When is the right time?
Having spent part of my career in the Investment Banking Business I often would see on any downturn in the market the flood of people that would put in their sell orders and on any up turn they were also putting in the buy orders. Now if you consider that as a good philosophy for investment you must subscribe to the “buy high and sell low” theory. This theory has turned many a fortune into pocket change.
For some reason many people need a column written in the local paper telling them that this is a good time to buy. However, by the time that little tidbit hits the press, the time has already passed.
When you look at the current per square foot price of homes in some areas you find that if you had a lot and tried to build a home today for the same per square foot price, you would not even be able to get the walls up, let alone complete the home. Therefore my question is, why wait for further decline, which may or may not happen? At most, if we see further decline in pricing, it will be minimal since the worst seems to have already taken place. In a lot of areas the trend is stabilizing in pricing and that will be followed by increases in pricing. The ability to time the rock bottom is luck more than skill and a gamble when opportunities exist today.
When prices reach a level where they are bargain prices, it is time to act. If you believe in the better philosophy of buy low and sell high, the right time may be now. It appears that that this thought is catching on since the latest report showed an increase in home sales nationally. In the region I am located this philosophy has been underway for several months and prices have reached close or at the bottom and opportunities exist in abundance.
So if you hear the knock – knock, remember it was opportunity and hopefully you will answer the door.