The Charleston Real Estate Search.com

Buyer’s Mystery

Good day,

The sign above this says: Do not remove brick or you could get electricuted. What an incentive to buy! BUY THIS HOUSE - GET SHOCKED!

I saw a bumper sticker this weekend but couldn’t get a photo (I was driving at the time.)  It read:

The Recession is Over…Buy Something!

I wondered if it could be that easy?  If enough people convince themselves of something positive, can we create a positive outcome?  Perhaps we are just fooling ourselves.

My Money & Markets experts change their tune almost daily. Like the stock market, one blog is up; the next is down.  So I’ve decided to listen to them as though I am watching the stock market.

In other words, just as the Dow Jones average ticks up and down daily but aggregately seems to take a long-term direction – usually upward over time – so too can our economy.  I guess it’s like defensive driving. Always keep your predominant focus 1 mile ahead but continue to check your immediate area for potential dangers.

In Real Estate, the long-term strategy is to appreciate 3-5% per year over 20 years.  However, the recent economic tsunami convinced people that you could double and triple your money in a very short period of time.  Some took the bet and made lots of money while others are suffering the fallout, not only of loan adjustments, but also of price crash.

Seems like no one is talking about that.  Everyone wants to blame the banks for handing out loans on inflated values but no one thought they were inflated at the time.  In fact, all most of us saw were dollar signs in our pockets.  Everyone wanted in and like a school fish, as soon as deflation hit everyone turned on a dime and suddenly wanted out at the same profit.

Let’s face it.  Free markets just don’t work that way!   Real estate cannot sustain short term gains forever.  It has to go down before it goes up. It’s simple economics. And the higher it climbs, the more severe it crashes before it begins to climb again.

In Real Estate the rule of thumb is to price it right from the starting gate, make it show like a model home and advertise it everywhere to attract the most buyer attention.  But here are the mystery questions of the day?   I welcome your opinions. In fact, give me a call and we’ll chat about them.

If the seller cannot take a loss, what do you to stay competitive with houses that are now selling for 10-20% less than you paid?

If you know most buyers will offer 10% less than the asking price, do you add the 10% buffer and risk losing out against other homes that are priced lower?

If you dress it like a model and it’s still ugly, what then?