Steven Leonard's Blog

Just received my Social Medai Pro designation from Houston Asso. of Realtors. I learned many things about the different media's and that there is more to them than I thought.

I have joined Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter & Ryze networks the last few months and have found them very helpful in getting the word out about my business. They have allowed me to reconnect with old friends and clients that I have not seen or heard from in years. Some of these people are all over the nation and it is great to have their connections and friendship.

I will be putting in a bit of my time into these networks over the next few weeks to make sure I have the best return from them in the future. It is always good to have different modes of marketing and I am excited to see what this will bring.

 At the end of last month the government added to the $8000 tax credit that buyers now can use a portion of it to goes towards the down payment or closing cost of their first home purchase. There is a $250 program fee and it has to be paid back when the tax credit is received. Check out www.myfirsttexashome.com for more details.

 Sure is a hot summer and its not just the weather. Homes sales are looking better as we get more into the summer and should stay that way for the next few months.

The government is trying to add more incentives for 1st and 2nd time buyers, so be watching your news or this blog for more info.

Building of new construction homes has slowed down. If you can find a subdivision with finished homes, look for the different insentivesthey are offering. They want to get these homes sold so be sure to ask your realtor to help with looking for these homes.

 

 New incentives have been added to the Making Home Affordable program by the government. This will help finacially strapped borrowers out of debt with lenders from their homes that are being devalued.

Borrowers will get up to $1,500 to help with relocation expenses from a short sell or deed in lieu of foreclosure. Also, $1,000 to the person(s) that service the short sell or deed in lieu of foreclosure will be paid by the Treasury Dept.

Borrowers who can not repay their mortgages are the ones that will benefit from this program with a reasonable work out solution.

If borrowers have a second mortgage they can receive up to $1,000 in incentive payments from the Treasury to the mortgage holder to give up claims to the primary lender.

From: CNNMoney.com

 Mortgage rates have gone up a bit. Hope they will hold in the 5's for the rest of the summer. I have read that once they start going up they will go up very rapidly compared to how fast they have come down in the last few months. Now is the time to make your move on that new home or investment property. Things are a change in.

This summer is looking great already. More homes are coming up for sale and now is a great time to get out there and purchase a new home.

Look at it this way, our home prices are pretty stable in most areas of Houston.  The national news has made it seem that everyone in this whole country is having a hard time. I wish noboby was having a hard time and I regret that it is happening to some really great people out there. But that makes people feel like they shouldn't spend anymore money because the government might want more of it in the future. The fear of losing their job and not knowing what is going to happen in the near future. I know this is a situation most of us have not lived through but looking at the past we have always come out of it for the better. A fresh start is what we need.

So if you do have the money to buy and a home to sell, sure you might not get as much as you would have one to two years ago. But with more houses on the market the more it becomes a buyers market and that means a better deal for you in buying a new home. Now if you wait to sell your home after the prices have started to go back up, well then the prices of the other homes are going to go back up also. So where do you win, well you win when you put yourself and your family in that new home they have always wanted, thats where you win.

Now, it does'nt mean no one is selling or buying. Sure there are, but not like it has been in the past. We just need a few more people out there selling and buying homes and I know that would help get our economy back on track.