Mark this day on your calendar......

First of all, Happy Fourth of July (and Happy Birthday to me!).

I want you to mark this day on the calendar because I am declaring this the day the real estate market starts its upswing. That's right....you heard it here first! And here are the reasons:

- Mortgage rates are still at historical lows, but they will be rising soon according to the Feds. It's time for buyers to lock in those great rates. It's also time for people to get out of their adjustable rate mortgages and perhaps find new homes.

- Prices have come down as far as they are going to. Many sellers are going to be withdrawing their properties from the market because they will NOT be willing to take a loss just to sell their homes. The prices you see are the prices you are going to get.

- Florida will be voting in January on the proposed property tax reform. Whichever way the vote goes, people will want to buy before the end of the year due to probably changes in the way we pay property taxes.

- In the past 3 weeks, I have personally seen more sales occurring in this area than in the past 6 months. I think people are finally waking up to the fact that this is indeed a "normal" market and they've stopped buying the bill of goods that the media is trying to sell.

I personally predict that buyers are going to be coming out of the woodwork now - especially before school begins in the fall. There is NO reason not to buy, unless you believe the media who has its own agenda tied to the Department of Justice and their wish for large banking institutions to enter the real estate business (but that's another post for another time).

There are some fantastic bargains to be had right now, but I don't think this will continue for long. So mark my words!