The other day I was dealing with a young professional couple, who wanted to live in Palm Desert. One of them had transferred his corporate job to the area and the other was in a highly in demand job career and knew it would be no problem securing work in the medical field here. I showed them a few homes, a couple of condos and some gated community golf course properties without the age restriction.
They were so excited, but the big stickler for them was that they just do not trust the market with all the negative news on TV. The mass media sub-prime lending fallout, and the real estate bubble burst is all they could talk about, and yes as a Realtor all those things concern me as well. But, I know this market like the back of my hands from Palm Springs all the way through the Coachella Valley to La Quinta.
When you have a pulse on the community like I do, it is essential that you convey your confidence, break out the statistics, show them the homes that have sold, and the ones that had not. Tell them why. I sat down for two hours with them showing them why some properties were not selling due to demand. For instance, in many of the gated communities, the floor plans are all similar and if there are 10 homes for sale in that tract, the same, then the law of real estate absorption rates comes into play, and it is very real.
The Condominiums that they were looking at in this case also had an absorption rate factor to consider, but these were prime locations with few offerings. The other homes in area I showed them were in demand and desired. These homes were not in locations that had a huge number of sales in 2005-2006, thus even with another huge hit from the sub-prime lending, the value of these homes would be relatively unaffected and since they planned on living there a long time, it would not matter.
They also had an offer on their home in the mid-west and I explained that if the waited, it might go down and then they could not buy into Palm Desert where the demand is always and historically strong, as it is a favored zip-code nearby Palm Springs, but much newer with nicer properties. I indicated to them that these is a lot of opportunity here, so lets find exactly what you are looking for, hedge against any further decline and get a really good deal. That is my job and if that means a little more homework, then so be it.
Of course, you are going to have to realize that with risk is opportunity and there is a window of opportunity now. I explained to them that yes, the real estate bubble went pop and yes the sub-prime lending crisis is not over - and yes there will be some inventory on the market for some time to come, but these properties are available right now, at the right price, and in the right zip code. These properties are also in an area you are really going to love. This is a safe community and it will always be a desirable place to live. That is why I live here and why I am confident with my advice to you.
Comments (4)Subscribe to CommentsComment