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Safe Long Term Investments |
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As Wall Street tumbles and the Dow Jones Industrial Average falls many investors are on the look out for safer investments. With the fear of market volatility in the future many market experts are encouraging their clients to invest in something other than stocks. Their advice? Buy a house or a 2nd homeon the beach! Sounds good to me! I'm more than willing to invest in a house that would protect me from inflation, with the potential to appreciate in value. Relaxing by the waves at my beach house wouldn't be that bad either. Now is a great time to invest in real estate. There are plenty of incentives out there to entice home buyers to buy, buy, buy. To begin with, home prices are still down in many areas of the country with mortgage rates at historic lows. Need more convincing? The recent debt deal is also likely to keep mortgage rates low for a little longer. Once the details of the debt deal are finalized this incentive could be history. Major hurdles that buyers will continue to face will be making the down payment on a house, having good credit, and a stable job. According to Greg McBride a senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com, "If you're financially prepared to do so, it'sa great time to buy a house. He also mentioned, "Affordability is tremendous,and if you're in a position where you have the financial security that others are lacking, you're in a great position to grab a good deal." Rebecca Hall, a financial planner in Reston, VA said several of her clients have decided to invest in real estate over putting more money in the stock market. She said people don't see the real estate market as volatile and stressed the importance of seeing real estate as a long term investment. Resources: Josh Law – Tom Barnum – Pete Laver AugustaRealEstateTeam.com RockinghamRealEstateTeam.com Augusta County, Rockingham County, Staunton, Harrisonburg, Churchville, Craigsville, Crimora, Deerfield, Fishersville, Fort Defiance, Greenville, Lyndhurst,Middlebrook, Mint Spring, Mount Sidney, Mount Solon ,New Hope, Sherando,Spottswood, Steeles Tavern, Stuarts Draft, Swoope, Verona, Waynesboro, & Weyers Cave | |
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Are Rents Going Up? |
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Why would I blog about rents? I do because the cost of renting a house directly impacts consumers decision to buy a house. | |
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Real Estate In Europe |
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I want to take a minute to tell you about a recent trip of mine. I was fortunate enough to be able to tour some of the western part of England as well as London and Amsterdam. I am sort of a house fanatic (love architecture and anything about real estate) and it was interesting to see the house styles and construction materials that I saw in England and Amsterdam. To start with, I do not think I saw one home that was covered in vinyl or even wood for that matter. Every house I saw was made of brick, stone or masonry. That included the roofing materials. There was slate and tile and on some of the older (much older, think 300 plus years) properties, there were literally 1" flat stones covering the roofs of these older homes. I have no idea how they support the weight. So it was cool, everything had a very "real" feel about the building and construction materials. Of course, that would contriibute to higher prices of the houses. Housing prices can still keep the average British person from owning a home. Many rent flats or if they purchase, most of the homes are attached in some way, whether in a "townhouse" style or larger homes that have been divided into "condo" type properties. I was told by a lifelong resident of England that "everyone aspires their whole life to have a detached home". A detached home, where you have your own yard and you no longer share walls with your neighbor. Something like "a man's home is his castle". So we are a little short on castles here in the US, but for the most part, if your goal is to buy a home, a detached home, most people here can do it. Our housing prices are lower (yes we may not employ the most expensive building materials, but then again, our homes are more affordable) and interest rates on 15 year mortgages are now below 4%. The affordability factor on homes in this country is now amazingly in the favor of buyers. My parents, who bought their first home in 1960, never never never could have imagined interest rates as low as they are now. They paid 7% then for a loan. Now is really the time to buy if you are looking for a home. Is your castle waiting out there for you? | |
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Rockingham Real Estate Team
Coldwell Banker
Funkhouser Realtors
540-421-7447
rockteam@cbfunkhouser.com
Licensed in the
Commonwealth of Virginia
