While these properties may be appealingly priced, buyers need stomach and smarts to take proper advantage. If you’re considering a short sale purchase, focus only on those with a price pre-approved by the lender. Otherwise, you may be wasting precious time in negotiations that may still ultimately fail.

Also seek out foreclosures that are protected by the Cash For Keys program, which offers the current (or former) owners a cash incentive to prevent them from neglecting the property before vacating it. Either way, inspections are crucial, especially if the house has been vacant for some time. Talk to your agent about having the utilities temporarily reconnected for the inspection, so you’re sure all is in working order.

And finally, don’t focus on the asking price alone. Location in a declining neighborhood or extreme maintenance and repair issues will eclipse any perceived value in a low price. Great homes are here in Columbia, MO. and at bargain prices, but let an agent guide you through potential pitfalls.

At least for now, home prices remain attractively low, and mortgage payments as they relate to income are very comfortable. All the information seems to point to the fact that home prices have actually overcorrected downward. What does that mean? It indicates that many markets may experience a price “snap back,” with values increasing a lot more than the historical average of 4% appreciation per year.

Some factors may continue to make buyers cautious, mostly declines in retirement savings and a lukewarm economic recovery with unemployment hovering around 10% nationally. Now is not the time to hesitate, however, as mortgage interest rates are expected to rise in 2010.

We can expect the momentum of home sales to continue, especially with the extension of the tax credit through April and the fact that qualification is no longer limited to just first-time buyers. Prices and interest rates will rise this year, so buyer confidence should be at an all-time high. The pressure cooker of pent-up demand is about to blow its top!

This makes sense, as first-time buyers aren’t struggling with the sale of an existing home.  Combine that advantage with low home prices, large inventories, and low interest rates, and the result is a positive trend for both buyers and sellers.

More buyers entering the Columbia, MO marketplace means more sales, reduced inventories, and increasing home values. The First time homebuyer tax credit has also made a great impact.  This tax credit is available for principal residences only purchased on or after Jan. 1, 2009 and before December 1, 2009. You may also qualify if you and your spouse have not owned a home within the past three years. The tax credit does not have to be repaid, but homebuyers must use the residence as a principal residence for at least three years or face recapture of the tax credit amount.  The credit equals 10% of the home’s purchase price, up to a maximum, of $8,000, whichever is less.

The profile of sellers shows that over 90% used a real estate brokerage to market and sell their property.  Buyers profiled listed the most important agent services as helping to find the right home and negotiate satisfactory terms and price.

Buyers needing funds for a down payment, mostly use savings or a gift from family, and most often use a fixed-rate 30 year mortgage.  Columbia, Missouri has some incredible opportunities for today’s homebuyer.