The Mortgage Bankers Association CEO said he expects mortgage rates to move lower over the course of the year, as the Fed’s rate hikes have started to cool down the economy. That should bring more buyers back to the market.

Freddie Mac notes: “While mortgage rates have resumed their decline, the market remains hypersensitive…. Over the last few weeks latent demand has been on display with buyers jumping in and out of the market as rates move.”

Reports from Realtor.com show that 2022 ended with listings up nearly 55% versus a year ago, homes selling faster compared to 2019 pre-pandemic levels, and home price growth in single-digit territory for the first time in 12 months.

Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. ~ Thomas Edison

He was broke and struggling when he was first trying to write. He lived in a trailer with his wife, also a writer.  

They both worked multiple jobs to support their family while pursuing their craft and even went so far as to get rid of the telephone because it was too expensive.

They had so little, they actually had to borrow clothes for their wedding. 

He received so many rejection letters for his works that he developed a system for collecting them.

In his book On Writing, he recalls: “By the time I was 14...the nail in my wall would no longer support the weight of the rejection slips impaled upon it. I replaced the nail with a spike and kept on writing.”

The first short story he sold received 60 rejections before it was published, "The Glass Floor" sold for $35.

Even his now best-selling book wasn’t a hit at first. After dozens of rejections, he finally sold it for a meager advance to Doubleday Publishing, where the hardback sold only 13,000 copies - not great.

Soon after though, Signet Books signed on for the paperback rights for $400,000, $200,000 of which went to him. Success achieved!

And that best-selling book, "Carrie" went on to sell 1,000,000 in its first year as a paperback.

That was the start of Stephen King's career, a career that to date has sold over 350 million books. All because he took a stand and did not give up.

As he said himself ... "The place where you made your stand never mattered. Only that you were there, and still on your feet."

Cindy Glynn
Coldwell Banker American Home
479-586-6262
agentcindyg@gmail.com