By Joseph Callaway
A lot of people spend more time looking back than they do looking ahead. They say things like “I could have lost the weight in my 20s” or “I should have finished college and gotten a degree.” Or, that famous Marlon Brando line, “I could have been a contender. I could have been somebody.”
There’s nothing wrong with looking back or even lamenting lost opportunities, as long as these regrets don’t hold a person back from going forward. Sometimes people become frozen in the headlight, letting doubt and past failure keep them from moving ahead.
To some degree that is what is happening in today’s real estate market. Resale home prices have dropped over the last five months by over $100 per square foot and instead of seeing opportunity, potential buyers are cautious, not wanting to get caught if they buy and their new purchase goes down.
First of all, you don’t care if the market goes up or down until you sell, and most homebuyers are buying for the long run. Even if they unexpectedly must move only a year later, the market a year from now will probably be the same as it is now, may be up a little, may be down a little, but the risk of a big drop is unlikely. The big drop has already happened. Now is the time to buy.
But let’s say you want to sell, and you say “I woulda got more money. I coulda cashed out. I shoulda sold in April.” So, what if you had? You would have just overpaid for your next house during the frenzy and those extra dollars would simply be compensation for your recent loss in value. Better to sell now and use those fewer dollars to buy when prices are low. You see, it is all relative.
Oh, but you say I could have gotten a 3% mortgage and now they are 6%. Yes, that’s true, but the thing about mortgage rates is they fluctuate all the time. The advantage you have at 6% today is that they may be 9% next year and you will feel great. Or maybe they will go down to 4%. Fine, you can always refinance at the lower rate.
Real estate ownership is always a good option and now is a great time to buy or sell. Focus on the future and you will be saying, “I was able to, and I did.”
Joseph Callaway is the owner of Those Callaways and Callaway Realty. He branded 85254 as “The magic zip code” and has sold more than 1000 homes in 85254. His cell is 602-796-5751.
