You may already be wondering where I’m going with this.  Not to worry, I’m not writing the standard “Ten Reasons Why You Need to Sell/Buy RIGHT NOW!”.  Besides, it’s usually life (or life-style) changing events that are the catalyst for a home sale or purchase.  And babies, true love, or job transfers don’t really give a hoot about market conditions.  Of course, if you are anticipating a  life event, it’s always better to make your move before you are in that event.  Moving households can take an emotional toll, which shouldn’t add to the emotions a life-event stir up. 

The Karma of Perfect Timing

I personally believe that timing is always perfect, even if it doesn’t seem so at the time.  No matter what your faith may be, I think we’ve all had the experience of things just falling into place, even in the most  difficult of situations.  If we apply that to real estate, then we can rest easy that the right buyer and/or home  and financing will all fall into place when it’s supposed to. 

 So I will say now, that if you are considering a move  conditions are becoming more favorable for sellers, and are still excellent for buyers.  It’s time to start gearing up for the game and getting your ducks in a row.  Work on getting your home ready, talk to a loan broker about your financing options, start doing your homework in regards to market activity.  When your timing is right, you can jump into the game confidently.

FYI - Stay informed

For buyers  prices are still low, interest rates are still at historic lows, there are tax incentives in place for 1st time buyers, and there is plenty of inventory being sold by motivated sellers.  Banks are even making concessions on bank-owned properties.

 For sellers, inventory shrank 4% since last month, returning us to levels seen last fall.  Price-decrease is also slowing.  We are still down in average price year-over-year, which is being deemed a “market correction” for the bigger economic picture. But if we look at average sales price month-to-month, we’ve gone from nearly -5% (11/08) to +1%(2/09) to a slight -1/2% (03/09), a local market trend.   Days on market has consistently been 3-4 months since last summer.  These are all solid signs of “hitting bottom” and impending stability.   The last piece will be for our unemployment rate to stabilize.  Then we should expect to see trending towards a more level playing field in the real estate market as buyer and lending confidence rises.

Opinions expressed in this article are the opinions of author, and not to necessarily the opinions of Meadows Group Inc.
All rights reserved on all original content, non-original content is given credit | Michelle Berry | 2009