Is it a good time to get into the market?

One of the top questions asked at the top of the year is, "is it a good time for me to get into the market?"

Whether Buying or selling; we think the key there is it's for YOU. And we're not one to beat the drum of you got to get into the market now if you want to maximize the opportunity to buy. I think that's just played out. I think it's an individual decision based on the goals, wants, and needs of the client.

Don't you think, though, that whether you're looking at the market cycle in a macro or a micro level, it doesn't really matter because especially if you're buying and selling, I can make a case for just about any time in any market for it to be right for you. The bottom line is, when is it actually right for you?

There's opportunity. The truth is interest rates and mortgage demand have gone up and down and back up again and inventory went up slightly with longer days on markets but has dipped once again. But at the end of the day, it's all relevant, but it's still all noise. There's opportunity. The truth is there's opportunity in every market.

It's just a matter about how you go about the planning process and how realistic you are about what you want and need, how that fits in the market. And that all comes down to doing proper planning.

"It's amazing to me that people will spend a year planning a one week vacation, but they're hesitant spending time working with professionals that they need to in order to plan where they're going to spend the next decade of their life" - Nick Kellar, Realtor / CEO Atlas Premier Realty

Current Real Estate Market Overview

The Maryland Association of Realtors just came out with all their statistics for January, December and the full 2022 Maryland Real Estate Market. When you really look at it, the difference between the inventory and the amount of percentage lost in overall value for the state of Maryland. It's so minuscule. In the grand scheme of things, you're talking about two to three percent.

If you're talking about a million dollar house, that is two to $300,000. But the real question is, when is it right for you? $200,000 for a million dollar buyer is going to change an interest or change your payments? Minuscule, but it really just comes down to, is the time right for you? Because I can make a case at any time.

The reason is in the WHY

What I would ask somebody when they're asking me is Why? Yeah, simply why? If it's because you want to own your own house and you're in a financial part of your life, you're in your career, you're established, and you're ready to have the pride of owning your first home, let's do it right. And we'll find the opportunity within the current market conditions. If it's because you are growing out of your current home and it's actually getting painful and you're on top of one another and you have too much clutter and the house is just too small for you, okay, we're going to find the opportunity within the current market conditions.

If it's because you got an opportunity in another state and you're being relocated and it's too good of an opportunity to pass up, is that going to be painful? Yes.

Is it going to come with challenges? Yes.

Is it going to come with frustrations? Yes.

But we're going to help you find that opportunity within that market. So it always comes back to, why do you want to do it? If you want to buy based on just the opportunity of the interest rate, I think that's important. I think it's great, but I think it's also short sighted.

What we've seen the last couple of years, people were moving based on opportunity, and I think we're now back to a needs based market, which is the way real estate has always been. Like, you've never really moved because it's an opportunity. People have always moved because it's based on a need. So I think we're going back to motivation. So when people ask that question, is it a good time for me to move, buy or sell? My question is why?

And we're also now bringing back up a normal market cycle timing as well. Like, when I'm having conversations with clients, they're like, when is the best time to list? Well, again, on a micro level, that really is dependent on when you need to move. If you want to know when the absolute peak time of a market cycle is going to be, it's going to be in the springtime. But if you need to move now for a new job on the Eastern Shore or whatever it is, we can capitalize on the current market. If we use our strategies and position the property correctly, we're still going to get top dollar for your property.

Right now, the key is, why do you need to move? How do we game plan around that and we'll find the opportunities within the current market? 

If you would like any help talking through these decisions, don't hesitate to reach out to any of the real estate processionals here at Atlas Premier Realty