Making Myself Available to Buyers

I was working my real estate company's kiosk at Crabtree Valley Mall in Raleigh today. Yep, can't believe I signed up to go to the mall on the worst parking day of the year. So why did I choose to try and do a little business there today? Simple, I figured there would be lots of potential buyers that might have questions about real estate. I actually had contact with eight people in the 3 hours that I was there. Each one of them asked me what I thought it was going to take for us to get out of the economic slump the US economy is in. The answer I provided was "you and me and our friends and their friends opening our wallets and starting to spend again." I told them how I felt we've been frozen in fear and we need to get beyond that... we need to get over this fear factor we'ver been trained to live in over the last many years... pull up our boot straps and get on with LIVING. I talk to people everyday. The "news" will feed you doom and gloom. So don't believe everything you hear on the evening news. Remember that real estate numbers that are important to you are the local numbers, not the national numbers that most news organizations report.

Today was the fourth day of this week that the Dow was UP. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have introduced new loan programs that our mortgage specialist can assist you with. There are still 100% financing loans .

So do us all a favor, loosen up on the funds you're holding. You don't have to go overboard in spending what you don't have to spend. But do spend. If each of us spend some of what we have, we'll warm up and the freeze will thaw.

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving with my family this year. My two brothers and their families came to town so the whole bunch of us got together for the proverbial feast. More food than we needed but I love the leftovers and we don't waste anything. I hope you and your family had as great a holiday and wish you the best for the coming holidays.

The Rebound

I figured I'd foray into the blogging world with GOOD NEWS. Read this... http://www.smartmoney.com/Personal-Finance/Real-Estate/Now-for-the-Good-News-on-Home-Prices/?page=2 and then read this... http://email.hpw.com/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.realtor.org/RMODaily.nsf/pages/News2008111202?OpenDocument Both articles are an indication of how the market here in the Raleigh area is pretty solid and beginning a rebound.

As a local real estate agent in The Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill) I seem to be spending more time every day convincing people that things are not as bad as the media has frightend us into believing. Personally, I feel it's all a part of the environment our society has been trained to live in these last eight years. It's a perception I'm fed up with and everyone else should be too. Our attitudes and perceptions are what will get "us" out of the current stagnation that our nations economy is facing.

We are FROZEN IN FEAR. Now is the time to melt the ice. Get involved with your neighbors, your village, your town or city. Share your thoughts and your ideas. If you don't like how government is acting these days, change it through your involvement. Phone calls and e-mails to your elected officials is a great place to start.

The holidays will soon be upon us and though most of us don't have as much money this year as we did last year, we can still have a great holiday. We may have to be more creative in the gifts we give, make something, re-gift something you're not using yourself, go garage "sailing" and find something to gift. If you want to give brand new, shop shop shop. All of these activities will help the money and our economy start to flow.

From a real estate perspective, please know that you DON'T need a 780 credit score to buy a house. Contact a professional real estate agent (that would be me, I'm a Realtor) to start the process of owning a piece of The American Dream. I can put you in touch with mortgage specialists that HAVE money to lend.

We are the United States of America. We will get our economy working again because WE CAN!