The Dark Clouds of Real Estate are BEHIND US!

So 2012 is nearly over and has the sky fallen? No. Is it about to? Not that I’m aware of. The sting of owning real estate over the last six years has been felt far and wide, but that was yesterday and today is a new day. There was a day when the thought of buying or selling a home brought on feelings of fear, doubt, and a whole lotta “should’a- would’a- coulda’s”. Whether or not you made a move over the last years certainly does not disqualify you for a move in today’s market. If you were (or are) upside down on your home and had adjusting mortage payments you probably made that hard decision to hang on during the rough patches or humbly bow-out with nothing but consequences to look forward to. I’m happy to announce that if you made either of those decisions in the past, that our beloved real estate market has seen a positive and consistent improvement, something everyone can be thankful for. We have gone from cautiously optimistic to optimistic.

Trust me, there are still plenty of struggling homeowners out there but because of the acceptence of home buyers to consider short sale purchases, the decreasing REO inventory, incredibly low interest rates, and quite simply time, we are experiencing the lowest housing inventory that we’ve seen in Minnesota for the past nine years. For some of the early displaced homeowners (meaning those who fell to foreclosure in the first few years of the real estate bust) there has been ample time to work on credit repair, hopefully to find employment, and for home loans to slightly rebound and become more available to qualified buyers. We have been seeing some of those buyers back in the game which certainly has helped the healthiness of the market.

The mixing pot of so many housing variables that make up our real estate market has been stirred over and over during the past several years, and continues to do so, but what once was a spoiled broth is starting to look more like stew. I’ve seen faces turn from that of shame and guilt for not being able to keep up on mortgage payments to faces of hope and joy when they see that the dark clouds are now in the rear view mirror. The absolute reality of real estate is that its a perfect reflection of life. When its good it can be really good and when its not so good, well, there is a brighter tomorrow. Bumps in the road should always be expected and if we stay positive and don’t let it steal our joy, the storm will pass and tomorrow clouds will have a silver lining, truly. I for one am glad to see a brighter day ahead and will be thankful for the valuable lessons learned over the past few years. I will most certainly keep it all in its proper perspective.