Читать книгу Rent-to-Own: How to Find Rent-to-Own Homes NOW While Rebuilding Your Credit - Wendy Patton - Страница 7

Let’s face it; throughout much of the country, the real estate market is tough for sellers. Many areas went through a period of real estate insanity that will be looked back on as the “Boom” years. The Boom years gave us double-digit appreciation rates and home values soared in much of the country. Some areas were so crazy that the appreciation rates were as much as 40% or more in one year. In Miami, Florida, the median selling price of a home in January of 2003 was about $190,000. By January of 2007, the median selling price was $375,000! That’s about 100% appreciation in 4 years, or 25% per year.

Do you think that appreciation rates of 25% per year are realistic? I’m sure you have heard the saying, “What goes up, must come down.”

With home prices surging so rapidly, people were buying them like the Nintendo Wii for Christmas. It was a mad rush to buy. Buyers were frantic to be a part of it because they wanted to capitalize on that crazy appreciation themselves. Those fabulous Boom years were great for Realtors® and sellers; but tough on buyers. A real estate agent could get a listing and start putting the sign out front. Before he finished putting that sign in the ground, a buyer would drive up and start writing a deposit check – without even looking inside. Before that buyer could finish writing the check, another buyer would drive up and start writing a bigger deposit check for more than the asking price. A “For Sale” sign attracted buyers, almost like dogs when they hear the can opener!

If a buyer happened to buy early enough, he could take advantage of that great appreciation. If he bought at the top of his market, he had nowhere to go but down.

The simple fact of the matter is that the staggering appreciation rates that most areas experienced just weren’t sustainable. The real estate market in most areas has not settled back down to mere mortal levels; they’ve dropped below that. Home selling prices in Miami, Florida, between January of 2007 and May of 2008, dropped from a median price of $375,000 to $340,000. By September of 2008, the median selling price dropped to $275,000. That’s more than a $100,000 drop in just over 1½ years! It’s still going down as of the writing of this book.

Miami is more of an extreme case than most of the country, both going up and coming down, but it does serve as a good example of how things have changed. Markets have changed to heavily favor buyers. That’s why it’s such a good time to buy now. That’s why sellers need to find creative ways to sell their homes, like rent-to-own.

The problem for sellers is that qualified buyers have become scarce, just like dogs when they find out only a can of green beans was opened, and sellers are popping up everywhere. It seems like “For Sale” signs on the front lawns are now part of the landscaping that everyone plants when they put in their spring flowers.

It seems like these signs are everywhere…

...these signs are all too scarce!

“For Sale” signs seem to be lingering well after the spring flowers have wilted. Whether your market is like Miami and is plummeting or your local market is much more moderate, odds are it’s still much tougher for home sellers to sell now than it was just a couple of years ago. Most of the country is in a housing “slump”.

So you’re probably thinking, “Great! This makes it an excellent time for me to buy. Prices are low, sellers are competing for buyers, what more could I ask for?” All of that is true; however, there is just one teensy-tiny problem. While this housing slump is making it tough for home sellers, there is a balancing factor that’s making it tough for home buyers. I call it the “Credit Crunch”.