listening to the radio?" "Haven't you been reading the newspaper?" There's a big depression." "The European situation is terrible." "The domestic situation is worse." Whereupon the father thought, "Well, my son has been to college: he reads the papers and listens to the radio, he ought to know." So his father cut down on his meat and bun orders, took down his advertising signs, and no longer bothered to stand out on the highway to sell his hot dogs.
And his hot dog sales fell almost overnight. "You're right, son." the father said to the boy. "We are certainly in the middle of a great depression."

-Whitt Piker, Executive Broker