OSU Homecoming 2008!

Last night as I stood on my front porch I saw a divine signal that Oklahoma State's homecoming was going to be one for the record books. A huge ORANGE moon! I know, I should have taken a picture to share with you, but I didn't have my camera. I'll take it home with me tonight in case there is a repeat performance. Other signs that homecoming is upon us: the fountain in front of the Edmon Low Library runs full with orange water, sorority girls and fraternity boys are walking around like zombies from sleep deprivation with stained fingers from all the "pomping", Stillwater street crews are frantically trying to complete small projects surrounding the entrance to the campus, and there's a turkey thawing in my kitchen sink right now (nothing says Homecoming like a deep fried turkey tailgate party)! The Homecoming walk-around is tonight, the OSU Basketball Bash starts at 9:30pm, Homecoming parade is tomorrow morning beginning at 9am and the game kicks-off at 2pm! Click here for a link to the Official OSU Homecoming webpage!

GO POKES!!!

Why real estate is a good investment

During the past few weeks, the financial crisis facing our country has caused many of their retirement accounts to suffer. I was visiting with a person that had lost $26,000 in just a few days because of the stock market decline. Lucky for this person I had convinced him to buy a rental property close to the OSU campus several years ago. I asked him if the rent check for October had come in yet and he smiled and said it sure had. He realized at that moment that if you have rental properties under lease, that the income stays constant during bad times. As a matter of fact, as this nation's financial crisis continues it's downward spiral and homeowners are foreclosed on, rental properties will become a better investment. Let's face it, everyone needs a roof over their head and if they aren't homeowners then they are renters.

If you would like to discuss using some of your retirement account to buy rentals contact our office at ERA Stillwater! We have a trust company that we work with to meet the IRS requirements of a IRA or 401k, we can locate the property and we can manage it for you too! Give us a call today!

Back in the Saddle

I'm sorry for the lack of posts in September, we just got very busy around Stillwater listing and selling homes.

It seems every day someone asks me about how the Stillwater market is doing and how the economy is effecting the market. These are complex times that we live in and I'll answer the questions for you to the best of my ability. As of August 31, 2008 we have sold 629 houses to last year's 626, so a very very slight increase in sales. The median home sale price is up $2,750 to $135,000 while the average home sale price is up $7,012 to $153,438. The average home price being higher than the median home price indicates that there are some very high priced homes that have sold which have lifted the average sales price higher. That's the good news. Now for the bad news, August 08 versus August 07 shows a significant decrease in the number of homes sold. Typically we don't like to look at a short term indicator like a month versus month, but the numbers were off so drastically that there might be a need to keep a close eye on this market.

Will the economic bailout help our real estate market? Will the stock market's rapid decline hurt our market? The answer to these questions will be revealed in my next post, but here is a preview: Hmmmm, my 401k lost a lot of value Monday, but my rental properties kept paying that same old rent which is giving me a 12% return on my investment.........