So the holidays are over and we are headed into a bright and prosperous 2009! Right? Over the holidays there were plenty of articles about the state of the real estate markets and the economic world. One of the typical “Big Loser” and ”Big Winner” lists about real estate  was on MSN.com which you can take a peak at if it is still there. In a nutshell though the big losers according to this article were:

1. the homeowners who lost their homes to the bank (enough said).

2. home builders who obviously have homes in inventory and can’t move forward building more (I think that needs to be expanded to all their suppliers and subs).

3. home sellers– if you had to sell it was obviously not the best time and you probably sold for less than what you really wanted.

4. real estate agents–fewer or no sales means many are getting out of the business or finding part time work (we are all self employed so there are no unemployment benefits to fall back on).

5. mortgage brokers–they say that the ranks of mortgage brokers have dwindled by a third.

6. the US taxpayer–who is going to share the burden of all the bail outs that really stemmed from this whole sub prime mortgage mess.

I would add a #7 to include home inspectors and title companies as they have been hit hard as well by the decrease in home sales. A #8 should be the local and state governments. They will surely feel the pinch with less revenues coming in as people struggle to pay their property taxes and with less property sold here in NH the revenues from the transfer taxes on property must be significantly off.

There is always someone who wins when someone else loses no matter what the situation. MSN’s list of big winners include:

1. first time home buyers–there are unbelievable deals out there right now on entry level homes. (I would expand this to include any homebuyer as there are great deals in every price category).

2. REO agents and asset managers. REO agents are the real estate agents that handle the bank owned properties. Not a glamorous segment of the business but obviously those sales are up so at least these agents are doing well. The companies that provide property services to the bank owned properties like winterizing and plowing also have seen their businesses boom.

3. attorneys–I know, who cares? It is their list not mine. Attorneys usually thrive in any market but those handling evictions, bankruptcies, and foreclosures did particularly well this past year.

4. small banks did well because they never bought into doing risky mortgages, stayed true to their business model and now will thrive in 2009 as well. That is no more evident than right here in the Lakes Region. We are extremely lucky in that there is plenty of money locally for those with good credit that want to purchase a new home.

5. loss mitigation and default management workers for the larger lending institutions saw increases in pay as they had to handle the flood of non performing loans.

I would also add a #6 to include investors. Yes, I know these types of buyers that bought and flipped property for a quick buck helped drive up values and they might have been part of the original problem, but I would bet anyone who bought property in 2008 as a longer term investment will come out feeling like Warren Buffet. I am sure there are other winners that belong on this list that really aren’t evident right now. 

Hopefully in 2009 the economy will begin to show signs of being the up and coming big winner as we get back to basics with people living within their means, saving money for the required down payment on a house, and buying only what they can afford when they can afford it.