Welcome to the Parade – Fall 2007

Imagine going to the Rose Parade this year, and everyone watching on the curb is being told the following: That at any time you wanted, you could jump on a float and ride along…BUT…once you picked your float, you had to stay there for the entire parade, and that the “Parade Experts” generally felt the best floats were towards the end.

SO…now the parade begins, and you are all excited about picking a float. Float after float comes by, but you are going to wait…because the “Parade Experts” have told you to wait…even though you are seeing one fantastic float after another. Soon, you become torn. You wait, like the “Experts” said you should but what if they are wrong? What if by waiting, you passed on the best float? Or, worse, that you pick a float near the end, and since everyone else waited like you, the only ones left are super-crowded with other parade watchers? What do you do? Stand there and continue to wait, or pick a float now, that you can enjoy? And when is the end of the parade anyway?

Understanding Our Current Real Estate Market

If you can relate to our parade watcher in the above story, then you can truly understand what is happening in our real estate market right now. Sellers are forming a long parade of homes for sale, and buyers are simply standing on the curb, waiting. They are waiting because the TV and newspapers and internet are telling them to wait. They are waiting because they do not want to look silly or stupid, so they will wait until everyone tells them it is OK to buy. They are missing a lot of very nice “floats” while they wait, but the “Experts” have told them to wait, so wait they will.

As a seller, what does that mean for you? Well, as the real estate market stands right now, you must create a strong enough desire in a buyer that
they are comfortable jumping off the curb right now, onto your float, and are not worried about the “Experts” and what may be coming in the parade behind them. If you can do that, then you will find a buyer for your “home/float”. If you cannot, then the buyers will continue to wait for the “so-called” better floats that everyone is telling them are on the way. For a buyer to purchase today, you must help them overcome their fear of everyone telling them they should have waited. Unfortunately, some sellers are still locked into the thinking of 2003-2005, and assume that it is good enough to simply “be for sale and eventually a buyer will see how nice our home is”. That is not the case. A buyer must feel good about purchasing a home today in spite of the “Experts” telling them to wait. If you understand this, then you understand our current market.

As a buyer, all I can say is there are amazing values in our market today…values that will be purchased by someone else who understands that the purchase of a home is a long-term investment and not something to be bought and sold in a 6 month period of time. Real estate was never intended to be traded like the stock market, and the financing changes being implemented by the banks will make the “easy money” to flip houses much, much tougher to get. However, for a family purchasing a home to live in, or an investor who wishes to purchase a property and hold it for a few years, then you have just entered the candy store of real estate. Good values are everywhere, and many people are beginning to understand that waiting on the curb for the end of the parade might make you miss your float all-together. Remember, no one rings a bell at the top and bottom of any economic market…you only know the top and bottom when it has passed you by. So…be careful, be smart, and don’t let the parade get too far down the road…because there really are some incredible floats right here, right now.

Take care, and as always, I am only a phone call away to assist you with your real estate needs.