It has been my experience that election year politics will greatly affect the Real Estate industry. I believe that real estate will be very good the third and fourth quarter of 2008.  Although the things that determine people’s decision to buy or sell real estate is not directly linked to elections, there are factors that do apply.

The overall economy- people decide to sell their house when they are deciding to move up the food chain. This is affected by their ability to get financing and the ability to receive a fair price for their existing house. If the market is down and they have to sell because of employment then they will be very cautious and may consider alternative such as leasing. They may choose to lease their existing house or they may choose to leased where they are heading.
 
Financing rates and terms- if the cost of moving affects people by 15% or more then they will not move or if the new employment will not allow then to keep the same discretionary income then they will not move.

The best economy- when the people can refinance and use that cash to pay for the equity for when they are moving. That way they can keep their cash flow as well as create equity in a house.

Based on these items I believe that 2008 will be a very good year but will not materialize until the primary’s are over and the people can determine where the politics will land. It doesn’t matter who will win it will only matter that we know what their overall impact will be.

-Tim Leadbetter

As we have mentioned in other articles, developing a Real Estate Niche is important.  Most real estate professoinals will focus on a certain area, a specific type of home, or a certain service that relates to a process in real estate.   What about international real estate markets??   Who does a resident in Los Angeles California, looking for a vacation chalet in Switzerland turn to?  

Chances are there aren’t any agents in California that specialize in vacation homes in Switzerland.   The idea of trying to find someone qualified in Switzerland is probably not to appealing to the prospective buyer.   

This is why having a working knowledge of international property is important.   There is an excellent site for researching real estate in international markets.   PropertyMagnate.com is a very useful site that has a plethora of information on this subject.   If you have a client that asks if you can help them finding a property abroad, you can now confidently answer “Yes!” with the help of Property Magnate!

When interest rates go down do home prices go up?  When interest rates go up do home prices go down?Although interest rates seem to affect home prices there is another major factor that seem to affect the prices more.  That is supply.  Supply is the number of similar houses available at a given time that allows Buyers their choice.  This condition is called a “Buyers Market” and has a serious affect to home prices.  Sellers have a problem is having their listing stand out or separate their house from the pack.  Buyers have the ability to negotiate and play one seller against another.