Market Update

There has been a flurry of activity in the first time homebuyer market lately. I heard one agent say they were in a multiple offer situation where there were 23 offers on the property. They had offered $20,000 over the asking price and didn’t get the house. I suspect most of this activity is related to the $8000 first time homebuyer money. The program is set to expire November 30th. Folks taking part in the program must close by that date to qualify, so there is frantic buying going on right now. As you may have heard, there is talk this program will be extended. Of course there may be different guidelines about how long you have to stay in the house in order not to have to pay the money back, income guidelines etc. It is a government program, so it’s hard to say how it will look in the end. It also looks like there will be another round of foreclosures this winter here in the twin cities so we may not be out of the woods quite yet. Interest rates are expected to rise next year along with home prices.

Staying on the back roads

I was walking down the hall in the office the other day and noticed a colleague walking toward me with his head down intently looking at his cell phone and working feverishly to type out what I assumed was a text message. As we approached each other, I kept waiting for him to look up and when I realized he wasn’t going to, I had to quickly step aside to avoid getting bumped into. I’ve seen people doing this in their cars while driving as well. What comes to mind is an old Johnny Carson show in which his guests were Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin & George Goble. Frank & Dean were in tuxedo’s and George had a suit on. He remarked to Johnny “I feel like a brown pair of shoes in a tuxedo world” That’s kind of how I feel with all the new technology… like a brown pair of shoes in a tuxedo world.

Sacrafice

Once again I’d like to remind everyone to keep our service men and women in mind. The holidays are coming up and if you can help in any way it will be greatly appreciated. Again, here’s a couple of web sites to visit where you can really help out.
www.woundedwarriorproject.org/
www.freedomisnotfree.com/