Regardless of your political inclinations, this election is stirring very strong emotions for or against the candidates. I am no exception to this phenomenon.
It has been tough in our market. We have been challenged to find ways to earn an income. Whatever, happens, those challenges will continue with us for at least the next six months. Depending on which prognosticator you like, it could be another eighteen months.
The thing you have to keep in mind is that the sun will come up tomorrow, and your personal relationships and family will be close. Times like these are when you truly appreciate what you have and understand that you really want a lot less.
Turn off the news and ignore the fire warnings. Much of what you hear has to do with who news outlets like and the need to create drama to sell commercial airtime. The facts are there for you to interpret for yourself. August year over year and month over month pending contracts numbers were up, as were mortgage applications. The percentage of existing home sales that are REO properties was way up. Building permits are way down. What I have not heard are any numbers on vacant standing inventory.
I am not an economist, but I can connect the dots. The market is correcting for the increased inventory, which is driving prices down. Even if interest rates rise (which they are sure to do with all the new Treasury Debt being issued weekly), affordability will not be adversely affected. There are a lot of good reasons to buy homes now for people who are serious about buying.
Go back to basics - qualify your buyers - whether you are listing or co-oping. Don't waste your time with buyers that do not have the ability to close the deal. It is hard to resist in a tough market like this, but then we always have a hard time with the "bird in the hand" mentality. That makes it even more important to spend your time working on a deal that is likely to close. With fewer deals, we cannot afford to fritter away our time.
Until next week!
Brian M. Dubuc
Dubuc and Associates, LLC
Attorneys at Law
Commercial and Residential Real Estate Closings
Builder/Developer Representation
Construction Litigation
Business Entity Formation and Representation
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