In a previous column I mentioned Tony and Lyla, who had purchased 3 homes in about 60 days. We now have their 5th home in escrow; 4 of these are in the same development. By buying rentals in the same neighborhood they have reduced their management costs. They've invested nearly $900,000 in cash in this market, and it's been such a pleasure to help such nice people build their real estate portfolio with REOs.

Rates are still under 5% for a 30-year-fixed. I hope my readers have taken advantage of this...who knows how long it will last?

While November slowed down a bit while we enjoyed a little vacation, December is another strong month at Top10RealEstateValues. I'm taking a mandatory 30-hour refresher course to maintain my mortgage license, so I've been busy with that as well. I don't have time to do mortgages, but I like to keep my license active so I can refer my clients to a reputable loan officer. I'm seeing an increase in the number of "prequal" requests from my various websites, which is a good sign that people are ready to buy.

Last year at this time I predicted that we'd reach the bottom of the market in terms of sales in mid-February. I was very accurate; sales began to climb just as our stats foresaw. And it was so much fun that I'm going to go out on a limb and do it again. So watch for my next big prediction before the new year!

I hope everyone is enjoying the run-up to the holidays. I'm going to have to get out and start shopping this weekend, and do my bit to get our economy on track.

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