Blog by Rick Simpson

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The United States and Europe's finances are in shambles. Oh no!

So the big question is, "What is going to be the correllated effect on the real estate market in response to the financial problems of the United States and Europe?".  

Will there be less people who can afford to buy now? Yes.  Will prices come down?  Possibly.  Should you wait to buy? Probably not.  

Why? Because after experiencing four recessions, the most disasterous being in 2008, I have learned that there is very rarely a perfect time to buy.  Especially on the possible brink of a market collapse.  Most people slump into thinking that if they wait prices will fall to an affordable range, enabling themselves to purchase a better property than they could in a stable market.  The problem with that is you become a spectator, essentially putting your life on hold until you find that 'perfect' property.  This strategem, in my opinion, is the greatest risk.  Often while spectator buyers are waiting for the prices to fall the market rebounds, prices go back up and can even exceed their original listing prices or values.  And so now you have wasted a lot of time, created uncessary stress in your life, and also lost the chance to buy a property of your liking in your price range.  

Conversely, if you concentrate on buying the right property for you in a unstable climate, most likely you will have less competition and there may also be a greater selection of properties.  Yes the prices may go down further after your purchase, which hurts, but at least you will have a good property that may work for you for the rest of your life.  Confidence and peace of mind are two monumental contributing factors to happiness, yes?  Inevitably the prices will come back up, you will have avoided the temptation to buy 'anything' just to get into the market, and you will have missed the rat race.

A rat race that can place you in a whole which you will have to dig yourself out of in a few years time.  Unhappy with your initial purchase you will have to go through the selection process all over again, except this time you will also have to deal with the selling of your property; the decision of whether to sell first or buy first; and the incurred property transfer tax, plus the real estate fees on both transactions. 

So do what is best for you AT THE TIME, and don't base your decesions on hypotheticals.  

As always feel free to contact me if you would like to talk!