It's Time to Stop Waiting and Start Buying - Part 2

I think the perfect real estate storm is brewing and many people will miss out because they will fail to act. Inventory is high but homes are selling. Here are the key ingredients which make this such a crazy market. There are plenty of foreclosures, pre-foreclosures, short sales and regular homes for sale. People are out looking but they are just afraid to make a decision. As I mentioned earlier you have home prices that have been slashed up to 50%, interest rates are still hovering at historic lows, there are thousands of homes to choose from, sellers that are desperate for an offer and lenders with money to lend to those who have the best qualifications. Insurance rates have come down and so have taxes. This is the best buying opportunity in the past 5 years and it will continue to be so into the future.

The media will eventually change from doom and gloom to paint a rosy picture of how it's the time to buy. Once buyers step in and start scooping up the inventory, sellers will wake up and desperation will subside. The low to middle priced homes in the best condition will sell the quickest. It will take 6-12 months for the public to catch on and by that time it will be too late. Prices will start to creep up again and buyers will kick themselves for not acting. There are great deals out there and it's time to start recognizing that what goes up must come down. But what comes down, doesn't stay down forever. After 3 years of being stretched to the downside, the rubber band (read: prices) is reaching its limit and could snap (start to go up) at any time. Buyers need to act now or they will be chasing the market again.

I will leave you with a stock market analogy. The time to buy is when no one else wants to. You buy on the way down and hold for a while. You will never be able to call the bottom. You won't even know the bottom hit until at least 6 months afterwards. By that time the market will be on the way back up and you will be chasing it. But if you stick your neck out and take a little risk, you will be handsomely rewarded.