Today’s Market
This blog entry is my attempt to help the general public understand what is going on in the Real Estate market today, especially in the St Clair / Blue Water area, and how it might relate to you and/or affect you.
Buying or selling a home is governed by specific guidelines and rules, as well as real estate laws. However, every real estate transaction has its own particular set of rules and guidelines according to the circumstances. As we all know there are many circumstances that could result in a real estate transaction. My intent is to inform you of those that are most common in today’s market, and how they may affect you.
Generally, purchasing a home is the result of: a first time home buyer finally being able to purchase instead of renting, a growing family that needs more space, a job transfer, buying a vacation home and divorce. As you can see most of these situations, except for one, are positive in nature. All of these still exist in today’s market. The difference has been the shift in the percentage of each category; with buying a vacation home having the largest decrease.
The reasons for selling a home are usually as follows: divorce, death of a family member and/or an estate sale, loss of a job, an adjustable mortgage, and the sale of a present home. These are in direct contrast of the most common reasons for buying a home, in that the majority, have a negative connotation. All of these also still exist in today’s market, with loss of a job being at the top of the list as well as being the primary cause of increase in the number of homes in foreclosure. (This has been particularly true for the St Clair/Bluewater area) Looking at these, it becomes clearer as to why this is a buyer’s market as well as why home values have plummeted.
Now the big question is: How does this affect me? This all depends on your own particular set of circumstances. Many people are in situations that their only option is to sell or go into foreclosure; a large number of these transactions become short-sales or subject to third party approval. Some have to sell because the home belonged to a family member that has passed away; others, due to having to relocate for work. As a result of these “have to” situations buyers know they can make an extremely low offer and probably have it accepted.
To conclude, my personal and professional advice is fairly simple. If you don’t have to sell, don’t put your house on the market. Save yourself the frustration and anger that you will ultimately experience related to, the length of time it will take to sell your home and the ridiculously low offers you will receive, if any at all. If you’re able to wait out this buyer’s market, it would be well worth it!
Once the market begins to bounce back, it will be very obvious to those of us still living in the St. Clair/ Blue Water area. The reason it will be so obvious, is because of the unique and beautiful area in which we call home.
I hope this has been informational as well as helpful. Feel free to contact me for further questions or concerns.