is greater than it will be on May 1st.

Any buyer who is not in contract on April 30th this year will miss out on the Home Buyer Tax Credit ($8,000 for a first-time buyer and $6,500 for the move-up buyer). That does NOT mean houses will not sell after April 30th. It means that the buyer will demand a better price.
 
If you need to sell, sell now.

rates later this year.

Some examples:
 
Guy Cecala, publisher of Inside Mortgage Finance:
"There is no question rates have been kept artificially low by the Fed's heavy buying. My opinion is that rates will go up a full percentage point initially."
 
(meaning that 30-year fixed conforming loans, now hovering around 5 percent, would hit 6 percent)
 
Christopher Thornberg, principal at Beacon Economics:
"Clearly, when they (the Fed) stop printing all that money, it's going to be a shock to the system. I have to assume that when they pull back on it, it will cause a 100- to 200-basis-points rise. When they start selling off the stuff they purchased, which by my guess would come early next year, that would cause another 100- to 150-basis-points rise."

(meaning rates of 6 percent or 7 percent originally and then 7 percent to 8 percent or higher within a year)
 
If you want to take advantage of the low mortgage rates, do it now.

Main street media, in their quest to get information out, are not reporting the whole story. Here are two examples:
 
Headline based on Case Shiller report:
Reports Suggest Housing Market Stabilizing
 
Founder of the report Professor Case:
"I'm worried. Everyone's worried. If prices sink 15 percent from here, which is a possibility, and the 2008 and 2009 loans go bad, then we're back where we were before - in a nightmare ... The probability is very high of a serious double dip."
 
Headline based on RealtyTrac report:
Foreclosures down 10%
 
Actual report said:
"January foreclosure numbers are exhibiting a pattern very similar to a  year ago: a double-digit percentage jump in December foreclosure activity  followed by a 10 percent drop in January. If  history repeats itself we will see a surge in the numbers over the next few months as lenders foreclose on delinquent loans where neither the existing loan modification programs or the new short sale and deed-in-lieu of foreclosure  alternatives works."

Sharing great real estate information with the consumer is crucial to being seen as a trusted advisor in today's rapidly evolving market. You can get several articles a day to share at the KCM Crew business page and you can get a deeper explanation of today's hottest issues on the KCM blog. Use this information in your emails, newsletters, post cards and blogs.

The real estate industry will NOT come to a shrieking halt after the government exits the market this spring. Five million homes will sell this year. That means there will be ten million commissions earned this year. Just make sure you earn your share. Your attitude and commitment will determine your success this year - nothing else.

There seems to be a long held American belief currently under attack. For over two hundred years, homeownership in this country was a desire of almost every American family.  Recently however, more and more people have been pontificating on the fact that owning your own home should never have been held in such high regard. As Realtors, we must defend the belief in homeownership.

We don't want to overstate our concern as we know that the majority of Americans still hold homeownership sacred. Trulia just did a survey showing seventy seven percent of those questioned still believe that owning a home is a part of the American dream. Yet, it does concern us that, while people are being forced from their home due to economic difficulties, some are claiming that homeownership never should have been the goal anyway.

Let's spend a few moments looking at the financial benefits of owning a home.

You may ask why we would make this argument today knowing that housing is in the midst of one of its worst times ever. Well, quite frankly, the last ten years have not treated the homeowner that badly.  Obviously, people who purchased a home in 2006 and 2007 have seen their value depreciate over the last two or three years. But, real estate was never seen as a good short-term investment.

If we look at housing values over the last 10 years, we find that even through these tough times real estate has averaged over fifty percent return as an investment.

The chart below compares real estate to other investments over those ten years.

Then why this challenge today? Well, in the middle of the last decade, when prices were appreciating in some areas by as much as 20% annually, many got caught up in the belief that housing values should double every few years for the rest of time.  That belief created all sorts of reckless behavior.

Many purchased homes well beyond their financial means. Others decided that they would gamble on future values and interest rates by taking exotic mortgages to allow them to purchase a McMansion and worry about the cost at some later date. And others used their house as an ATM, withdrawing their equity in the form of a home equity loan, in some cases, on an annual basis.

Previous to this, homeowners realized that a house was a home first and then a pretty good long-term investment. They might have borrowed against the house to put a child through college, finance a wedding, or pay for medical bills.

In the last few years however, people regularly refinanced to buy "new toys" (a new car, a boat, matching ATVs, etc.).  Or, if it was for a medical procedure, it would just as likely be voluntary cosmetic surgery as a life saving operation.

We realize that there were some people who were caught in difficult situations and others who got terrible advice from people they trusted. Their current situation is no fault of their own. My heart goes out to those people.

Our hope is that, in these difficult times, the same people make sure they get good counsel. That means we, as realtors must offer our help. For example, we hope people think long and hard before they willfully default on their mortgages. They should try a modification first and, if that is unsuccessful, they should look for assistance in doing a short sale. A short sale will allow them to rebuild their credit more quickly, and enable them to purchase a home again in half the time it would take if they go through foreclosure.

For over 200 years, Americans were eager to purchase property because they knew that on a long-term basis it would create wealth. That concept is alive and well in this country even today.

This section is dedicated to helping families find an alternative to foreclosure, and helping them return to the goal of homeownership more quickly; therefore, we are emphasizing the brochure developed by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) that nicely summarizes the existing HAFA Program.

On November 30, 2009, the Obama Administration released guidelines and uniform procedures for its Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program (HAFA). Modified HAFA rules for loans owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac will be issued in coming weeks. HAFA does not apply to FHA or VA loans.

About HAFA:
HAFA, which will help homeowners who are unable to retain their home under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), provides incentives in connection with short sales and deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure.

About the Program:
The program complements HAMP by providing a viable alternative for borrowers (the current homeowners) who are HAMP eligible but nevertheless unable to keep their home. It uses borrower financial and hardship information already collected under HAMP, and allows borrowers to receive pre-approved short sales terms before listing the property.

The program prohibits the servicers from requiring a reduction in the real estate commission agreed upon in the listing agreement (up to 6%). It also requires borrowers to be fully released from future liability for the first mortgage debt and, if the subordinate lien holder receives an incentive under HAFA, that debt as well (no cash contribution, promissory note, or deficiency judgment is allowed). One of the key components to the program is that it uses a standard process, uniform documents, and timeframes/deadlines. The program will provide financial incentives: $1,500 for borrower relocation assistance; $1,000 for servicers to cover administrative and processing costs; and up to a $1,000 match for investors for allowing a total of up to $3,000 in short sale proceeds to be distributed to subordinate lien holders.

You can download a copy of NAR's HAFA Brochure and NAR's Text-Only version of the Brochure. If you'd like more information on HAFA and more detailed FAQs, visit www.realtor.org/shortsales.

If you'd like more information about short sales, you can visit our "Short Sales" tab on the KCM Blog.