Maryland

The statistics are in. Prices are down on average 7.63 % from the same time last year according to MRIS data. The irony here is that the consistent bad news about the real estate market over the last several years can work out well in the favor of serious, well qualified, buyers.

I was talking to a real estate agent that I have known for over ten years. We were discussing our recent experiences in the marketplace. She let me know that she had recently listed and sold a property for a third party relocation company. The property started off at $615,000. After a short period of time, the relocation company took a proactive approach and dropped the property to $550,000, which was nearly $75,000 less than some of the recnt comparable sales. In the end they sold the home for $501,000. That was roughly 81% of the original asking price. Will that happen every time? Undoubtedly, no. But, there are deals to be had. I recently found a beautiful four bedroom townhome with loads of updates for a client, in an excellent school district in Gaithersburg. Two years ago, the same home would have easily been over $400,000. They purchased the home for $342,000. According to the calculation, that's nearly 15% savings.

Of course, the difference in today's market is that you actually have to qualify for a loan. What? That's right. You need to have a verifiable income, assets, down payment and a satisfactory credit history. If you do, don't worry, you can get a loan with favorable terms.

I have been selling homes for twenty years. Without a doubt, the current market conditions have been the most harsh that any homesellers have seen in many years. But, if you have owned your home long enough, you will still see huge gains. If you purchased a home ten years ago and haven't drained your equity with lines of credit, you might be poised to take advantage of a great deal.

As the saying goes, "Buy when others are selling and sell when others are buying", and if it doesn't go that way it should. Warren Buffett just bought five billion dollars worth of Goldman Sachs. I know that's a little, okay, a lot different, but he knows something about markets and the real estate market too--historically rebounds.

So, there is good news out there, you just have to look at it from a different perspective. I heard Donald Trump just bought an $160,000,000 property in New Jersey for pennies on the dollar. Once again, it's highly unlikely you'll ever see a deal like that, but if you set your sights, you will find a good deal in this market. I promise!