Glass half full?? Thoughts on the real estate market...

I talk to a lot of people every week. The main question I always get asked is, "How is the market up there now"?

My immediate answer is: Much better than it was 6-9 months ago.

How could that be? Well, the Tahoe area was feeling the impacts of the market/banking crash way before the national media was reporting a crisis. Probably 6-9 months before most areas were . So, if this is true, it would make sense that things have been looking up. I don't want to jinx us all, but I also am an optimistic person.

I have talked to a lot of folks who have been around here 25 years + and they say, "Northern California will feel economic impacts first and will be the first to recover". I am hoping this is true.

Here are my main reasons for my "glass half full" attitude:

1. I have personally been swamped with emails, phone calls, appointments, etc...related to real estate, in fact, more so than when the market was "hot".

My take on this is that people want to know what is going on. Where are the good deals? Are things turning around? Are values going up again? And so on...and many of these people are toying with the idea that now IS the time to buy! In a lot of cases, it is! It would be crazy not to buy at 50 cents on the dollar, right?

2. The lending world has loosened up a little. About 9 months ago we could not get ANYONE to lend money to our very well qualified clients on certain properties. Now there are lending groups emerging to get back in the game AND they have proven themselves by actually closing some transactions.

3. I watch the MLS daily, and while prices are still very good, the inventory is getting absorbed. Case in point is Old Greenwood, where 6-7 homes sold at VERY low prices, and now there are few options for folks who come in and say they want "the deal of the century" at Old Greenwood. That "deal" was taken advantage of by other families who are now enjoying their homes over the 4th of July weekend.

4. Sellers are not necessarily desperate. I have noticed in my conversations that there is a general perception that all sellers are desperate and will take anything they can get. Not true. While there are certainly some sellers who are more motivated than others, I have seen increased instances in negotiations where sellers have hit their bottom and are not negotiating below that number. Period. There is some confidence there regarding values that was not there 9 months ago.

5. A lot of people still have money that they want to invest in real estate. I talk with many of them daily. It is just a matter of finding the right situation.