In the last 2 weeks I have showed over 70 homes to 5 different buyers and was very surprised to find out that 8 out 10 homes that I would show were vacant. I have never seen so many homes vacant in my 20 years of selling homes here in Champaign and Urbana.

Because of so many homes being vacant right now there must be a lot a people with 2 house payments. I have no doubt because of all the vacantcies that is why we are seeing home prices that match what houses were worth in 2004. With interest rates at all time lows and prices being rolled back it is easy to see why buying a home now makes so much sense.

In 2008 our MLS sales were down nearly 20% and for those of us that sale homes in the Champaign area we had one of our worst years ever, but as soon as the new year came in I watch buyer regain confidence that buying now would definitely make sense. If you ask "has our market bottomed out" my answer would be yes. Today is the 27th of January and so far we sold 21 homes already and most of them are getting homes at very good prices. If you are renting now or are considering buying a larger home there has not been a better time to see what is out there. Take advantage of low interest rate and better pricing which we haven't seen since 2004. For more information on what homes are available  call Tom Cain at 217-352-5700 or email me at tom@soltec.net