O.K., I'm not gonna' bore you with another Rent Vs Buy article.  I  thought instead I'd tell you how surprised I was getting a load of my weekly postcards to renters returned by the US Mail with "VACANT--return to sender" on 'em.

I was under the impresion that because of this horrific economic crisis NOBODY was buying, everyone was stayin' put, renting.  I had visions of people everywhere being driven back in wimpering masses, back to lowly, small, musty hovels owned by slum-lords, never escaping the rental trap, relegated to paying their landlords' mortgage, forever.

But all these returned postcards undeliverable because units were vacant?  What's up with that?

So I started researching our local MLS. 

Stats show that there is indeed an over-abundance of rental listings--173 ! Ranging from $750 to $20,000 a month.  And there are even more available through the local papers, Craigslist, or posted by flyer around town. Lots of vacancies.

So what do we take from this?

Well, some of these rentals are of properties that weren't selling and owners need SOME kind of income from them rather than just let them sit empty.

Some of the glut IS due to the slowed economy.

And some of this trend is because many of that group of renters paying between $850-1200 a month in rent came to the realization that they could BUY something, something fairly nice, something they could call home, that fit within that monthly payment they'd been paying to their landlord.

They could buy precisely because of the recent downturn in the market which had provided them with a great buying opportunity:

1. Low, LOW interest rates (remember the last economic meltdown where interest rates were up around 16-20%??)

2. Price corrections-I mean looka t some of these "hot" spots, like Lake Monticello, where some of the prices have dropped nearly in half!

3. More opportunity to "call the shots"--buyers nowadays have more chance of asking for the moon from sellers, and getting it!

4. and add to this Realtor incentives, like my 20% Cash Back offer that stretches the dollar and increases their buying power even more!

Maybe YOU should take a look and see if this economic crisis can provide opportunities for YOU to buy.

It NEVER hurts to ask questions and explore possibilities.

Call or e-mail me.  Let's take a look at current interest rates, possible seller concessions, local home price corrections, and my Cash Back offer, and see if they can help get you into a home of your own!

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Keller Williams Realty
1885 Seminole Trail, Suite 100
Charlottesville  VA  22901