Are You Talking Yourself Right Out of Real Estate?

What do you do when you receive a call from a potential client and they ask you how the real estate market is?

Recently I had such a call from a lot owner here at Lake Anna. I told him the truth.*

I told him few lots are selling especially non-waterfront, what we call access lots. (We are selling a good number of homes on access lots.) We have a very large inventory of access lots and the prices have come down to the point that he would probably be lucky to sell for $xx,xxx even though his lot has an assigned boat slip. He would have been able to get perhaps $20-30,000 more for it when the market was hot.

This evening I received a call from a potential buyer looking for investment property at Lake Anna. He only wanted to buy a waterfront home to rent out. The requirement was that the rental income cover his monthly expenses, mortagage and taxes. Putting the minimum down, the mortgage payments would be quite high.

Waterfront homes begin around $500,000 and go up to over $2,000.000. The caller was looking for a waterfront foreclosure thinking we might have a number of those and they would now be priced very low. Well, thank goodness, that is not the case.

There are a number of beautiful waterfront homes now on the market priced well below what they could have sold for when the market was very busy. However, they are still nowhere near "fire sale" prices. I do not know of any properties here that will fit his requirements and I told him so.**

There are certainly investment possibilities here if the buyer is able to take the long view. Buying now at reduced prices and holding it until the market peaks again will net them a fine return but it is not going to happen overnight.

• How is the situation where you are and how do you respond to sellers?
  
• When buyers ask you if the bottom has hit yet what do you say?
  
• Do you find yourself talking yourself out of listings?
  
• Or working with buyers?

I believe I am very optimistic about real estate. I could not have been in it all these years through this downturn and the others I've experienced if that was not the case. Nevertheless, I do not want to give a false impression either. Sometimes that means turning away "business."

*At the end of our conversation, Mr. Seller thanked me for my honesty and said for me to call him when I thought it would be a good time for him to sell.

**Mr. Buyer said he would save my number and call me when he is able to buy a waterfront home for his family.

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If you or someone you know is thinking of buying or selling property at or near Lake Anna, please contact Kathleen "Kate" Elim. Kate lives at Lake Anna, knows Lake Anna, loves Lake Anna, and specializes in Lake Anna area real estate.

Call Kate at 540-226-1964 or by e-mail at lakeanna.kate@gmail.com. Be sure to check Kate's Web sites and blog at http://lakeannaandbeyond.com/ or http://lakeannacountry.com/