There are many reasons why people would like to buy real estate. Whether it is a family looking for a place to call home, a corporation who is adding to their list of rental units, or a small company who would like to try flipping a house for a business transaction.

This is an exciting time in the real estate market, but there is also a lot of upheaval, confusion along with the low prices. There will definitely be some changes in the market in 2010, so seriously ponder whether buying real estate now is the right move for you.

The value of homes will no longer continue to drop in value. If you buy a cheap home, you can have the advantage of fixing it up and reselling it for a profit. If you are a family, you will be able to purchase a home and not worry about the value of your home being worth less than what you paid in a few months or years down the road.

Another thing to consider is that the foreclosure crisis is not over yet. It has been predicted that right now a quarter of Americans owe more on their mortgage notes than their homes are actually worth. In the coming year many more people will become unemployed and find their homes in foreclosure.

With hundreds of billions of dollars in adjustable rate mortgages set to recast next year, the new payments can end up being more than twice what their original monthly payments have been. This also will see more people losing their homes due to nonpayment of their mortgages.

Another consideration is the expiration of a critical federal program in March. This was a program to help homeowners that allowed the government to purchase debt and mortgage backed securities from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It has kept mortgage rates lower, but when it expires you can expect to see mortgage rates rise back up. Rates could go from 4.88% to 6% easily.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is also considering some other big changes for the real estate market in the upcoming year which might make securing real estate more difficult in the future. For instance, the required credit score could be much higher, you may be required to put down a substantially larger down payment, and insurance premiums could skyrocket.

If you decide to purchase a home before the end of June, 2010, you could benefit from up to $8,000 in tax breaks currently being offered by the federal government as a stimulus to the economy. Purchase a second property and you could benefit from an additional tax break up to $6,500. All of this may sound extremely tempting, but make sure you can afford the mortgage payments on the property before taking the government up on these offers.

There may be other changes that come upon us in 2010, so if you are planning on entering the real estate market make sure you remain financially secure and will not stumble upon hard times like so many others. This can be an exciting time to make a purchase, but you want to make sure you can handle whatever happens over the next year or two.

Karen Lissack has been writing about real estate and home related topics for almost a decade and a half. She will help you with information in any aspect in real estate from buying to selling, even investing. She is fully informed about chapel hill real estate and has aided people in finding the best chapel hill homes the market can offer.

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