Top 3 Reasons You Should Buy a House Today!

1. Interest rates are low.
2. Home prices are low.
3. Both interest rates and home prices will rise.

Duh?! Right?! Of course, you knew I would say those things. If you are reading this blog, you were hoping that I would share some secret- some jewel- some "insider trading" gem that only I would know after 15 years in real estate. Here’s what you may not realize: It is all math... worse, it is algebra! Boring, I know.

If you say, “I want a $500,ooo house,” what you are really saying is, “I can afford an 'X' amount monthly mortgage payment. In this case, X equals interest rate, times the principal, plus taxes and insurance. If the interest rate goes up, so does the payment. If the payment goes up, then the amount of house you can afford goes down. All of a sudden, that half-million dollar dream home is out of reach. Anyone who has ever bought a car knows that payments can be played with. You can put a larger down payment on the house; you can get an adjustable rate mortgage instead of a fixed rate mortgage; you can secure additional private (i.e., Family) financing, and so forth... You get the idea.

Here is the best news (the part that doesn't involve a crystal ball): rates are going up, but they are still at historic lows. Demand for housing is low because people are scared. When they are no longer scared, prices will go up. Pent-up demand will be unleashed on the market place. We all know about supply and demand. When demand goes up, prices go up. You are at a once in a lifetime crossroads: Demand is low, interest rates are low. You can get MORE for your Money than my crystal ball says you will ever be able to get again in your lifetime! Don't let this opportunity pass you by... you will regret it if you do... I can promise you that you will.

“Okay,” you say, “yes, prices are low, but I bet they will go lower.” You are a risk taker and want to feed off the bloodbath you foresee. You may be right, prices may go lower. Can't say for sure one way or another; but, interest rates are rising. That is happening. If the rate goes up faster than the prices fall (which is what is happening now), then you are losing ground, not gaining. Your payment will still be more than it would have been if you had paid more for your house. All signs point toward buying now.

Get off the fence and into my car... let's go find you your dream home now, while you can still afford it!

Am I social enough for social media?

Over the course of the past week, I opened a twitter account for myself and my company, created a fan page for my real estate company, Gilliam & Associates Realty, and began using my linked-in account.  Now today I opened a BlogSpot blog!   

At this point, you may be impressed or you may be yawning, thinking, “Well it's about time you jumped on the bandwagon.”   My brother, a DJ in Nashville, TN, has been doing all these things for years now.  Of course, he is 6 years younger... 6 1/2... but who's counting anymore?   He periodically sends me links for social media sites, which in the past I ignored.  That is until I would talk to him and he would extol the virtues of whatever site it happened to be and promise me that it would be life changing, if I only would embrace the technology.   

Fast forward to last week.  My brother came to town unexpectedly for the funeral of a friend of the family.  As we were standing in line waiting to express our condolences to the family, he proceeded to sell me on twitter.  Keep in mind we were in line for 2 hours.  By the time we left, I was promising I would sign up and commit.  This commitment aspect was missing from all the other tech adventures he had talked me into in the past.   

I figured, "how hard could it be... ?" I will give it one week.  I will tweet away for one week and then when the week is done, I will see how my life has improved.  I am a very social person by nature - most Realtors are; but, even so, tweeting does not come naturally to me.  Does anyone really care what I am doing at any given time of day? ... Probably not.   Fifteen years in sales has taught me most people care about one thing:   “Is this about me?”   

All of this leaves me wondering, “Am I social enough for social media?”   What do I write in the status update bars on my linked-in, facebook, and twitter pages?   I have been told by my brother and a friend, “Oh, you need to link them all together so that you only have to come up with one update.”   That doesn't seem right.  Do my high school/college friends and family want to see what I would write on linked-in, or vice versa?  Do I tweet about the same things I would post on facebook?  And now... what do I blog about?  Expanded versions of my tweets?  My facebook adventures?  Or, something completely new?

What to do, what to do, what to do???  I am looking for advice - if you have any, please share!  Oh, and thanks for reading, even if this is all about me : )