The One Real Estate Tip You Need to Know Now

Contrary to popular belief, what happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas. Last week I attended the annual Real Living Momentum conference – a gathering of Real Living real estate brokers and agents to catch up and share insights.

You don’t think I’d come back from Vegas without turning some of these gold nuggets of real estate wisdom into useful tips for our community? Of course not.

If I could share only one piece of real estate advice, it would be this:

It’s time to get off the sidelines – buyers AND sellers.

This is by far the most opportune to be a buyer. We have the lowest interest rates in history, and housing values have remained low. BUT, the catch is that this is
not going to last much longer. In an urban/suburban area like Arlington, we
have a limited supply of housing with little new construction because most
available land has already been built up. Add to that a population that has
been and will continue to grow, and skyrocketing rents which will drive more
people to consider buying and you are left with:

Increasing population + increasing rents = more competition = more demand = limited supply = increasing prices.

Obviously I was not a Math major, but you get the gist. As the market turns the corner, the opportunity to purchase a home inside 128 with relatively easy access to Boston in a desirable neighborhood with good school (etc., etc.) is going to become much more challenging and expensive.

And for sellers, there are some convincing data points as well. As mentioned, we have a limited supply of homes in our area which means less competition for sellers. Alternatively, the KCM Blog reported that:

“Sellers have a window of opportunity for the next 90-120 days in most parts of the country in which to sell their homes for maximum price. We believe there will be increased downward pressure on home prices throughout the rest of the year.” House Prices Window of Opportunity Beginning to Close.

This sounds contrary to the info above because it primarily affects areas that have seen substantial foreclosures. Many foreclosures have been delayed by a year because banks and the government have been working on a foreclosure roadmap, and these homes will be coming on the market soon. This will bring discounted competition for buyers and could impact the appraisal values of homes in certain
areas.  While Arlington doesn’t have the foreclosure rates of Florida and California, we have some and it is still something for sellers to consider.

I may have been in Vegas but I’m not a gambling man, and I’ll take sound real estate advice over a risky bet any day. And so, I’ll leave you with this:

‎"If held for a long period of time and purchased at low rates, [Warren] Buffett says houses are even better than stocks."