Let’s Talk About Seattle Real Estate

By the autumn of 2008, many more Americans finally understood that the value of almost everything it is possible to possess has decreased.

Scrap metal prices, not on most peoples’ radar but an important economic signpost, started moving down. Prices are now down by at least half.

We all know about stockmarket prices, which affect our 401(k) and other investment portfolios. Down by about half. Cars, clothing, electronics: down, not up.

Real estate equity, not value now, but equity, the amount of the property that is actually yours not counting the bank loan. Down, in most cases, by half, about 50%.

I am a full-time, active real estate agent. I hold open houses almost every weekend. I prospect energetically by telephone and the internet. I meet and talk to many buyers, to help them understand how much they can afford. So I know salaries most people receive are not going up; some people have to accept salary decreases if they want to keep their jobs.

I believe the buying power of the one asset we all possess, of our labor, will, by the end of the economic transition we are going through, reset at about 50% of what we became used to over the last 25 years. Our salaries and wages, if not spent with greater wisdom than most Americans are used to, will not be sufficient to build a secure life.

This makes ownership of real estate (purchased correctly, of course) more important than ever. A house you live in is the one physical asset the value of which you can directly influence, which serves as an investment even though investment should not be the main reason it is purchased.

I believe the signs are there that, over a fairly long period of time, we will end up with an economy that will support our lives and make us feel secure again. But, we will never again, most of us, be able to live in the spendthrift America of the past. Thank goodness.

Owning properly purchased real estate over a long period of time will, for most people, be essential to building a secure and controllable life. I see this in my own experience and in the lives of the wise people whose real estate needs I have served over the last 25 years. I believe it will be possible to live on half, if we plan for it. What do you believe?

This entry was posted on Monday, March 23rd, 2009 at 7:26 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.