A good time to buy Real Estate

“It’s a good time to buy real estate.” That’s the message Realogy, the nation’s largest real estate franchisor, wants agents to broadcast to buyers across the country.
The company is spreading the word through a national advertising campaign in USA Today, which began this past Wednesday and will run again on Feb. 13th and 20th. This is Realogy’s second national push in as many years to take a strong stance against the barrage of negative press directed toward the real estate industry over what is reported as the declining condition of the housing market. The ad lets consumers know that recently-cut mortgage rates and a wealth of available properties make today a “great time” to purchase a home.
The timing of the ad, titled, “Think You Can’t Get a Home Loan? Well Think Again. You May Be Pleasantly Surprised.,” aligns with the recent Federal Reserve interest rate cuts, and lets consumers know that: money is available for those who meet basic requirements; affordability has improved; rates are attractive; and inventory is plentiful.
In an exclusive interview with Alex Perriello, president & CEO of the Realogy Franchise Group, he said the ads aim to educate consumers who might be at the positive tipping point on buying a home.
“We want to educate the consumer with relevant facts about today’s real estate market,” he said. “There are a lot of positives, and we feel that reinforcing the positives will help clarify things for consumers who are on the fence what to do in today’s market. I travel a lot to real estate offices and I hear from a lot of our agents that buyers are out there, but that they are not sure what to do. We felt that talking openly about the opportunities may help people to see that it is a good time to get into the market, and we believe it is.”
Perriello said there are three common misconceptions consumers have about the real estate market right now :people can’t get a loan: affordability is out of reach: and consumers should wait for rates to go lower.
“We want to set the record straight on that. If you meet very basic requirements - you have a job for the past two years, you can make the payments, you plan to live in the property and you have a credit score that suggests you are responsible, you can get a mortgage. These are all reasonable requirements.” He added that affordability today is better than it has been in almost three years, and that interest rates are now at 40-year historic lows, so people shouldn’t wait to buy.
In the national scope of the economy, Perriello said that the Federal Reserve is doing a good job of doing what it can to avert a recession, but stopped short on any market predictions for the remainder of 2008.


The information above was gleaned from the article "Get the word out: It's a Good Time to Buy" by Beth McGuire from RIS Media.