The Benefits of Buying Real Estate for Financial Planning

"We're you one of those people who were lucky enough to get in with the amazing upswing of the real estate market?, or have you been on the side lines waiting for the opportunity and you feel that it's past you by? Well, don't worry, the next few years I think we're going to see some pretty good real estate buying opportunities, so what I'd like to do is go over some of the things that could help you prepare so when you find that property that you love you can pounce right on it. Now, most people have a goal of buying a home someday and in the last few years we've experienced 42 year lows in interest rates and because of low interest rates and flexible lending guidelines almost anyone was able to buy a home, but the situation has changed now. What's happened is interest rates are creeping up a little bit and because of the loans that have been so flexible the mortgage companies are now being a lot less flexible and they're really tightening up on their lending parameters. So, what does this mean? Well, for one thing, a lot of people got into what they call interest only loans, which is basically a mortgage where you're only paying the interest and the value of the balance that you owe stays the same. The other thing that they did is they got into adjustable rate mortgages which means that it's fixed for a period of time but after that adjustment period the interest rates can move and if interest rates are going up you can bet that your rate is going up, too. Now, what can you do about this? Well, with increased interest rates going, with interest rates going up and lending parameters tightening, some people worry that they're not going to be able to make their mortgage payment after their fixed period is up and they're worried that they're not going to be able to refinance into a more competitive rate. This could cause the whole real estate industry to have many people in foreclosure and this is where your buying opportunity could come in. So, what can you do to prepare yourself for that buying opportunity for the next year? We'll move on to the next segment and we'll find out."