As the stock market went through an upset, followed by a rebound this week, you might be wondering if it is a good time to invest in real estate.
I wrote a post last week on ActiveRain, a social networking site for the real estate industry, in which I discussed Suze Orman's advice earlier last week on NBC's Today show. Orman gave consumers three tips to protect their money; one of which pertained to real estate. She said consumers should buy real estate if they can get a good deal, "thirty to fifty percent" off.
The response on ActiveRain has been from real estate professionals about their local markets. Some markets have shown modest appreciation of 3-5% in home prices. Others have seen a decline in home prices in varying percentages. So far, all have commented that they cannot fathom a deal in which a real estate buyer would get 30-50% off a home sale, even if the house were a bank-owned (REO) property or in foreclosure.
Last month, I wrote a short series of posts in which I interviewed homeowner Meredith Molokie, who sold her house in California and upgraded because it was the right time for her family. She ended up selling her house in a neighborhood where she beat out foreclosures, AND she was able to upgrade to a house that she otherwise might have been priced out of the market for if she had waited a few years to buy.
Lee Greve, owner and broker of Connect2Agent, wrote a post for this blog last September, "Home Prices have fallen in your area- The perfect opportunity to upgrade". Greve said even in a market where a real estate seller's house value might have decreased from the year past, that seller should still consider upgrading because of the deal he/she can get that otherwise wouldn't be available in a market with a higher demand from real estate buyers.
I pose a similar question to the readers of this blog that I did to the ones on ActiveRain, not because I want to beat a dead horse, but because I think it is an important issue:
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