Buy low and sell high -- that is an investor's strategy. What is a homeowner's strategy today? Sell low and buy low? This approach is certainly working well for some.
To compete in this market a home needs to: be priced right, be in the best possible condition, and be properly marketed. Sellers over the past two years have had a tough time of it, especially with the competition from the tide of foreclosures and short sales.
And emotions can run high; even though a seller may understand that the market dictates the price, it is hard to swallow that the place they care for and make a mortgage payment on every month is not getting its just due in the marketplace.
However, there are sellers that are "getting their move on" by taking advantage of the current real estate climate on the other side of the balance sheet. Basically, the loss on the property a homeowner sells is really only a paper deficit; the next property he or she buys will also be at a bargain price.
We're seeing more and more homeowners willing to suffer the loss on the front-end, only to take the opportunity to trade up and buy a home that has more amenities and is often located in an area that was previously out of their price range.
So the buyer of the seller's home may be getting a deal, but so will the seller when the seller becomes the buyer. With a realistic sale and a well-considered purchase, the seller will ultimately wind up in better shape when real estate values increase again.
This market can cut both ways and a savvy seller with the proper real estate advice can actually do quite well for themselves by playing the game a bit like the investors do, by becoming a buyer.
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