Patience is a Virtue

We are experiencing a changing real estate market. The shift from buyers market to sellers market is happening before our eyes. It’s not happening over night, and not equally in all areas, but it’s happening. This is most evident in the lack of inventory. As of July 2012, the West Michigan Market is down to around 4 months of inventory compared to a ‘balanced’ market of 6 months.  For buyers, this means that there are fewer homes on the market to choose from. This leaves two obvious choices:  to modify buyer’s criteria or be patient.

For most buyers, there are typically 2-3 non-negotiable items on the ‘needs’ list. It might be a 3 stall garage, wooded yard, gourmet kitchen, and the list goes on. Buyers may need to sacrafice other items on the list in order to find a home ‘now’.

If concessions are not to be made on the ‘needs’ list, than a buyer must be patient and put themselves in position to be patient to avoid making a quick decision. Often, this means a double move after the sale of a previous home.  For example, if you are renting an apartment on a month to month basis, you can afford to be patient and wait for the right house. Without the flexibility of the double move, patience will not be as easy and a buyer may be forced to buy a home based on the inventory on the market at that time.

Patience is a virtue. The more patient you can be, the better decision you’ll be able to make.
That being said, the low inventory also begs the statement “Sellers now is the time to sell!!” But we’ll save that for another blog.

If you are thinking about buying or selling, contact us today!