It’s not over yet!
With the daily influx of conflicting information on the state of our National, Regional, and local economies, it’s easy to feel like we are on a bit of a roller-coaster ride. A ride that is quite frankly far from over. As an early indication to the start of the year, the DOW posted one of it’s worse performances for the beginning of a new year. The continued decline in consumer confidence along with weekly announcements of retail and corporate bankrupties is beginning to send chills down the backs of every individual across the Country.
In fact it was just announced again by several Economists that the worse is likely yet to come. The threat of “an accelerated pace of bank failures has now become imminent” is what was quoted by one economist yesterday.
Not to paint the gloom and doom picture loud and clear for you, however the bottom line is that if you are looking for real estate investment opportunities, the best is yet to come in the months ahead. If you have been patiently waiting on the sidelines for one of the best buying opportunities we have seen since the Great Depression, your day is about to arrive.
We are already beginning to see increased buying activity with aggressive offers now being accepted by Banks who just want to unload these properties from their Asset lists and reduce their bad debts exposure as they face the reality of not being in business much longer.
Rising unemployment statistical data along with 4th quarter retail sales data being announced in the coming weeks is certainly not going to help the cause either. It’s a quest for survival by all. These times require tremendous inner strength and perserverence to weather the storms. The storms will pass but we are in the midst of a hurricane force storm that has caught everyone by surprise by the severity of what is to come.
We all must hang on as better days will lie ahead. However the next 6 months will no doubt be some of the most challenging our country has experienced in decades. No amount of capital infusion by Congress will quickly reverse course on the state of our current economic crisis. It will take some time to unfold and sort through the wave of financial destruction and corruption we have seen and that of what is yet to come.
As always, we welcome your comments and feedback.
March 1st, 2009 at 10:40 pm
Seems as if this blog has gone stale. I do agree that buying Bend RE now would be a huge mistake. Prices have a long way to fall. The number of Default and Notice of Election to Sells are piling up faster each week. Potential buyer beware. Buying now will cost you!
March 1st, 2009 at 11:38 pm
Buying Bend real estate today is not necessarily a mistake if you are buying at the right price and taking a long term position. If you are looking to flip out of a house in 6-12 months, then yes I would agree, it would likely be far too great of a risk at this time. Many home sellers have finally come to realize that in order to sell, they have to be realistic about what price will attract a willing buyer to mitigate any further downside risk in our uncertain market. With prices having delined 30-40% from their peak in 2006, many properties today are priced at well below actual construction costs, even taking the land pricing out of the equation! When you reach this level of decline and price deterioration, that usually will signal that we are getting pretty close to a market bottom. You have to realize that there are still many sellers however, that are indeed overpriced which is why the perception out there is that prices will continue to fall significantly. For those sellers, yes I agree with your comments that potential buyers should beware. This is where the knowledge of a professional realtor is invaluable in helping a buyer navigate through the murky offer process and devise the right strategy for negotiating the most advantageous offer.