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Timing a market - any market - is as foolish as buying a lottery ticket. Sure, you might hit it big time, but the odds are otherwise.
One must make judgments throughout life and then live with the consequences of the decision.
So whether you sell, buy, or sit on the sidelines right now, the decision is yours. And every one of us - every single one - will believe he/she is correct about the decision. Only time will tell who makes the better decisions, but for now, no one is going to say, "I think the other people are right but I'm sticking with my decision." No one who believes it is a terrible time to buy is going to buy because someone else told them to.
Make your decision. Stand your ground. Then accept whatever the consequences of your decision and move on. Just because one believes one is right doesn't mean everyone else is wrong.
MAM, I have a question that I should have asked a long time ago. I read all of your posts, some of which are very informative and sensible. But it seems to me, you are always on the side of the doomers, when it comes to RE, home buying, and just the overall attitude you have toward it. Can I ask why?
On a professional basis, my own two feet are squarely planted in neutral territory. I am hired to help my clients achieve their real estate objectives. My primary job is to educate my clients about the current and local market. I do not make markets. I use market facts and make them relevent to my client's objectives.
I pretty much stick to my own area where I know or can acquire the back story on most homes for sale. It's a value add for my clients because I know first hand how one property compares to another, regardless of the MLS hype or lack, thereof. And I usually know why a property sold for what it did, when it did.
I gently and consistently probe for people's pain. ( Sound's terrible, eh?) There is truth in pain. I need to know the consequences if a client does not achieve their real estate objectives to help them, help themselves.
I accept that I am not the right agent for some people. Such people include:
Sellers who do not have to sell.
Buyers and sellers who do not want to see/hear what they need to know.
Shoppers who are not in a position to buy anything.
Buyers who feel entitled to buy something they cannot afford.
I do not have the temperment to ride selling clients as they chase a declining market. The "they can always make an offer" slant troubles me in a declining market, no different than a buyer who makes absolutely insane low balls because they feel entitled to do so. I am reasonable and choose to work with reasonable people.
My parents were children of the Great Depression. They feared being in a position of losing their family home so they rented and accummulated nothing after paying rent for decades. No suprise, I am an advocate of home ownership, especially single family homes and very small self managed condo associations. I walk the talk, given I have bought 30 homes and sold 29, all before I became licensed. This included multiple relocation stints where my husband was the "trailing spouse".
Our first home in 1981 was done with my husband's VA mortgage benefit, at 16.5%, with 100% financing. I paid cash for my current home in 2002, using the accumulated gains from other sales.
I might have taken that money and put it into the stock market and done better. Maybe not. In the meantime, I have to live somewhere.
Anyway, that's my philosophy. Markets are never fair. They are always right.
On a professional basis, my own two feet are squarely planted in neutral territory. I am hired to help my clients achieve their real estate objectives. My primary job is to educate my clients about the current and local market. I do not make markets. I use market facts and make them relevent to my client's objectives.
I pretty much stick to my own area where I know or can acquire the back story on most homes for sale. It's a value add for my clients because I know first hand how one property compares to another, regardless of the MLS hype or lack, thereof. And I usually know why a property sold for what it did, when it did.
I gently and consistently probe for people's pain. ( Sound's terrible, eh?) There is truth in pain. I need to know the consequences if a client does not achieve their real estate objectives to help them, help themselves.
I accept that I am not the right agent for some people. Such people include:
Sellers who do not have to sell.
Buyers and sellers who do not want to see/hear what they need to know.
Shoppers who are not in a position to buy anything.
Buyers who feel entitled to buy something they cannot afford.
I do not have the temperment to ride selling clients as they chase a declining market. The "they can always make an offer" slant troubles me in a declining market, no different than a buyer who makes absolutely insane low balls because they feel entitled to do so. I am reasonable and choose to work with reasonable people.
My parents were children of the Great Depression. They feared being in a position of losing their family home so they rented and accummulated nothing after paying rent for decades. No suprise, I am an advocate of home ownership, especially single family homes and very small self managed condo associations. I walk the talk, given I have bought 30 homes and sold 29, all before I became licensed. This included multiple relocation stints where my husband was the "trailing spouse".
Our first home in 1981 was done with my husband's VA mortgage benefit, at 16.5%, with 100% financing. I paid cash for my current home in 2002, using the accumulated gains from other sales.
I might have taken that money and put it into the stock market and done better. Maybe not. In the meantime, I have to live somewhere.
Anyway, that's my philosophy. Markets are never fair. They are always right.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mathjak107
I have to say that certainly was a well thought out answer.
Yes,, I agree, and thank you, middle aged mom! I appreciate your response and it puts your beliefs/posts into perspective. Clearly I misunderstood some of them, and I'm sorry for that. Thanks for "being an advocate of homeownership". Have a good day!
On a professional basis, my own two feet are squarely planted in neutral territory. Neutral does not sell homes. If you really are neutral and provide advice based on this, you are a rarity, in my opinion and are to be admired for this quality. I am hired to help my clients achieve their real estate objectives. My primary job is to educate my clients about the current and local market. I do not make markets. I use market facts and make them relevent to my client'sobjectives. But are the market facts slanted towards a message of "now is the time to buy." Do you have samples of the market facts you provide to your clients?
I pretty much stick to my own area where I know or can acquire the back story on most homes for sale. It's a value add for my clients because I know first hand how one property compares to another, regardless of the MLS hype or lack, thereof. And I usually know why a property sold for what it did, when it did.
I gently and consistently probe for people's pain. ( Sound's terrible, eh?) There is truth in pain. I need to know the consequences if a client does not achieve their real estate objectives to help them, help themselves.
I would be very interested in learning more about how you calculate, or even identify a buyers "pain" level and what it even means in a transactions.
I accept that I am not the right agent for some people. Such people include:
Sellers who do not have to sell.
Buyers and sellers who do not want to see/hear what they need to know.
Shoppers who are not in a position to buy anything.
Buyers who feel entitled to buy something they cannot afford.
I do not have the temperment to ride selling clients as they chase a declining market.
I agree, but too low, is still too low.
The "they can always make an offer" slant troubles me in a declining market, no different than a buyer who makes absolutely insane low balls because they feel entitled to do so. How do you determine their state of mind of entitlement? Perhaps they just want the best price they can get. What do you consider a reasonable offer?
I am reasonable and choose to work with reasonable people.
My parents were children of the Great Depression. They feared being in a position of losing their family home so they rented and accummulated nothing after paying rent for decades. No suprise, I am an advocate of home ownership, especially single family homes and very small self managed condo associations. Many would argue, we are seeing similar scenarios of the great depression now. So many loosing their homes. People who bought into a bubble at prices double or triple the going rate now. So are you saying, you did not promote home ownership during the bubble? I mean you are equating the great depression as a promotion of home ownership. The overly ambitious drive to home ownership, is part of what created the bubble. I walk the talk, given I have bought 30 homes and sold 29, all before I became licensed. This included multiple relocation stints where my husband was the "trailing spouse".
Our first home in 1981 was done with my husband's VA mortgage benefit, at 16.5%, with 100% financing. I paid cash for my current home in 2002, using the accumulated gains from other sales.
I might have taken that money and put it into the stock market and done better. Maybe not. In the meantime, I have to live somewhere.
Anyway, that's my philosophy. Markets are never fair. They are always right.
I enjoyed reading your post, but question some of the contradictions it seems to present to me.
One must make judgments throughout life and then live with the consequences of the decision.
This is the most true statement of all.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GuyFriendly
So whether you sell, buy, or sit on the sidelines right now, the decision is yours. And every one of us - every single one - will believe he/she is correct about the decision. Only time will tell who makes the better decisions, but for now, no one is going to say, "I think the other people are right but I'm sticking with my decision." No one who believes it is a terrible time to buy is going to buy because someone else told them to.
Make your decision. Stand your ground. Then accept whatever the consequences of your decision and move on. Just because one believes one is right doesn't mean everyone else is wrong.
I totally agree with the above but would add that I couldn't care less if some random person out there made what they consider a "better" decision than I did. I don't compare my life decisions to others; I do what is best for my family. I keep an eye on the local market and if something comes along that I can afford I will look into it and perhaps buy.
I think it's important for people to understand that the market in their particular area is not mirrored across the country and that folks can only speak from their vantage point which may be way, way different than that of others.
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I paid cash for my current home in 2002, using the accumulated gains from other sales. 
