Mortgage Market Meltdown continues...

Mortgage market meltdown continues , don’ take my word for it, log on to http://ml-implode.com/ The mortgage market implodometer to see who the latest imploded is. "Tracking the housing finance breakdown: a saga of corruption, stupidity, and government complicity." It seems media attention has turned to who done it but the real story is the impact. For most of the country the impact is huge, for us this market represents a return to a normal market from the furious pace of the last three years. In the field, I am hearing many agents complain about how slow the market is, but when I ask how their business was in the year 2000, they tell me that 2000 was a good year for them yet sales volume in 2007 is greater than the 2000 market. The market forces we are presently seeing are driven by perception rather than reality. Perception: The market is slow and this may not be a good time to buy. Jim Cramer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Cramer) TV financial advisor came out last week on the Today Show and said that now is absolutely not the time to buy and was immediately barraged with callers pointing out that the decision to buy or not buy should be based on local trends not a national issue (including NAR) The next day he made a follow up appearance to retract his statement and say that here ARE exceptions, most notably Settle. See the interview yourself at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4032321191788690900&q=Jim+Cramer+on+Real+Estate&total=14&start=0&num= 10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0 Reality: We are having a sale. Right now properties represent a very good value and prices are continuing to rise albeit slower than in he last 3 years. Northstone is advising our investors to consider splitting income properties using 1031’s tax free exchanges and consider small apartment buildings to increase cash flows. For first time buyers selection is the best we have seen in years and for move up buyers there are some very good values available.