Why Guymon?

When I was in college, we used to paint art for fun. I was not good but, I did have my moments of inspiration. Sometimes my friends and I would spent Friday evenings with San Miguel (THE Filipino beer), a piece of plywood, paint and brushes. We would spend hours on our "community art" project. Those turned out better depending on the company but, our work was always interesting. My all time favorite subject to paint was clouds. Landscapes would always have clouds. Even abstracts would have some cloud backgrounds. Clouds in full sun, clouds concealing the moon. My husband (then boyfriend) used to tease me about my "cloud series". I had pages and pages of splatters of white, blue and gray.

Thursday when I pulled out of Walmart, I looked North and it was as if I was staring at my Cloud Series No. 99980, beckoning right in front of me in the natural canvass of Guymon, Oklahoma. It was perfect day in Guymon! There was the gentle wisp of air and the perfect touch of the rays of the sun. The clouds were floating in the endless sky. For those of us who think, "Why Guymon?", it is because of those moments when life becomes art and flawlessly beautiful.

P.S. I ran back home to try to catch the moment. Here is a picture by the football field and another one taken by my front yard. I could not really capture the moment on pixels but this is a good enough reminder.

Are there first-time homebuyers out there?

It is October and one can tell that the seasons are changing- with the erratic hot-cold weather and the changing color of the leaves. With this change in the season also comes the tail-end of the federal government's credit program for first time home buyers. The government offers up to $8,000 tax credit for first time home buyers but, this program will be good only for transactions that close on or before Nov. 30, 2009. That is exactly 40 days from today!

One would think that this credit would entice more first time home buyers. Let me tell you that while we have worked with some families who may qualify and who are actively looking, we have not seen an extraordinary amount of interest from first time home buyers here in the Oklahoma Panhandle.

I have searched the economic and real estate news to see what may be reasons for what seems to be little effect in our hometown. I have heard that the interest rates may have increased. But, looking at national mortgage rates, we are seeing still lower rates than a year ago (although there was a slight increase from 3 months ago). Another factor that has been named as culprit is the rising unemployment. There were reports of increased jobless rates in the past quarter and this may lead to unease and insecurity.

While I think that people may be acting cautiously right now because of fear or reality of job loss, I think there is just not enough information out there about this very attractive tax credit. There is no time to waste- please spread the word. We all know that shopping for a home and the process of actually closing on the transaction takes times. In fact, to avail of the tax credit, one probably needs to make an offer on a home tomorrow. Don't delay!

P.S. The feds are still thinking about the possibility of extending this credit. Stay tuned.