I have had the honor of picking the winner of the Real Estate opinion section of this week's carnival. I have to say to pick one that was the best was tough. I got the list printed them off and went home to review while I had dinner. So I struggled through, I actually didn't know which one to pick -- to say one person is better than another is difficult at best. I think I just got some insight to the difficulty in putting those Gold Stars on our BLOGS! To enlist help to make sure that I was following the guidelines I check and in Real Estate Opinion nothing followed the : So I had to look at what I thought the section was about -- Opinion. Which reduced the number down, but not much. All of the submissions were well written and you can see that there was time and effort put in.
Without further delay, this Carnival's Best Real Estate Opinion is To Buy Or Not by Carol Williams!
So what made me decide this is the one? Well it boiled down to the fact that I have a very large number of potential buyers that I call each week and I cannot get them to budge off the fence (albeit that I am working in a down market), and I am going to send in my news email this link. Carol crafted a great Opinion piece, shared her experience and reminded the audience to seek the advice of a professional. It was like she spoke right to me. That is one of the great things about Active Rain -- everyone can find something of value here!
Congratulations Carol and keep writing! I look forward to seeing you more here on Active Rain! Thanks to all the others who submitted -- know that you all deserve GOLD stars!
Colleen Kulikowski is your Western New York Real Estate Expert focusing on Buffalo and Niagara Falls neighborhoods of Western New York. If you are on Twitter, please follow me... If you enjoyed this post by your Buffalo & Niagara Falls Home Sales Expert, make sure you subscribe to our RSS feed!
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Colleen, thank you so much for helping out. I agree with you completely. This IS very hard.
I'm headed back on over to Carol's blog to take a second look. Thanks for pointing us on over...
Carol --- it was a pleasure speaking with you! Congratulations and enjoy!
I think Carol's blog is great!! Buyers often compare buying to renting as if the two were different sides of the same coin. But buying is a very different proposition than renting, and the benefits and drawbacks can not be contrasted with renting, as if one was making a decision over which of two luxury cars to purchase.
For Buyers on the fence, I have my own theory.... I don't think a client who wishes to own a home would postpone a purchase simply for market concerns. In fact, if the client is holding off, my thought is that they are viewing a home purchase as an investment and not simply for their desire to own a home. The idea of buying a house for investment purposes is a fairly new idea. Maybe only 50 years ago people viewed the land purchase as an investment but the house itself more as a personal need and/or indulgence. The benefits intrinsic to owning can not be taken away even if the market tanks for a bit.
What the recent several years boom in real estate has shown us is that people who did not feel the motivation to buy a property for intrinsic ownership reasons can be motivated to buy for investment reasons. These buyers are a different type of buyer than those who simply, in and of itself, wish to own a home.
For example, take the idea of an American Kennel Certified purebred dog. Some buyers will buy a champion's puppy simply because they like the lines of the dog, and they wish to enjoy the experience of having their own dog with such a fine temperment, etc. Then there are those (such as dog trainers/competitors) who simply buy AKC champion puppies for the purpose of raising, training, and competing with them, for the intention of turning around and breeding and selling its puppies. The second buyer purchases the pup for financial gains, whereas the first buyer could care less if the total "monetary worth" of their dog lowers in correlation to the dog's age.
In a down or holding market, "on the fence" buyers are not qualified buyers. There could be a variety of motivations that could bring them to adopting the latter view of valuing home ownership for its intrinsic value, such as marriage or a pregnancy, or achieving a certain level of security in their work (for example, for a professor, this would be tenure).
Importantly, don't feel like a lemon for not knowing how to persuade an investment-minded buyer to buy. The means for bringing them to that point are, more often than not, not in your control. I would touch base with such buyers off and on and keep them informed of market progress, without stressing too much or internalizing it to believe it is a reflection of my ability as an agent.