You’d have to be crazy to be trying to buy a house right now, right? Prices are sky high! The market is way too competitive! What happens when the market starts to decline, and/or interest rates go up? There are so many reasons not to buy right now, including not getting what you really want. Wake up! We are living in a Rolling Stones market where we get what we need (RIP Charlie Watts). If you are serious about purchasing a house in the short term, and not making the search a long-term endeavor you need to face the reality of trade-offs ASAP. Which is another reason not to buy, your expectation of value is higher than what the market is yielding.
It’s okay, don’t buy now. There are plenty of other buyers out there. If you don’t pull the trigger someone else will, and these there are plenty of other people making offers. Inventory is incredibly tight, and demand is high because people have access to cheap money. As a result, prices have been rising rapidly. This can’t last forever, but I do know from selling homes during the Great Recession prices go down at about half the speed they go up. Plus, they go up for a lot longer.
I purchased my current home in 2017. The market had been going up since it bottomed out after the Great Recession. One of my non-Realtor friends told me she wouldn’t buy, the prices were going to come down sometime. I’m certain she is right, prices will come down at some point. In the meantime, I’ve had the benefit of 4 years of appreciation in a continuously hot market.
If I didn’t own a house and had the money I would still buy in this market. I don’t think the market is going down anytime soon, and I’d like to capture whatever appreciation there is in this market cycle. I’d want to start paying my own mortgage instead of someone else’s and take advantage of today’s incredibly low interest rates. Yes, I know rates will go up and that could slow down the market, but it will also make homes that much less affordable.
The fact is we live in a highly desirable and unique County. In the long run prices have always gone up. Owning real estate creates wealth, and Marin is very wealthy. Over time purchasing property here has gotten to be very expensive. Do you think that’s ever going to change? People get priced out of the market all the time. That’s the reason why people say once you sell a home in Marin you most likely won’t be returning.
The first two condos I owned were close to the freeway. A lot of people wouldn’t want to make that trade-off, but they were all I could afford. Owning properties in Marin have been the best investments I’ve ever made. If you can afford to buy property in Marin, you should take advantage of the opportunity. If you want to sit on the sidelines, go ahead. Just know it’s not getting any easier, or less expensive anytime soon.