I have gone to a lot of Christmas parties this season and I keep having people ask me; “when I think they should buy real estate. Should they buy now, wait till spring or wait until 2nd quarter”? My answer is if you have a steady job and can afford a mortgage payment now is the best time to buy real estate in Raleigh. There is plenty of money to lend and it is easy to get a mortgage if you have a job and average credit. I know with all the media hype it is scary trying to figure out when to pull the trigger. No one wants to make a mistake but, if you miss the “perfect time” you will not miss it more than $10 or $20 per month. I will explain this one later, please read on.
The daily news is enough to make everyone worry and second guess themselves. Keep in mind the one thing the media doesn’t makes clear is that Raleigh real estate is not Miami real estate. Our local market did not have the highs of other markets and we have not had the extreme lows either. But, the biggest thing no one is talking about is the number of millionaires made after the great depression and again after the Savings and Loans crisis of the 80’s. More millionaires followed that real estate crisis than any other time in history. I was selling real estate during the Savings and Loan crisis of the 80’s. I remember when Preston Country Club and many other developments went into foreclosure. Oh how I wish I had bought some of those homes back then. Our residential mortgage crisis that started in 2006 is just like the commercial Savings and Loan crisis of the 80’s. Ask Mr. Goodnight if he has any regrets about buying Preston out of the S&L foreclosure. That is why I am so passionate and absolutely convinced your then is now and you need to buy Raleigh real estate today. I guarantee you some savvy real estate investor is going to snag Hasentree up fast.
I watch so many people continue to sit on the home buying fence trying to figure out the perfect time. You have an opportunity now while history is repeating itself for you to be the beneficiary of this cycle. Your time to build wealth in real estate starts today and here are more reasons why: Raleigh residential real estate sales are off 40% from this time last year. This means there are a lot of very motivated sellers out there that are ready to deal. Interest rates are below 5% and there are mortgage companies that will lock your rate at 5% and re-lock your rate if it goes down before closing. So you do not need to worry about rates. Lock and go with peace of mind. Motivated sellers and low interest rates is the formula for incredible buying power right now. If rates go up or sellers start to see positive signs your buying power drops immediately.
You know what is really sad 98% of the people waiting will miss the bottom. Think about it….how does anyone really know when the bottom happens? The only way to know is when prices start going back up. So the questions to ask yourself is; “Would I rather buy one day too early or one day too late? Some people are waiting hoping the market will fall lower or interest rates will drop another fraction. Interest rates are so volatile right now they adjust 3 times a day. They could go up. They could go down but, how much money would you actually save if rates drop a quarter or half of a percent. Maybe $10.00 per month. Do you want to risk rates going up over $10.00? Or another way to look at it is, do you want to lose the best house for you and your family over $10.00 a month? When you do the math and consider all possibilities it just doesn’t make sense to wait.
Oh, but there is more…every seller I know believes the new year and especially this spring will mean higher prices for them. If sellers believe they will get higher prices they will not negotiate a bottom price with you. They will start waiting too. Right now prices have dropped because sellers believe the market is bad. The best time to buy real estate is when a seller fears that tomorrow will be worse than today. That time is now but, it won’t last long. I really believe you need to get off the fence and start buying now or you may end up regretting that you didn’t buy… in this fabulous buyers market.
Linda