Wall Street Journal & Forbes: It’s Time to Buy A Home
Wall Street Jouran and Forbes: It's Time to Buy
We believe very strongly that now is the time to buy a home. Some will say we are just saying this to create real estate transactions and commissions. Because of that, today we will quote what those outside the real estate profession are saying to the people who look to them for financial advice.
The Wall Street Journal
Last week, in an article entitled It’s Time to Buy That House, the WSJ told their subscribers:
“It’s an excellent time to buy a house, either to live in for the long term or for investment income…Houses aren’t the magic wealth creators they were made out to be during the bubble. But when prices are low, loans are cheap and plump investment yields are scarce, buyers should jump.”
In an article two weeks ago, MarketWatch.com (the on-line blog for WSJ) told their readers:
“Now could be the best time in history to buy a home.”
Short Sales Picking Up Steam
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency released their Second Quarter 2011 Mortgage Metrics Report last week. In the report, they covered the success the banking industry is having in each of several categories regarding the current housing crisis. Here is what they found:
13,780 Homes Sold Yesterday!
To all those who have declared the real estate market dead, we want you to know that over 13,780 houses sold yesterday, 13,780 will sell today and 13,780 will sell tomorrow.
Fear or Trust
Today I turn to an email that I received entitled, “Fear or Trust.” The author is unknown. After reading the email I couldn’t help but to blog about it. I re-wrote it to add in my theory of Chicken Little and added my own flair. However, I want to give credit where credit is due and disclose that this is not all my own writing. If I knew the author I would love to say, “Man, you are right on with your thinking.” Here we go …
Fear or Trust
Let’s get Chicken Little.
You all know the story … young chicken, fearful of the worst, runs around declaring, “The sky is falling! The sky is falling!” I think we have too many Chicken Littles running around. No wonder the economy is still facing challenges! The 24/7 media is creating a frenzy of panic and fear that fills the collective psychology of the country with gloom and doom. Some people are more stressed and fearful than they have ever been in their life.
A Window of Opportunity for House Sellers
There has been much confusion as to where housing prices are headed. Today, I want to give my opinion on this subject for the short term based on what I learned at a recent real estate seminar I attended. I believe sellers have a window of opportunity for the next 90-120 days in which to sell their homes for maximum price. I believe there will be increased downward pressure on home prices later this year and the first half of 2012.
Should You Rent or Buy in this Market?
Families are trying to determine whether or not now is the time to buy a home. Some are advising these families to sit out the current real estate market and instead rent for the next year or two. We do not agree with this advice. Homeownership means a lot to a family. We also realize that the financial aspects of purchasing a home today can be a concern. The challenge is any advice given by someone in the real estate community is immediately dismissed as self-serving.
For this reason, we want to give you the advice of three entities not involved in real estate sales: (more…)
Even the Naysayers Are Saying To Buy Now!
Business School professors Eli Beracha of East Carolina University and Ken H. Johnson of Florida International University have done extensive research on which makes more sense financially: to rent or own a home. They published, Lessons from Over 30 Years of Buy versus Rent Decisions: Is the American Dream Always Wise?In their paper, the professors do not dispute the social benefits of homeownership:
“Home ownership is touted as the “American Dream”. It is credited with enhancing wealth, increasing civic pride, improving self-esteem, crime prevention, child development, and better educational outcomes, among other benefits. This paper does not dispute any of these claims.”
What the professors were proposing is that homeownership is not a better investment strategy than renting. The first of the two major findings was:
I Am Going To Believe Grandpa
There are those currently debating the financial advantages of owning a home. Some are looking at studies and reporting that homeownership has never really been a great investment.
One of these people is Jack C. Francis, a former Federal Reserve economist and professor at Baruch College. He said in a recent CNBC article:
“For generations, parents and grandparents have been telling us that the way to get ahead was to buy a house and keep making payments with a fixed interest rate and after 20 or 30 years it would be way up in value and that was your nest egg in old age. You could either live in it rent free or sell it and use the proceeds to rent an apartment.”
The article goes on to explain the rest of Mr. Francis’ comment: (more…)
House sold in 2 days!
A house in DeForest that we listed on Monday, received an accepted offer by Wednesday! With five showings the day after it listed we generated an offer, and a few hours after receiving the offer, our seller accepted. A few lessons here; 1) price it right and it sells fast. 2) plenty of buyers are in the market for a home. 3) when offer comes in, take it seriously, move swiftly, and diligently work to bring it together.
Congratulations to the buyer and seller of this transaction. The buyers are excited they found the house they were looking for. The sellers, of course, are elated their house took 2 days to sell.
Selling Your House? 5 Reasons To Do It NOW!
The conventional wisdom when selling a home has always been to wait until the ‘Spring Buying Season’. Over the years, that has seemed to make sense and is now accepted as a good strategy for those who want to sell their house and receive the best possible price. This real estate market has shattered many previously held beliefs. The wisdom of waiting for a spring market is another belief that is about to fall. Here are five reasons why?
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