The author of this post, Pat Kennedy, lives in Washington D.C. but the sentiment of this story is so true for all areas across the country.
Many home buyers are so fearful about buying a home these days. Who can blame them. Home values continue to drop and no one can estimate or tell when this will change.
Read this blog by Patrica's Kennedy and then you decide if you would buy in today's market. I think there are compelling reason's why it might be a good time to do so.
All around me, my colleagues are selling houses. At the moment, I am not.
Over the past couple of months, I've run into buyers, both my own clients and those of other agents showing my listings, who seem to be totally impaired when it comes to buying a house, at least right now. Why? They are informed. They listen to the news. And their car radio tells them that housing sales for May were down compared to May of 2010.
They're afraid prices will go down further
- They're afraid that Greece will go down the tubes
- They are afraid that congress will take away the mortgage tax deduction
- They are afraid they'll lose their jobs
- They are afraid that they won't be able to sell the house easily if they have to
They're just afraid. And when other people are afraid to jump into the market, that is precisely the time to buy.
Did anyone ever get famous for giving advice to "Buy high, sell low"? But that is exactly what so many of us are prone to do when it comes to real estate.
In 2006, red flags started to go up for me. Buyers were having to do crazy things to get a house, sometimes paying hundreds of thousands of dollars over an already inflated asking price. But they jumped in enthusiastically.
Today, in 2011, you can buy a house with an amazing interest rate, and usually for less than a deflated asking price.
Could prices go down again? Sure.
But in the entire history of our housing market, they've caught back up again and gone even higher.
So is it a good time to buy? Well, it's a whole lot better to buy now than it was in 2006. That's for sure!
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
REALTOR®
Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE)
Certified Default Resolution Specialist (CDRS)
Short Sales & Foreclosure Resource ~ Certified (SFR)
Ferrari-Lund Real Estate
775.846.5424
This is such great timing Terrie...I have clients that need to read this post....grrr :-) Thanks!
For buyers the houses are good deals. Payments are lower then rent. The prices might go down a little more but not much especially on the lower priced homes in my area.
Great post Terrie. If buyers plan to stay in their homes as most do for at least 5 years, chances are the economy should have recovered. Once we are fully recovered, the projections are for interest rates to be back around 8% and home values back to 2007 levels. It is best to buy now! The word I hear is that 2015/2016 is when this should happen.
Terry, I was just on Pat's blog commenting and saw this post- great re-blog!
Kristin ~ we all have clients like this! It is hard for them in this real estate market.
Chuck ~ If you write down what you pay in rent versus what you will pay in a mortgage payment and what you save over time when you bu a home you might find there is no difference even if home prices slightly drop after you buy!!