It's becoming an all too familiar question. Start talking about the economy with anybody, and the topic always turns to real estate. Inevitably, I am asked - "when will the market hit bottom"? Isn't this similar to a few years back? I remember when escalating real estate sales and increasing prices had people shaking their head in amazement. They would tell me - "the bubble is going to burst." The media had started spreading the news of the possibility, but at the time everybody seemed skeptical - nobody really knew for sure, or when it would happen.
Fast forward to today. Those of us who have concerns about the economy, our home vales, and if you are a real estate agent ... your livelihood - we watch TV attentively. We can't seem to avoid paying close attention to news reports hoping for some glimmer of hope. As a Realtor, I pay careful attention to statistics as it relates to my local market. I am always hopeful that I might notice a trend indicating some improvement.
But, nobody knows. Nobody has the answer. There is no crystal ball that can determine when the real estate market will hit bottom. Even the national so-called experts have no clue.
Every day, real estate analysts are interviewed on TV. They give opinions, they have their own predictions about the market - but they can't pinpoint WHEN the market will hit bottom.
A good investment always requires a gut feeling. Whether investing and selling off stocks, or purchasing and selling real estate - the key is timing.
Buy high and sell low.
But how do we ever really know when we have arrived at the low or high? We don't.
Nobody knew WHEN the bubble would burst. It was interesting at the time, how sellers just didn't believe it and refused to price their homes according to signs of a shifting market. Now, the opposite has happened. As values have declined significantly buyers are still waiting for even better bargains, disregarding the so-called experts being interviewed on TV who have begun hinting that NOW is really good time to buy.
As homeowners worry about their real estate investments and buyers continue to question their decisions to purchase now, they wonder "when will the market hit bottom." And, when I am asked this question I remind people of the real estate bubble that burst - and how nobody knew back then WHEN the market would peak ..and there is no way of knowing NOW - when we will hit bottom.
By the time we know this, the market will already have shifted again and many of today's bargains will already have been snapped up. There are buyers who will face disappointment because they didn't act sooner. It will be much like the disappointment felt by recent and current sellers who have had to take huge losses over the last few years because they waited to make a decision about selling or simply did not price their homes competitively based on a shifting market.
So, has there been a voice in your head calling out to you to act NOW? Does your instinct tell you that NOW is the time?
A good investment is based on instinct. So, if your instinct is telling you to buy, if the experts being interviewed on TV are saying that NOW is a good time to buy, if you are noticing some really great bargains, if you are enticed by low interest rates - then, what are you waiting for? With all these positive signs, how can somebody not feel somewhat sure? Can it get even better than this? Maybe. But, what if it doesn't.
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