If you spend any time listening to the news, it’s no surprise that we’re still in the midst of a real estate slump. Certainly, some areas have fared worse than others, but as a whole, most real estate values have dropped over the past few years. While this is bad news for those who are trying to sell a house in this market, it also presents an opportunity for those looking to buy.
People who are considering a new home purchase right now have a wide selection of homes to choose from on the market, and in most cases, very attractive prices. Those who have their home on the market and are trying to sell are faced with just the opposite problem. They are competing with a flooded market and lower prices, so it’s increasingly difficult to unload the property for what it was worth just a year or two ago.
So, I’m just curious to see what others are doing right now. Have you been trying to sell? Or are you looking to buy something? If you’re a renter and have considered buying a first home, is this market luring you in? We have actually been looking a bit at new homes and could use an upgrade, but the idea of trying to sell our existing home right now isn’t very attractive. At this point we’d be lucky to break even. At the same time, we’ve thought about possibly buying a new home without putting the existing one up for sale yet. This would allow some time to make some minor improvements and wait a little longer for the market around here to recover. Obviously, the downside to that would be having two mortgage payments for a while.
But I’m just interested in seeing what others are doing out there and whether this real estate market is luring in new buyers or simply giving sellers a lot of grief.
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Author: Jeremy Vohwinkle
My name is Jeremy Vohwinkle, and I’ve spent a number of years working in the finance industry providing financial advice to regular investors and those participating in employer-sponsored retirement plans.
