Let’s Talk About Seattle Real Estate

It is interesting that one of the topics that has come up recently in our office meetings is whether agents should be telling some clients not to buy real estate at all right now. Realtors giving advice like that! Can you believe such a thing?

And what do we say when clients ask whether they should do a “strategic default,” otherwise known as “unbuying” a house? It works like this: owners can have perfect credit, a good job and no problems making mortgage payments. They live in a house that cost $500,000 three years ago, but an identical house across the street is now selling for $350,000, in a neighborhood where it will be years before values recover. Should they buy that now-cheaper house and just walk away from the one they own?

Twenty-five years of real estate experience has given me a tried-and-true answer to these questions: do what is safe. The money in our bank accounts and the equity in our homes didn’t get there overnight: it got there partly because we have enjoyed a 50-year economic expansion in the U.S. that will not repeat itself. More to the point, if the money and the equity are still there, it means we were hardworking and had common sense, because so many people went through the same 50 years and came out with very little.

If the equity is not there because the house was recently purchased or refinanced, then there are ways to deal with that too. But, we should do what is safe.

And if you want to buy real estate now and have questions about what is going on, ask an expert: he might have helpful answers. But, you should do what is safe.

I don’t promote real estate fads: dedication to slow and steady progress has worked before and it works now. Keeping clients and friends safe has always been most important in the handling of my transactions. Then and now.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 11th, 2010 at 5:26 pm 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.