Real Estate Profile: David C. Ray

realtor, Shorewest Realtors

Hobbies and Interests: "Enjoy walking my two Shiba Inus (a Japanese breed). Relaxing with family and friends. Playing piano, tennis, bocce ball."

What are you working on? "Specialize in the downtown Milwaukee condominium market."

How does the market look to you? "The current housing market can be best described as ‘interesting.’ We are experiencing a variety of external forces that are impacting the housing market (e.g. state of the overall economy, consumer confidence, employment market, mortgage markets, etc.). The National Association of Realtors recently reported that sales of existing homes increased by 5.1 percent in February over January. Economists are suggesting that this increase is due to the increase in first-time homebuyers that are entering the market. Between reasonable interest rates, affordable housing prices, and the $8,000 income tax credit that is being offered to first-time homebuyers, I anticipate that we will continue to see an increase in sales activity throughout the summer months. I anticipate that we will see an even bigger spike in sales activity in August, September, and October. Since the $8,000 tax credit applies to real estate transactions that close no later than December 1, 2009, I predict that a large number of procrastinators will be entering the market during this three-month period."

What was the best deal you have ever been involved in? "A few years ago, I sat down with a couple to review their housing options. They had their eyes on a particular home that already had an accepted offer. They were hesitant to put their own house on the market because they didn’t want to have an accepted offer for their home without having anything firm on their next home. The house they had their eyes on had a "sale of buyers’ home" contingency with a 48 hour bump clause attached to the offer. I suggested to this couple that they contact their loan officer and apply for a bridge loan. This was during a period when the housing market was very healthy and inventory levels were manageable. A few days later, they were approved for their bridge loan, we submitted an offer on their desired home, and they entered the real estate market. Since they were able to lock-in with a bridge loan, they did not have to write an offer contingent upon the successful sale of their home. When we delivered their offer to the sellers, the primary buyers stepped aside and allowed this couple to step in as primary on their desired home. After one open house, this couple received an acceptable offer for their home. In essence, they didn’t even need their bridge loan. Within the next month, we were able to coordinate both closings and this couple was thrilled that everything happened so smoothly. To this day, they are still in their new home and are creating memories with the new addition of their family."

What was the funniest moment of your career? "Too many to mention.  I am sure my colleagues have plenty of stories to tell."