If your experience has been anything like mine, you have felt the strain of the economy in numerous areas. While, certainly, the degrees of effect have varied to different people, I think we all can agree that the recession has not only impacted people financially, but also emotionally.
While times are more challenging than years of recent past, it might help us all to look at how that could be a positive thing for us in the future. There are pieces of this that we can embrace and make the coming months and years very prosperous.
In the past year or so, one of the most talked about effects of the economic situation has been the housing industry and, more specifically, real estate in Missoula, Montana. Many of us have lost value in our homes, and had to deal with the fact that we are not moving forward with the kind of equity we thought we would have. While that is definitely difficult to stomach, there are some positives to it as well.
Do you remember stories of the ‘80s when the economy was hurting, and nobody could sell their homes, and the interest rates were near 18%? We are not dealing with anything like that today. In fact, the interest rates are at record low levels. And, many are choosing to finance a home purchase with a 15 year mortgage, rather than a 30 year, lessening that interest rate even more and having a lot more of each payment be applied directly to the principal amount due. This certainly helps people build equity in a home a lot faster, and was something that just really wasn’t feasible in the past.
Another plus: the number of homes to choose from on the market is lessened significantly as we enter into the fall and winter for most years… This year, however, there are still many Missoula homes for sale on the market, and often times for very competitive prices. Many Sellers are also feeling very motivated to get their homes sold before the cold weather hits, either to move themselves, or to avoid having a vacant home over the cold months.
And yet another plus: because of the intense competition amongst Sellers to get homes sold, I would venture to say that homes on the market tend to show better and have a lot of the projects done upon listing. In years past, this was not really the case in Missoula.
This a a time when people are able to get into a home for a great price and start building equity from there, in comparison to a few years ago when Sellers were getting top values for their homes in and around Missoula. If you are considering entering home ownership, now is really a great time to do so. If you are considering changing into a different home, it is also a great time. While you may not get the same price for your home that you would have a few years ago, you are also going to get a better price on the home that you purchase. In reality, it could be a wash, but get you into the home you want to be in for the next segment of your life.