Doomer or Cheerleader -- Savannah Ga Real Estate

My head is spinning from all the talk lately regarding real estate and real estate financing. I know not all people are as involved as I am in real estate news and talk, but if you watch the news you will have heard at least a thousand times lately some story regarding the dire situation in real estate.

In many areas it is dire or at least on the verge of dire. Areas like California are talking about a 30-40% drop in home values. Many lenders are tightening up and excluding a lot of first-time home buyers. Prices are correcting in many areas of the country and lenders are not throwing money around.

I have to wade through all this talk to get to the objective reality. That's my job. I can’t be tossed about by hyperbole, one way or the other. An online real estate group I belong to has recently been at odds between those who say now is NOT the time to buy and those who say now IS the time to buy. One side calls the naysayers “Doomers” and the “Doomers” call the other side “Cheerleaders”.

Who is right? Well, as in most cases of controversy, there is right and wrong on both sides. In some parts of the country, now is not the smartest time to buy, because prices continue to fall. In other parts of the country prices have stabilized and now seems to be a good time to take advantage of a lull in rising prices.

Many say real estate is local, but financing is national and that the financing situation will affect the whole country and thus drive down prices. I don’t believe the financing problems will have a crippling effect on real estate, although it will have an impact. The long term result will be positive, because people won’t be getting crazy loans they have to foreclose on later. Short term it will mean less buyers in the market, more inventory on the market, and further stabilization of prices. This is basically a good thing for buyers who can qualify, and not so good for sellers who want to get the same type of prices of a year or two ago.

I don’t think it will mean falling prices in Savannah, but it will mean that sellers will have to be more realistic when setting prices – and if sellers don’t have to sell, I would suggest waiting to put the house on the market – wait until some of the inventory is sold off.

I am not making plans for the end of the world – I will continue to look objectively at numbers and advise people accordingly. If it’s bad, it’s bad; if it’s good, it’s good, but one thing is for sure – people have difficulty agreeing on what it is right now. Neither Doomer nor Cheerleader, I'm realistic - what is, is, whether I like it or not.

Mike from Savannah