I read the a question and answer in the Everett Herald about researching the market before buying a home, and I couldn’t help but feel that the columnist’s advice was a little lacking.
Question: I’m attempting to research the housing market, but I don’t want to even think about buying for at least a year because I am committed to a one-year lease. How can I efficiently do the research without a real estate agent? I assume most agents would not be interested in working with a client who will not be buying a home for at least a year. I’ve attended numerous Sunday open houses, but I feel I may be missing valuable properties.
– B.G., BellevueAnswer: You are wise to get to know the local housing market before you make an offer on a house. In real estate, as in most areas of life, knowledge is power. You will not be able to recognize a good deal until you have done your homework.
You are on the right track. At this point in your search, Sunday open houses are the best way to research the market. You should also read the home sale ads in the newspaper every week. After a few weeks of touring homes and scanning ads, you should get to the point where you can drive up to a home and guess its price within $10,000 before setting foot inside.
When you can do that on a consistent basis, you will know that you have a good feel for the market value of homes in your area.
Once you know what a home is likely to sell for, you can quickly recognize a bargain when you see one.
Since the reader apparently isn’t in a hurry to buy a house, shouldn’t they also spend some time researching whether it is a good time to buy into the market at all? The columnist admits that “the market may be slower by next year,” but they fail to address any type of market trend research.
How would you answer B.G. in Bellevue? What kind of research should he be doing to find out for himself whether it really is a good time to buy or if he’d be financially better off renting for a while longer?
(Steve Tytler, Everett Herald, 05.21.2006)