Often real estate is referred to as an investment. I, on the other hand, feel that your home - your primary residence, first and foremost, provides shelter, certain life style and comfort. Having your home classified as an investment, you would need to own it outright or for a while. What do I mean by a while? It depends on the location and the percentage of yearly appreciation. Unlike stocks and bonds that could go up and down within weeks and months, home appreciates over years. Buying low and selling high is a tricky thing too. How do you know that the market is really hit bottom and it's time to buy? In this uncertain lending environment many other factors come up, such as credit rating, your ability to put down 10-20% and ultimately the rate you get on your loan. Purchasing your personal home should be a planned event when the time is right for the buyer. Please keep in mind that the first home you are purchasing could be an asset as well as a liability. Your down payment plus the appreciation is your asset in an up swinging market. The amount of the loan you took when you purchased it and the amount of depreciation in a down market is your liability. Historically, after you own your home between five and seven years your home appreciated between 7-10 percent. At this point it might be your largest asset and perhaps your largest investment. The following ten reasons will explain why I feel NOW is the right time to buy your dream home.

Market Saturation and Ample Selection:  There are 1142 resale homes on the market in Marin County, including SFH, condos, multi-unit and floating homes.  Regardless of the price range a buyer desires, there are plenty of houses from which to choose. The resale inventory increased dramatically in the past year. A buyer no longer needs to compromised and compete; there are plenty homes, condos and town homes on the market now. They can easily find the home of their dreams. There is a great selection of attached homes, condos, and townhouses. You can even find lots and build your dream home. There are lots of options in this market.

No Bidding Wars. There is no competitive bidding in this buyer's market. In 2005 we had many clients that made offers on numerous homes. They lost on several before they were able to get one accepted. Other buyers bid the properties up substantially from the original listing price. There were escalation clauses where buyers authorized their agents to outbid other offers by thousands of dollars.

You Can Make an Offer. A few years ago when you made an offer, the only question was how high above the list price could the buyer reach in hopes of being the best offer on the table. Today the sell price list vs. price ration is averaging about 96%. A seller will not be insulted if you 'make them an offer they can't refuse'.

Patience is Tolerated. In the hot seller's market that existed everything was rushed. Find a house before other buyers did. Hurry up and make the offer.  Today a buyer can take their time. Look at several homes and think about your decision for a few hours.

Due Diligence is Welcomed. In this market a buyer is encouraged to obtain a home inspection, termite inspection, and appraisal. In 2005 many buyers waived these contingencies in order to gain an advantage with multiple offers.

Requests for Repair and Credits are Welcomed. After a buyer completes a home inspection, they are allowed to submit a repair request to the seller. In the past a seller might insist the home was sold 'as is'. Many times, there were back-up buyers waiting for a primary buyer to upset the seller whose home was increasing in value almost daily.

Few, if any Investors and Speculators. It is estimated that one third of all sales in 2005 were to investors and or speculators. These non-owner occupied buyer caused the market to inflate and affordability to decline. Mortgage fraud became commonplace. Now it's a great time to buy without having to compete with hundreds of other buyers; special loans for teachers and police officers are back in business. It's a great time to buy real estate!

Location, Location, Location. Today's buyers can find homes in the area they want to live without compromising their priorities. The buyers who wish to be in Mill Valley can find a home in Mill Valley for the price they can afford. The same goes with other areas. Some towns such as Novato have 345 homes and condos active on the market; this was unheard of in 2005. Greenbrae has 31 active homes and condos and Kentfield -28. In the past buyers flocked to Marin for schools, certain life style each town and areas offer and proximity to the city. In this market, you can easily find reasonably priced homes, within close proximity to schools, public transportation and shopping.

Real Financing is Available. "If you can breathe you can borrow loans" are the thing of the past. The zero down, no doc, adjustable, sub-prime loans are gone. Fixed rates are back and they are pretty darn good. 30 yr fixed are at 6.4% and 15 yr fixes are at 6.06%. FHA financing, first time homeowner programs, special loans for teachers and police officers are back in business. It's a great time to buy real estate!

So if you are waiting to buy, check out what are you really waiting for?  Remember you can not play until you get into the game. Trust you Realtor, we are in it day in and day out, we will not mislead you; we want you to up-size in a few years and buy a few more property as an investment. We have a vested interest in you as a buyer so you can feel confident and refer us as a professional and as your trusted advisor. 

It is a good time to buy, don't wait till the rates go up and many other buyer get off the fence and flock to buy. We will be back again to multiple offers, low inventory and over bids.  And if you choose to wait, you'll miss the whole lot of opportunity. Come on to play...come and check out the market.

Victoria Wells - Broker Associate Coldwell Banker- Greenbrae-  Marin County - CA

Your Trusted Real Estate Advisor 415-464-3380 direct  e-mail:  vawells@comcast.net

http://www.marinbesthomes.com/ and http://www.lifeinmarin.com/