Middle Tennessee Real Estate

Home Buyers Get More Say

I disagree with any agent who says the housing market in middle Tennessee hasn't slowed. I just closed on a home that was under $130,000 in Smyrna. It had four bedrooms, two baths, fenced in backyard, and hardwod floors. It took four months to sell that baby. It should have sold within a couple of weeks. The housing market IS slowing. This is GREAT news for home buyers because there should be more homes available for you to choose from and you may have a full minute or two to decide to write an offer rather than the nano-second you had before. (Time is ALWAYS of the essence!). Interest rates are still low, so affordability isn't really a detriment right now, either.

But here's an interesting article published at MSNBC.com that I'm linking for your reading enjoyment! Home buyers seen slowly gaining more clout

I think it's unbelievable that people are offering vacations, cars, flat screen TV sets, etc. to buyers. The caveat is when the sellers offer this kind of incentive, why would a buyer accept it? Wouldn't you be better off asking to take $5000 or $20,000 off the price tag? I think so! You can generally figure your mortgage payment to be about $7 per $1000. So if you buy a home for $100,000, your house payment would be $700 p/month. This usually includes home owners insurance and taxes, so obviously that $7 can vary up to $7.50 or more. By knocking $5,000 off the purchase price, that's $35 p/month. For 30 years. You'd be in a better financial situation by applying that money to your purchase or closing costs!

But that's just what I'm thinking. Talk amongst yourselves! :)

posted by Kathy T. @ 5:02 PM