When is the real estate market coming back so I can sell my house?
The market is back. Every real estate period is a market, and today's period is a buyer's market. This is an unusually long and painful market if we have to sell before we can buy and most of us have to. We all want to buy low and sell high, whether it is a home, a car, or stocks. We all enjoyed the wonderful paper wealth we experienced prior to 2008 as perceived in the rising values of our homes. We painfully watched it disappear over a period of just a year. The emotional adjustment to this financial calamity was easier for some depending on the financial position they were in and the amount of time they had to make a move.
I have been on many listing appointments this year, and I am finding that homeowners who bought their homes before 2004, and do not have a home equity loan, are still likely to have equity in their home. This is a fortunate position to find oneself because these folks can make the decision to move forward. The people I see with fewer choices are the ones who have home equity loans. These wonderful second mortgages provided us with many luxuries, home improvements, education for our children, or essential large purchases we would have not been able to afford without that option. But now many of us are paying the price for these loans.
We are creatures of habit and with short memories. We are living in our current market, and we must painfully adjust to it. Our homes are not worth as much as we want them to be, but that also means the homes we want to purchase are not as high in value. This can be a great time to buy with historically low interest rates and lower home prices. Remember the buy low and sell high axiom. It is hard to have it both ways, but to be able to buy low with a low interest rate is not the worst situation. Remember, real estate has always been viewed as a safe and steady investment. This is still true today, because, as Great-Granddaddy used to say, "They ain't making no more land."
So, as soon as we can forget those artificially high appraisals we experienced prior to 2006, and accept today's values, we will enjoy our real estate again as a positive asset in our net worth. We will be able to sleep better and be more positive for our neighbors who stay worried about the market returning. The market is here.
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