How to Sustain the Latest Downfall in Share Economy with Real Estate Markets Overseas

Interest Rates (Photo credit: 401K 2012)

The real estate market was a great market. Amazing opportunities always presented themselves when you joined this market as a seller or even as a buyer. However, with the latest downfall in share economy, the real estate market has taken quite a beating. However, real estate market overseas can still maintain itself if a few things are done. Although the methods are not perfect, they will help the market.

Buyer’s Confidence is Everything

When you are worried about a particular product or market, you will not buy it or get involved; it’s common sense. This is known as buyer’s confidence and in the real estate market; buyer’s confidence is everything. If a buyer is not confident in the real estate market, they will not buy a house. In a weak economy, low buyer’s confidence could spell disaster.

In order to improve the real estate market, you have to get buyers interested in purchasing homes. Any fear they may have about it must be dispelled. When it comes to overseas real estate, the task is even harder. However, it is not an impossible task either. You have to make homes appealing to international buyers that they won’t be able to resist.

There are a number of ways buyer’s confidence can be increased. These Include:

• Low Interest Rates – If you have ever looked at the real estate market carefully, you will notice that interest rates grow with the market but also go down with it when the market does. These fluctuations in interest rate are due to the market itself. For international buyers, lower interest rates may determine their purchase. This is particularly true due to exchange rates.

This helps homes sell faster and, consequently, improves the real estate market. However, online estate agents state that interest rates drastically increase when the market improves. They state that lenders should increase the interest rate very slowly as it nurtures continuing buyer’s confidence.

• Better Mortgages – One of the biggest deciding factors during the property acquisition stage is negotiating a mortgage. If the terms of the mortgage are not to the borrower’s liking, they will not take it. For example, when a high interest rate, short payment plan and harsh penalties are in the contract’s terms, no international resident will buy a home.

International clients need to be assured that they will be able to pay off the mortgage. One small hiccup and they won’t buy a home overseas. To sustain the real estate market, it is imperative that lenders provide better mortgages. Reduced interest rates, softer penalties, better penalty periods, refinancing and better payment plans are only 5 ways through which the real estate market can sustain itself.

When international residents are happy with the terms in the mortgage, their buyer’s confidence will significantly increase and they will buy homes on foreign soil.

One of the easiest ways to improve mortgage terms is by removing any down payments. Most down payments range from 10% to 15%. This is usually high for most people, especially international buyers (due to the exchange rate).

They can pay off the house over the contract length but are unable to pay the initial down payment. By removing the down payment, more people will be able to buy homes.

• Improve the Neighborhoods – Nobody wants to live in a ‘bad’ neighborhood. When a potential buyer learns of a bad neighborhood, they are automatically deterred from buying a home in it. International buyers are deterred faster.

Online estate agents state that although real estate prices of ‘clean’ and ‘good’ neighborhoods are high, people still buy homes in them because of the neighborhood.

Affordable Refinancing

When the share economy is unstable or has gone, one easy way of improving it is by offering better refinancing. For those who don’t know. Refinancing is a process by which you replace your current mortgage with another, more flexible, mortgage. When a better mortgage surfaces or interest rates go down, you can refinance your home.

When the share economy suffers a downfall, it is not easy to maintain any market. Maintaining the real estate market in particular is a difficult job. However, that does not mean that it’s impossible. When lenders and the government work together, anything is possible. Even though the share economy may not be exceptional at this time, real estate market overseas can help sustain the economy.

About the Author:
The above article is written and edited by Shannen, who is a freelance writer for various blogs and communities related to finance. In her free time she writes articles related to online estate agents, real estate properties, debt relief etc.