Nostradamus couldn't even predict this!
Is it time to buy that East Tennessee property that you have always wanted, or should you hold off until prices fall a little more?
As a Realtor, I’m often asked similar questions like that and it frustrates me to hear otherwise rational people talking about home ownership the way a speculator might talk about the price of gold. Nobody needs gold, but everyone needs a place to live.
If you’ve found the house you love, you intend to stay there several years, and the numbers add up, why wait and let the chance pass you by?
The collapse of the real estate market did not destroy the American Dream of home ownership. Yes, it may feel bad knowing that the property you bought in the hay day of the real estate market in 2006 has lost a big chunk of its market value. But if you can afford the mortgage payments and upkeep, you bought it intending to live there for a while, and you leverage that asset to its best advantage as part of your financial portfolio, the state of the real estate market is irrelevant. You are sitting on your nest egg and just waiting for the right time for it hatch!
Trying to time the housing bottom is as much a waste of time as trying to predict the stock market. STOP WASTING YOUR TIME TRYING TO PREDICT THE END! Leave that up to Nostradamus!
How much lower will prices drop? Let's face it...the economy can’t get much worse than it’s been and it's not going to get any easier to get a mortgage. Mortgages have never been so hard to obtain for working class people than they are right now!
The best answer about now being the time to buy a house is this... "the American Dream is and always was alive and well. It has nothing to do with the direction of housing prices but everything to do with your financial situation, income stability, ability to shoulder the costs, and if the home you have your eye on is your version of the American Dream—a home you love that you hope to live in for an extended period."
"Forget about market tops and bottoms. Whether you buy a home at the top or bottom ultimately shouldn’t matter if you’re buying into the American Dream and plan to see it through. If you bought at the top, it’s foolish to assume your home’s value is destined to go back up there anytime soon. The house that cost twice as much in 2006 as it does now was never worth twice as much to begin with. Regardless of where the home market is headed, the house you love today that you can afford and plan to live in for the long term is the house you should buy. In time, the highs and lows end up smoothing each other out. Meanwhile, you’re putting money in the piggy bank every time you make a mortgage payment that includes principal."
When you decide that you are ready to buy your dream home here in East Tennessee, contact me and I will be glad to help you every step of the way!Michele Bryan 865-898-5408
info@michelebryan.com
