Methinks thou Doth Protest too Much…

Look, I am big fan of the glass-half-full, rose-colored-glasses concept. I appreciate folks at the NAR (National Association of Realtors) are doing spending my ever increasing dues. I applaud the efforts of the local builders and their association who scream (not so subtly) that NOW is the time to buy.

But really, to paraphrase Billy Shake, “methinks thou doth protest too much”.

Sorry, but to the average Jane homebuyer out there, the Association of Realtors and the Builders sitting on loads of inventory are not the greatest, most credible source for, shall we say, unbiased information. They want houses to sell, NOW. And don’t get me wrong, so do I (and Mrs. Broker would like me to sell a house or two, as would baby, who needs a new pair of shoes.)

But you can’t push a string. You can lead a horse to water, but… Well, you know the clichés. And I think you get it. Not sure I can say the same for those with the much deeper ad pockets than me.

Candidly, it may get worse before it gets better. I don’t know for sure. Anyone who tells you they know for sure that NOW IS THE TIME to buy… well, I’d say “run Forrest, run”, away, as fast as you can. I’m not going all negative here, but call me a realist.

I will say, the one thing we know we have little (any?) control over is the future. Are interest rates going up? Will that house you absolutely love still be on the market in six months? My point is, while I don’t think you can make a blanket statement that NOW is the time to buy, if you find the right home, at the right price and you can get the right financing (read: NO teaser rate, negative amortization deals) then sure, it would be the right time to buy. But NOT because someone else told you to.

So despite my words of caution, there are deals out there. But what I am finding is that only the very best deals are getting done. Priced really right, staged right, marketed right, managed right. No room for errors. But I’m all good with that, because that’s how we’ve always done things. We just find we’re now doing more work, for a longer period of time, than we were in the heat of that unhealthy frenzy of 2003-2005.

But fortunately, since we removed those rose colored glasses, we think we can better assist those folks who need straight answers, not just a well-tuned and deep-pocketed marketing message.