We often get asked by people across the country this time of year: should we put our house on the market now or wait until the spring? Here's our answer now that we're telling people and posting on other sites nationally where we maintain a presence:

Depends on where you are! In general, many people will believe that "it's not a good time to sell in the winter months" and will take their homes off the market until the spring, which will only reduce the amount of competition on the market for sellers who remain on the market.

Also, people need to move throughout the year. Jobs always require moving. The 4Q and preparations for 1Q in the new year typically require many relo clients to find homes to close by the end of the year. December is usually an active month for resales -- not a slow month -- in most parts of the country, certainly I can speak for the Houston area and particularly the north Houston area. If your house isn't on the market, you won't sell it! You can't sell it if you don't list it; you can't sell it if you don't show it.

One important caveat is that buyers in general, and this is true in the major suburban Texas markets and most metro markets in the U.S. -- buyers don't want "projects." Investors want projects, but they also want to pay pennies on the dollars. So if you have a quality property, and particularly a property with a pool or other commonly desired amenity, then you're going to fare better in "off season" months (or any time of year frankly). Quality properties will typically spend less time on the market and will hold value better than properties that have not been as well maintained or are not as well updated as other properties against which they are competing in the same market -- so start by looking at your own property.

Find someone with experience and expertise in your market to advise you about a) how your property make perform in comparison to other properties in your market, and b) what the particular dynamics of your market are right now and are expected to be through the coming months.

But our general advice is: if you want to move, don't delay, compete aggressively and get it on the market! It's not a bad time to sell. Good luck!

Nick Will is Managing Broker of Lelda Will Properties, the private practice of Brokers Lelda Will and Nick Will, and of Will & Allen REALTORS(r), the brand under which their agents practice.

Okay so reading this blog is like getting the news 6 weeks early. Granted, I thought it would make the news at the end of September, and here it is in today's Times:

The new law extending the existing new home buyer tax credit of a refundable $8,000 for "new" home buyers (there are details of course) includes a new "move up" or "down sizing" existing home buyer tax credit refundable and non-repayable tax credit of $6,500 if you have owned a home 6 of the past 8 years and your income is less than $125,000 if single or $250,000 if married (with some other details you can google). You do not have to sell your existing home by the deadline of April 30, 2010, but the home you buy does have to become your new principal residence.

This is a fantastic tax refundable (meaning the government refunds you the money when you file your taxes; it is not a mere tax deduction), especially in the north Houston areas such as Spring, The Woodlands, and quality neighborhoods like Northampton, Auburn Lakes, The Woodlands, Augusta Pines, Wimbledon Falls, Gleannloch Farms, Champions, Creighton, and areas in Magnolia, Tomball, and Montgomery among others, where $6,500 will allow buyers to walk into a home with a good chunk of instant equity.

As you can tell, the offer expires right now at April 30th of 2010, so act now! There are deals already on the market, and if you work with experienced, full-time brokers who know the areas and how to find good deals, you can sell your existing home well in good time and you can buy even better and with up to a $6,500 limited time tax credit! The time to act is now. Interest rates won't always be this low, and the good deals won't stay on the market forever. And the biggest secret out there right now on the north side of Houston especially in the areas I named above is that quality properties are holding their values very well, so it's even a reasonable time to sell, especially if you have knowledgeable and experienced real estate brokers by your side.

Consider the opportunity. 2010 could really be the big "come back year." Start planning your come back now. $6,500 is nothing to sneeze at. Congress has finally let you in on the game if you have owned your home and are looking to move up or downsize. Don't turn your back when you've just been let in on what you've been waiting for and deserve!

The Seattle Post PI.com is reporting that after clearing a Senate hurdle this week that the New Home Buyer Tax Credit of $8,000 is widely expected to pass congress this week to extend the credit into the spring season of 2010, which would be most welcome across the country. The program essentially creates a refundable $8,000 tax credit for qualified first-time home buyer tax credits (some limitations apply and "first" doesn't always mean "first"). This is very welcome news.

The inestimable Lucia Mutikani reports for Reuters that existing home sales rose to a 2-year high in September. These numbers are more meaningful than how, in two posts ago as I mentioned, new home builders have just been messing all over themselves. From Mutikani's article:

The National Association of Realtors said sales of existing homes jumped 9.4 percent in September to an annual rate of 5.57 million units, the highest level since July 2007. Financial markets had expected sales to rise to a 5.35 million unit pace...

I can't emphasize enough, especially now that the new home buyer tax credit should be extended into the spring this week in congress, that figures of existing home sales along with forward indicators of durable goods orders and business sentiment indicators (precursors to job growth) are the real numbers to watch. Don't look at the bad numbers arising from bad strategy from bad managers at bad builder corporations.

The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act was passed by the U.S. Congress in 2008 to govern certain aspects of closing most residential transactions in the United States. RESPA had a giant impact on how business is conducted in certain segments of the real estate industry, especially in title/escrow companies and mortgage lending companies.

Okay so new home sales numbers weren't reported to be up last week. So? First of all, the housing market is local in nature. If all politics is local as Tip O'Neill said, then real estate and housing is darn near skin-tight.

Holiday decorations are a wonderful thing and frankly they help property values. Residents in Northampton and The Woodlands have been delighting kids and families for 40 years during every holiday, and residents of the newer sections of those communities and of Auburn Lakes, Wimbledon Falls, Augusta Pines, Gleannloch Farms, Magnolia, you name it -- the residents and associations and many clubs and organizations go all out, especially for these big holidays like Halloween, which are a total hoot to watch every year. Having spent a number of years living in Manhattan, which is supposed to be the Halloween capital of the world, I can confidently say I'd rather be around these parts any Halloween than in those truly ghoulish streets on Halloween night... This is good clean fun.

So says GDP stats released this morning, even beating market expectation for value of overall U.S. national economic production in the 3rd quarter, July-September.  From Lucia Mutikani of Reuters:

The Commerce Department, in its first estimate of third-quarter gross domestic product on Thursday, said the economy grew at a 3.5 percent annual rate, the fastest pace since the third quarter of 2007...

What can we expect of this? Well we can expect some glad tidings and cheer, and that is most welcome. I think we can expect some less shallow breathing in boardrooms across the country and the world, and I think the belt buckle notches can hold steady for a while. This is progress.

Reuters and their James Pethokoukis reports this morning from New Delhi that the CEO of gigantic PC chip maker Intel is forecasting significantly improved growth in corporate PC spending in 2010, which would be great news for the local north Houston tech market, including huge local PC and tech employer HP.