I'm really glad people relate to me as a Real Estate Person, at least I've been successful in getting that message out. The message that's getting a little harder to communicate is the answer to the most frequent question I get asked-How's the Market?
I'm always wondering - why do you ask? Especially before I blurt out an answer:
- You want a local Real Estate Market opinion?
- You're hoping I'll give you a different answer than what you think the market is like?
- You want to know if I'm making any money?
- You want to know if you can sell your home?
My answer right now is an attempt to get to the bottom of the reason for the question, and not to assume I know why the question was asked.
So I ask right back "What do you think?"
In reality, most people want some reassurance that the home they currently own, didn't go down in value. If they bought it in the last 4 years, maybe it did go down in value, maybe not, just depends, (doesn't it always depend?).
Our volume is down, anywhere from 20% to 40% of what it was 2 years ago.
Some of that volume is easily attributed to the decrease in folks wanting to move to this wonderful place, Billings Montana, from some other part of the country. Interestingly, when they sold their home, in some other part of the country, they made a killing on the sale and want to invest in our market, maybe even thinking it was the next little gold mine.
Well this is a gold mine, and yes our prices increased, maybe more than they should have, but we didn't have a whacko increase in prices, and I don't think we will in the future either. And thank goodness for that!
The gold is in them thar hills and valleys? it's the way of life, the romance and charm of "small town with really long streets". A stable market makes this place even more attractive, and livable.
So how's the market you ask? Well, I think it's just the way it should be, for now. When people want something, they usually buy it, if they can afford it that is.
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