What developers don’t want me to tell you

Visit any sales center in the city and you will probably know what I’m about to tell you. Developers are giving away concessions at will. Yep; you heard here. There is absolutley, positively no reason to sit on the fence any longer. Why would you? It is impossible to time the market anyway. A full 6% credit from a developer on a FHA approved product allows you to buy down your rate, pre-pay home owners dues for up to 2 years and will cover your closing costs. What that means to you is that you ONLY have to bring in your 3.5% down payment and you have just purchased a new home.

Just last week, my team successfully negotiated a one-bedroom Belltown unit down $50,000 dollars with a combination of purchase reduction and seller concessions. This particular unit was an 18% discount off the original asking price. The buyer locked in a 4.50% rate and he was also rewared with 18 months of pre-paid home owners dues. Bottom line is; the Sellers are recoginizing the impact of a “buyers” market. We have the choice to carve out the benefits of this remarkable opportunity. We can fight our fears with action, or miss this opportunity while waiting for everyone else to purchase so that it validates our decision. Here are a few reasons why I am supporting a purchase in todays market.

1. Interest rates are the lowest we’ve seen in 30 years and maybe the lowest we’ll see in our lifetime.
2. Fed chair Ben Bernake predicted this week that we’ll climb out of this recession by
the second half of this year (he’s wicked smart).
3. Prices are back to early 2006 numbers
4. Developers are offering incredible incentives to move their inventory.
5. For an FHA approved unit up to $506,000 you can put as little as 3.5% down.

For years, I had to represent clients paying full price for new construciton. Not anymore. Now its the buyers turn to reap the rewards…….The question is; for how long?

Please feel free to e-mail with any questions jreynolds@urbanimg.com