‘An excellent time to buy a house’ in the region
There’s been plenty of doom and gloom in the housing market lately, but for those who are in a position to buy, the world is a happy place.
Oh, yes, there most certainly is such a thing as a homebuyer in El Paso County.
Meet Leif Farney and Tabatha Becker, relatively new arrivals to Colorado Springs, engaged to be married and also preparing to take a plunge of the real estate variety.
Farney, 25, and Becker, 24, attended a Saturday-morning seminar for first-time homebuyers sponsored by the Ent Federal Credit Union. Ent schedules the sessions monthly, and loan officer Tom Bechtel acknowledged that he’s seen larger crowds than the five people who showed up Saturday.
Bechtel was joined by Tony Deppe, a buyer/listing specialist for Re/Max, and Corey Nakai, an agent with Farmers Insurance Group. Together, the trio heaped information and advice on the seminar attendees.
“There is a ton of inventory out there, and prices are at an all-time low,” Deppe said. “It is an excellent time to buy a house.”
That might sound like positive overspin, a heroic attempt to glean a silver lining from behind the dark real estate headlines. It’s really not: It happens to be true that interest rates are about as low as they’ve been in the past several years. Based on history, it’s fair to conclude that the housing market will bottom out soon, if it hasn’t already, and for buyers, the time is now.
Farney, who works online from home, and Becker, a librarian at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, soaked it all in, holding hands in the second row.
Deppe, who acts as an agent for buyers, told his listeners to be prepared to spend weeks, maybe months, in selecting a home.
“Stay away from the busy streets,” he said. “We want you to stay away from commercial areas. I’m going to remind you that you’re going to have to sell this house some day.”
Bechtel quickly explained how credit scores are determined and went through the many types of loans Ent offers, but his advice was pretty generic: “I like to see this is something you can afford.” He said there still are interest-only loans in the marketplace, “but those are really dangerous.”
Like marriage, buying a home isn’t to be taken lightly. It’s the biggest business deal most people will ever be involved in. But a house is not just a deal. It’s a home.
“It’s the American dream, isn’t it?” Becker said. “I’m ready to start building something.”
Becker said she wants a backyard garden; they both want a dog. They’re going to start looking for a house in the spring.
Farney and Becker are from Illinois, but it didn’t take them long to decide they like Colorado and plan to stay here.
“We’re trying to save money for the wedding and for the down payment,” Farney said.
Ah, to be young and in love — and contemplating one’s first 30-year mortgage.
“This kind of hammered a lot home,” Farney said of the seminar. “It seems a lot more possible.”
Contact Noreen at 636-0363 or noreen@gazette.com. He appears every other Friday on KOAA’s Comcast Channel 9 at 4
