Why Buy Realty Now? Wallet and Soul Love It!!

Post for Keeping Current Matters 

3 Questions You Must Answer When Buying a Home

Posted: 17 Apr 2012 04:00 AM PDT

If you are thinking about purchasing a home right now, you are surely getting a lot of advice. And some of that advice is probably negative. Why buy now with prices still falling? Don’t you realize real estate is no longer a good investment? Don’t you know that people who bought six years ago lost their shirt? We understand the concern your friends and family have. However, let’s look at whether or not now is actually the perfect time to buy a home.

There are three questions you should ask before purchasing in today’s market:

1. What are the experts recommending?

In the last 120 days, many experts have said that buying now makes sense. This list includes: John Talbott, Christopher Thornberg and Warren Buffett.

2. When will I begin to see appreciation if I buy now?

This is a great question. Macro Markets, LLC is a company that studies housing prices. They started their Home Price Expectation Survey in 2010. They ask 100+ housing industry experts to project housing prices through 2016. The most current survey shows that the experts are predicting prices to remain relatively flat in 2012. The experts then project prices to rise reaching a cumulative appreciation of over 10% by 2016.

Purchasing a home today makes great sense from a financial standpoint. Think of the old axiom: you want to buy low and sell high. This decision should not only be a financial one however.

That leads us to our third and final question:

3. Why am I buying a home in the first place?

This truly is the most important question to answer. Forget the finances for a minute. Why did you even begin to consider purchasing a home? For most, the reason has nothing to do with finances. TheFannie Mae National Housing Survey shows that the four major reasons people buy a home have nothing to do with money:

• A good place to raise children and for them to get a good education
• A place where you and your family feel safe
• More space for you and your family
• Control of the space

What non-financial benefits will you and your family derive from owning a home? The answer to that question should be the reason you decide to purchase or not.

Bottom Line

Don’t allow money to get in the way of you making the right decision for you and your family. In the long run, the finances will work in your favor anyway.

Let My Team Help You!

I work with an amazing team to help home owners prepare their properties for sale. After I meet with you and outline a marketing strategy for your property, it's time for an action plan!

We start by bringing in a professional stager, Debbe Daley is fantastic! She'll thoughtfully advise you how to best prepare your home to appeal to the biggest audience of potential buyers as possible. Her thoughtful suggestions will help you to efficiently prepare your home for viewing. Debbe can offer simply furniture placement suggestions, full-staging as well as thoughts on paint colors.

Next, depending on your needs, you may want to work with the Lifecycle team to de-clutter, organize, repair within your home. Just having the help clean out and liquidate belongings can keep your preparations as stress-free as possible. Jason Suderman and his crew have a versatile skill set and are simply a delight to work with!

Once your property is ready to market, we'll engage the services of a professional photographer.  David Bragdon brings his love of science into his thoughtful approach to photographing your home. With close to 90% of home searches starting online, it is essential to present your home with outstanding photographs. David's photographs will be used on websites, virtual tours, and promotional flyers.

Perhaps your home's curb appeal could use some sprucing up. Max Cohen can help you! Max's spectacular designs are award winning and vary from residential to public spaces.

See more on my team and their websites at: anncohenrealestate.com