2009 Opportunities!

Well, here we are. The holidays are behind us. The election is behind us with a big day coming on the 20th. War is ongoing and springing up in all the usual places, and some unusual ones. Companies are consolidating/merging/closing. The world is on sale: clothes, cars, plates, Q-tips, cruises...and real estate. The economy wants us and needs us to spend and we won't do it with the same fervor as we did spending during years past.

Isn't this what we've been waiting for? Sales galore! 20%, 50%, 75% off and no one is shopping. What gives? People are afraid. Justifiably. Who's going to have a job in 1 month/6 months/next week? Is the pink slip coming tomorrow? Confidence has been shattered and people want to see some sort of leveling off of the stock market, some leadership from the White House, and a return to some basic common sense with consumption.

So what's my point? My point is that we need to turn off CNN for a bit. We need to take a walk, dust off that new bike you paid handsomely for last year, go to the gym, work the stress out of your body & go hit something, go to the movies with your sweetheart and escape for a bit. Guess what? The world is not going to end and in time we will look back and say "prices were low, interest rates were incredibly low, there's minimal-to-no competition, opportunities to negotiate, and I sat on the sidelines waiting for the market to bottom out."

As soon as the media proclaims that the real estate market has corrected and is on the upswing again (and the market will return, as it always has, after every recession because that's what markets do) THEN the masses will regain that confidence and will help propel those rising prices, fueling the market's upward momentum.

Prices rising, interest rates likely rising (they are extremely, ridiculously, artificially low at the moment) will make those properties that much more expensive and you will be paying a premium again for something that could have been "a deal" right now.

As I've said before, real estate should be a long term investment. Buy quality and location and hold. Your window should be 5-8 years. Get the longest term or a fixed interest rate if possible. It's back to basics, and that's excellent for those willing to use this market to their advantage. Augment your portfolio or get into your first place.

Don't wait for the newspaper to inform you that the market is back. By then it's too late.