As many of you know, I walk around wearing a 4" x 6" red nametag that says 'Ask Me About Real Estate!'. This is a lot of fun, because a day doesn't go by that at least 2 people stop and ask me about real estate, and I get to have a lot of interesting conversations with people that I wouldn't otherwise have had.

I was at the cash at Tim's this morning and the cashier said "got any foreclosures?" Yes, I replied, there are a few around, but not many. " Are they cheap?", she asked. Yes, I said, but they are not steals. However, prices are down about 12% over 9 months ago, so there are lots of great deals out there, if a deal is what you're looking for. What she said next saddened me, because it shows how much faith people put in the information they get from co-workers and the media. She said "Well, Chris, we ain't even started seeing the bad stuff happen yet - you can take it to the bank that prices will be down 50% in 6 months from now!" What makes you think that?, I asked. She went on to talk about a bunch of things like pending unemployment, bad mortgage rates, etc.

For my detailed response to this, watch the video embedded below . . .

This week's report is coming to you a few days late, for one fantastic reason - we're on our feet, running to keep up with the increased activity in the market!

This is a fatastic time to be IN the market, whether you are a buyer or a seller, and let me explain why. For seller's,homesthat are well-priced, well-presented, and easy to show are selling within 6 weeks, often within 2 weeks, and an increasing number of them are selling with multiple offers. Sure prices are down, but the prices of the home you are moving up to are down an even greater amount in terms of real dollars. What I mean is that you may take a 10%, or $30,000 hit on your townhome or semi that sells for $300,000, but you'll gain $45,000 or more on the big detached you buy that last year would have sold for $500,000 and you can buy for between $430,000 and $450,000 now.

For buyers, we are still seeing the classic thinking pervade the marketplace. What I mean by 'classic thinking' is that, when it was a seller's market with prices higher by 10% or more and interest rates higher by 2% or more, buyers were lining up to buy into the frenzy. Now that interest rates are down and prices are down, buyers are, in the majority, watching from the sidelines. What gives with that? Well, a large part of the blame for buyers not acting in their own best interest can be placed on what we refer to as external information sources. Some examples are the doom-&-gloom media who do nothing to report how amazing the opportunities are for buyers; or the friend or relative who is convinced they can time the market and think that it's got a long way to go down still; perhaps there are even real estate agents out there pronouncing how terrible things are, not based on any factual and experiential evaluation of things, but solely on what they absorb from media sources - remember the saying 'misery loves company'?

The following chart illustrates the opportunities for people thinking they can time the market:

The areas identified as the 'Lucky Zone' are those times when someone waits for a further decline in house prices and interest rates, and happens to get lucky with both; the 'Unlucky Zone' is where people think they can time the market, and it turns suddenly, whether house prices or interest rates, and their home purchase costs them more than it needed to. The 'Safe Zone' is where you can be if you take action NOW.

A few weeks back, in my video message, I spoke of how this is a limited-time opportunity, like when you see a sign in a car dealers window "0% Interest - Limited Time Offer", and I spoke of how the market has historically turned on a dime, over the course of a day or two.

Well, last week, we had one such limited-time opportunity come and go in the space of a few days - we had a 5-year mortgage at 3.49%, and now it's gone. You might think that a 0.5% rise in interest rates is not significant, so I did some quick calculations on a typical mortgage amount of $250,000:

 I included the 4.99% & 5.49% data because they are still incredibly low interest rates, which we have seen as the best rates at times during the last 6 months. So just look at the difference between payments at 3.49% and 4.99% - $206 dollars a month. At 3.49%, that $206 represents $41,500 in purchasing power. That's the difference between buying a semi-detached home and buying the detached home you really want! And the majority of buyers, people who say they want to buy, missed out. Will that rate come back? Maybe; maybe not. That's a big gamble on the future of your family though, isn't it?

I bring this data to you on a weekly basis because I want you to know where the market is at, and how you can best act to not only build your wealth, but make the best financial decisions for your family. I'm passionate about this, and consider it to be a critical component of my chosen profession.

We can still get you into a home of your own with between 0% and 3% down, depending on your credit history and the programs that are being offered at the time you take action, so really, you shouldn't wait - it's time to take action NOW.

If you are already a homeowner and have been thinking about investing some of your money / equity into real estate (and if you haven't, you should!), we can get you 5% downpayment with an interest rate of 4%. We have access to positive cashflow properties everywhere - just ask. But remember, this, too, is a limited-time opportunity. When rates and/or prices go up, the wealth-building opportunities change.

 So, how is the market right now, by way of numbers? Well, over the same period last month, the number of available listings is down by 11%, and the number of units sold is up by 67%! The time to sell is down by 15% and the number of listings taken off the market is up by 70%. For a detailed look at the numbers last week, grab the Total Market Overview at http://TownofMilton.com/TMO-04-03-09.pdf

If you are waiting to buy, make sure you come to our 'Your First Home workshop on Thursday April 23rd from 7 to 9pm at The Best Western Inn in Milton - just email me for details. If you are thinking of investing in real estate, and you should be, come to our Millionaire Real Estate Investor seminar on Tuesday April 21st, same location, from 7:30 to 9pm.

That's it for 'Last Week in Real Estate' this week. I appreciate the calls and emails I get from our readers, asking me for more details on how their particular circumstance looks in today's marketplace, and I welcome you to ask the same.