Posted By Alan Donald @ Jul 11th 2009 7:00am In: Real Estate

REALTOR.com just completed a quarterly national homeownership survey that uncovered interesting findings that may be useful to know:

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Affordability

• 76.4% of consumers think a median-income family can only afford 50% or fewer of the homes for sale in their area. In reality, a family earning the national median income can afford nearly 75% of the homes for sale today on Realtor.com.

Foreclosure

• 20.1% who say they or someone they know may be facing foreclosure haven't taken steps to resolve their situation, while 22.4% haven't taken steps but plan to before the Administration's refinance program expires next year.

• While 66.3% of respondents said they aren't likely to consider buying a foreclosure, 23.9% of buyers would consider purchasing a foreclosure if sellers would pay closing costs and 19.5% would purchase a foreclosure if there was higher certainty related to home repairs required to make the home "move-in" ready.

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My comments on these findings:

  • If you are a buyer, hire a REALTOR who knows how to deal with short sales, pre-foreclosures and lender-owned properties (REOs). There are some fantastic deals out there but you need to know what questions to ask and what due diligence to do to take advantage of these market opportunities.
  • If you are experiencing financial difficulties, CONTACT YOUR LENDER TODAY. Don't miss out on the possible solutions that may prevent foreclosure. If you wish to sell but owe too much to the bank, hire a REALTOR who knows how to negotiate short sales with lenders.
  • Homes are more affordable now that you think! The window of opportunity (low interest rates, federal tax incentives and high inventory) may close soon.



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