by Garret Belisle

Yes, it has finally arrived. This is the time of year when the MLS or Multiple Listing Services go up like crazy in all most every city, town and village. So, what does this mean for you? Well, it might mean absolutely nothing...or, it might mean a huge profitable opportunity. How so you ask? Read on... Spring, generally as mentioned is the time for realtors. It is a great time to buy and sell or both, depending on your situation. So, the market becomes ripe for action. As an example I have been watching the market in my home town for the last month or so and it amazes me how dramatically the asking prices have dropped. One home up the street that was $119,000.00 is now $91,000.00. That is a serious drop. My question was why? So I did some digging and it seems here locally, that homes that are higher priced are actually doing it for a very smart reason. Have a high price in "dead" season of the year...it peeks the buyers interest, and then drop it in a huge loss (or so it seems) and you have a buyer frenzy. Case in point, this home I am speaking of was appraised originally at $86,000.00 Smart move on the owners part when you think about it. To the buyer they are getting a sweet deal and for the seller if he sells it at this price or higher if there is a bidding war going on, he makes a profit of at least $5,000.00 Nice. Now in all honesty the first time home buyer doesn't know or care about this usually, they are too busy trying to get there finances in order to obtain a mortgage. The end result being a win-win for everyone involved. Why this Topic? I am speaking about this today to illustrate how some strategies are used when supply and demand hits, so I have a few suggestions for you today. Here they are: 1. Get the home appraised, if possible. Could save you loads of your money. 2. Get the home inspected. This is a MUST. It costs a few hundred dollars but it's worth it for piece of mind and protects you if any ill should befall you. 3. Most importantly, go in with a much lower asking price than you can actually afford, this will give you some haggling and may very well save you a few hundred dollars if not a few thousand. Take a look around as always, this is a very lucrative time of year for the home owner and home buyer in terms of cash flow. These posts are designed to help you along the way to owning a home and saving you time and money. As always take a look around and keep up to date with the posts and the information you find in the pages, if something catches your eye. Write it down, explore the options as presented. Until our next discussion. Garret Belisle is the author of a blog designed to help you on your way to home ownership, and some helpful tricks on down payments and credit repair. You can view the site here at http://www.gbcmortgage.blogspot.com While your there make sure to sign up for the weekly updates on the bottom left corner to keep up to date with all of the latest advice.