If you read the financial papers, websites and blogs each week you may be
tempted to grab a prosac and curl up in a fetal position. Some of the headlines this week read:
Fed Chairman Points to Distress as Holding Housing Sector Back
Industry's Past Due Mortgages = 6,350,000
Forecast: Real estate recovery won't arrive till 2013 or beyond
Real estate sales stumble again in May
The truth is, this is probably the most exciting real estate market in the past three decades. During the mid-2000s many average Americans were priced out of the housing market. Home prices shot up so fast that many home buyers scrambled to grab a piece of the American dream that soon turned into Nightmare on Elm St, Main St, First St, etc.
Now, a lot of disenfranchised buyers are ready to buy and the conditions couldn't be better. Another headline this week said, "Long Term Interest Rates at 'Ultra Low Levels.'" For the sidelined buyer, interest rates are better than when they were forced out of the market. But, that's not the only good news for these buyers. Because of the high numbers of foreclosures and short sales home prices are at new lows. That sidelined buyer is now in a position to control the current market.
He has money. He didn't get his credit destroyed by overbuying a house that ultimately went into foreclosure. He has funds for a good down payment, and he's ready to take advantage of the flip in the market.
So, Realtors, put down that Prozac bottle, get up and brush your teeth, put on clean clothes because this market is going to turn around and you need to be out there when it does. Get your Rolodex out, pick up that phone and start making calls. That person you felt sorry for in 2005 might just be the guy that pulls this economy out of recession. He's no longer in the back seat. He's your new driver!
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