No matter the time of year or what's happening in the headline news, the most common question I'm asked is, "How's the Real Estate Market?".
I can let people know how it's been. I can tell them what’s happening right now. I do not have the ability to predict the future. Based on 24+ years of being a full-time real estate professional, I haven’t seen some of what’s happened coming.
Let’s start with my first day at RE/MAX Dolphin Real Estate. It was September 17, 2001. Yes, that’s right, just six days after Tuesday, September 11th, 2001. The market basically stopped until February or March of the next year, 2002. Following that there was a boom, until the smoke and mirrors lending practices collapsed the housing market in 2008. At that time, it was said that the market would “never” recover, but it did, and prices have doubled or more since then.
So, was it a good time to buy in 2008 and 2009? You bet your bippy, it was. And more recently, who saw the pandemic real estate boom coming?
When is a good time to Buy? NOW
When is a good time to Sell? NOW
Why? Because most people are buying a home long term. Long term, life happens. The real estate market goes up and down. We change jobs or careers. Long-term owning is better than renting. You can build equity and have peace of mind that your lease won’t end. If you’re selling and the market is up or down, you’ll be buying in the same market, so it's a wash.
And let's not forget it's called the Real Estate Market for a reason. Yes, just like the stock market, soybeans, coffee, wheat, gold, these are all Markets that go up, down and sideways. If you’re Selling or Buying long term, NOW is a good time to act.
We can make predictions, look at outside factors, look at historical data, look at trends, and make educated guesses. Life is short, life happens and none of us wants to make a mistake and do something like buying or selling at the “wrong” time. But life sometimes requires doing things that aren’t comfortable.
