I just posted an interesting article about the record foreclosures we are currenting experiencing. What people should know is that we typically do have a lot of foreclosures in Williamson and Travis counties. This is nothing new. Even in our hottest markets, foreclosures are pretty heavy. They just spiked for some reason recently. I tend to look at things a little differently when I hear any news. In this case, I figure I know what is happening. The slack lending requirements recently did allow a lot of buyers into homes that probably shouldn’t have been looking to buy. Some clients I do talk out of buying and tell them it is better to rent. Yes you did read that correctly. I do suggest some poeple rent. If there is a history of non-payment, why would I put a person though the heartache of buying a home if I know the likelihood of them defaulting is strong. That is my job. Thats why. I want to make money like anyone else, but if I also have a conscience. Unlike a lot of other Realtors I have run into. (lots of good ones too) My priority is customer satisfaction. I get paid. I get referrals. What do I get if I sell a home to someone who lets it go back? I get a commission and they give no referrals to me for future business. This approach of selling has been good to me. While there is never a guarantee anyone will pay, the fact is most people want to pay what they owe. Sometimes things are just out of their control and they see no other alternative than to letting their home be foreclosed. Sad but a fact of life. Things happen.

The “0″ down loans are both good and bad. I have helped some really good people with great credit and job histories buy. They are short on cash or either want to use their case for remodeling etc. Then there are those who struggle everyday that buy on the “0″ down program. Most are first time home buyers. My best guess would be a lot of the foreclosures are falling into this category. I think the programs are going to go away. That is a bad thing in a lot of ways. Good in others. I don’t have enough space to write everything about this.

I got off track as usual. Now that lending requirements are tightening, sales are slowing. See the connection? That means a lot of potential buyers who could  have bought in the past can no longer buy. Hence higher inventory levels. See the connection? Does this mean a bad market? No. It just takes a lot of these buyers out of the equation.

Now here is what my suggestion to anyone is. Keep your credit good. (that goes without saying really) Then save your money. Save, Save, Save! Carry very little to no credit. If you do have credit cards you are paying on, pay them off first. The freedom you will feel is going to make all the difference in the world. Make it a goal to have everything paid off. Buy a home then and you will feel great. You don’t need to owe debt on credit cards. I feel that the next big glitch in our economy will not be mortgage related as we already have that. It will be credit debt related. If there is a huge wave of people not paying on credit cards, it could devastate our economy. It would take a huge amount of effort and hardship for our country to overcome that.

Ok, you might say, who is this guy to preach to me about this. I bet he owes a ton of money! haha. You would be wrong. I owe nothing. It took effort to get that way though as it will for everyone. We now enjoy life more and the worry of downturns in our economy are not as dire to us as they once were. Now I try to stay positive and move forward. Looking back gets you nothing.  If things slow down, I can handle it.

 I will be doing more posts about this in the future as I have a lot more to say.