Is it safe to buy or sell Palos Verdes Real Estate

Have YOU signed up for my other proprietary charts? If you haven’t and want the link, please go to this site to agree to the conditions and sign up. The conditions are quite simple – you must agree to keep the links and contents private for your use only and not share the data in any manner whatsoever without my express written permission. http://www.homeispalosverdes.com/content/article.html/1396074/real-estate-trend-charts

The BIGGEST CHALLENGE for sellers now is pricing their homes correctly. Now just because the market is soft doesn’t mean that one should not buy. But if you’re a buyer, you have to be careful and you have to buy “right” and for the “long term”. Interest rates are low, incredibly low and even if you bought today and prices dropped a bit more, you will still likely be just fine long term. Why? Two reasons.

1) The market will recover. I’ve been in real estate for 30 years. I saw what happened in the early 80s and the early 90s and saw the market recover during both down cycles. And I heard the same thing then that I do now. “Oh, prices will never be as high as they were in ever again”. You know what? They were, and they exceeded those levels. And they will again.

2) Even if prices drop some more, which I think they likely will, buying today is likely still ok, as what if interest rates go up a percent or more in the next year or two, which I think they will (the Fed can’t get away with printing money forever). Higher interest rates on a lower priced home may still mean higher ownership costs for the long term. So you may be better off buying now.

But if you’re a seller now, OR if you know someone thinking of selling … you have to know this. Let me put it this way. You’re standing in your yard ok? Now, someone is up on the roof with a really, really sharp sword and drops it from the sky. Are you going to catch it with your bare hands?

It’s an old stock broker’s adage … “No one likes to catch a falling sword”. Same with real estate, the only way you’re going to sell your house in today’s market is IF the buyer perceives themselves as being compensated for the risk of buying in a soft market; one in which prices in 6 months to a year are more likely to be lower than higher compared to now. Does that make sense? So do your friends a favor … those that are thinking of selling … tell them to get real and hire a broker like me that will tell them the TRUTH.

And what’s my documentation for making this advice? This is just one of the charts you would have access to if you signed up in the link above. We were doing ok here on prices for a while. A channel was forming in which prices were bouncing around. But look at what just happened; a bit of a break to the down side.

So in conclusion, it’s ok to buy, but buy right and if you’re a seller, you must price right. Study your competitive sales and know that you’re going to have to price your home a bit LOWER than what competitive homes sold for in the last 6 months. Sorry, but that’s the way it is. And if you’re looking for a real estate broker that will tell it like it is so that you can make decisions that are in YOUR best interests, well … you’ve found one in me.

Thanks!