"Now" is the Time to Buy...

There is an old saying in real estate circles: “NOW is always the best time to buy”. Why? Because it is always a good time to buy a good piece of real estate, at a good price -- if it meets your needs.

Historically, real estate in the United States has always increased in value over the long run – and it is the best wealth building tool available to individuals -- plus for the majority of Americans, it ends up being the largest slice of their net worth and financial estate.

Today, given the current market conditions, many professionals think this is the best buying opportunity in decades:

1) Selection: There is an unusually large inventory of properties to choose from.
2) Prices: There has been an average decline in prices of 20-30% since the peak of the market 2 years ago.
3) Interest Rates. With decent credit, 30 year fixed mortgages at 5% (and perhaps going down to the 4% range) are historic lows, making lower priced housing even more affordable.
4) Timing: Because of real estate’s cyclical nature, sooner or later the inventory will decline (it is already starting to be absorbed by bargain hunters), prices will level off, interest rates will start to rise, sellers will become less flexible…and the bottom will be behind us. We think buyers will have this unique opportunity through the first half of 2009 before the market begins to change -- as it always does.

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