Am I the only person that believes that stimulus must come through good business practices? The gritting of teeth through the hard times, cutting back, tightening the belt, batting down the hatches and other metaphors for "hanging in there till its over". Speaking specifically of the real estate market, lower prices means better deals for buyers, and despite what the media would have you believe there is money out there. A prospective buyer can borrow money.
With all my years and experience is real estate, I am still baffled by the phenomenon of families rushing to buy homes at top prices and beating each other out of the way by increasing their offers, during the upswing of the market. I personally prefer to buy in times of lowered prices and low interest rates, when there is more to choose from and less people making offers. Sellers often think "well I have to sell my house first to buy another". YEP, The good news is that the houses that are higher in price have come down even more - creating a lower spread for you to cover.
What about the seller that is not necessarily buying up, maybe downsizing or moving out of the area completely. Well your options are very similar. First you have to put your house on the market at the RIGHT price. What is the right price? Well if your neighbors have their house on the market and it has not sold, you already know what the price is not!. The right price is the price the one that will get you an offer so that you can go shopping. With that offer, you now know what you have to work with and can make offers on other homes. If your property is priced right - you will get multiple offers. I hear a "hmm" of doubt. I beg to differ. When a home is priced to sell, more than one person will notice and will often drive the offers up, it creates the excitement of value. This is still happening in our office.
Now the seller can go shopping with an actual number. Sellers that are attached to a "number" will probably not benefit from the negotiability of other homes on the market. They will not get that opportunity to go make valid offers, as they are in the pack waiting with the rest of the homes that have not sold.
We are all impacted by the media, yet we forget that newspaper readership is down over 50% and the headline has to knock your socks of to read it. On line publications are competing tooth and nail for your attention. If we are all going to hell in a hand basket, I am going own as much real estate as I can. History shows that those who own real estate will come out ahead. Not to mention - I can live in it, rent it out, or barter with it. The problem is not real estate it is the money. Not the lack of supply, but the over borrowing - because we think we deserve a new car every year, a new outfit for every occasion and that our kids should have every conceivable piece of electronic equipment they can name. Not to mention we are raising a nation of couch potatoes. We cannot think that every time we over borrow for "things" that we think we deserve we are putting ourselves further in debt. When the dollar is worth less and less, I hope you have as much real estate as you can hold onto, and a little gold never hurts!
I keep making offers on properties that I am able to buy cheap with low interest rates that I rent out and hold onto either until the next big upswing - maybe 10 years (who knows) or maybe until I am too old to take care of them and my kids can inherit. If anyone is afraid of buying a home - keep in mind - you could have bought a home in the '70's for $60,000, same home in the 80's $300,000, same home in the '90's for $700,000 that you could sell now for say $2.5M Maybe it was worth $3M last year, still a good investment and maybe it will be worth $7M in five years. Smart investors should always buy low, and really smart investors also know that the only way to absolutely know the bottom of the market is when it is making the turn. You know, when prices start going back up! That is generally when the interest rates go up also. My advice. unless you can pinpoint the exact moment when the market hits bottom, which sellers will be the most motivated (not all have to sell) and what the interest rates what will be, go ahead and jump in and buy the home you want. Our website http://www.resourcesrealestate.com/2008_Market_Report/page_2160633.html gives you a complete history of 2007 and 2008. Below is a year to date market view. If your town is not included - let me know and I can do that for you. Or click on your town below to sign up for ongoing market reports for your town
. ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS, COLTS NECK, FAIR HAVEN, HOLMDEL, LITTLE SILVER, MIDDLETOWN, MONMOUTH BEACH, OCEANPORT,
RED BANK, RUMSON
If you want to know exactly how much a particular home sold for visit nosy neighbor on resourcesrealestate.com
In these times of economic uncertainty people do cut back on charitable giving, and I would like to give a gentle reminder that it is exactly these times that they need us the most. Please visit www.monmouthsocialcalendar.com to see what events are coming up and to donate directly. Shout out to several charities that are close to my heart. Monmouth County Historical Association. Monmouth County Mental Health Association, Prevention First and 180 Turning Lives Around.
We have so many wonderful events coming up and I would like to remind everyone of the Derby Ball on May 1st and we have the wonderful VNA Show house opening soon. Many talented designers, landscape designers, decorators and decorative arts professionals put a lot of time into making the events special.
One such person is Karen Siciliano, co-owner and VP of Siciliano Landscape which was founded 70 years ago by her grandfather. She came on board after 9/11 after 18 years as a bond trader on Wall St, she felt the pull of hearth and home and she came back to her "roots" in the landscape industry. Not only was she successful on Wall Street, she has channeled her business acumen and energy into her landscape business. In four years, she tripled the size of the business. Siciliano Landscape Company provides both design, installation and maintenance. Karen is a reflection of the good people in Monmouth County, and she shows her social conscience through all her good works. Involved not only with the Visiting Nurse Association show house, she is on the board of trustees for Monmouth Medical Center Foundation and even funded an exam room at the Valerie Fund Children's center for Cancer and Blood Disorders. Thank you Karen.
I have a couple of openings for new agent training. Believe it or not, good agents still make money, and it I personally train each agent, and continue with workshops and personal coaching. If you are interested give me a call in the office 732-212-0440 or look on our website on the career in real estate page.
If you have an interest in old homes, we do have older home specialists; myself and Tom McCormack. Take a look at some beautiful older homes for sale.
Thanks for taking the time to read my blog.
Carolynn