However, with an MBA, you should get significant training on agency conflicts. As soon as an agent steps ups and will take his fee on the long term (i.e. as a percentage of my value appreciation over time), I will pay him. However, right now, I just don’t think that there are many agents worth listening to (even the smart ones) because they are too conflicted. I can guarantee you that this “glass is half full” garbage that the poster above mentions will put you in the poor house if you let the guys that are getting paid off your transactions “half full” you into doing something. C’mon. Let’s talk about business fundamentals. From a finance perspective, stock is worth your share of the discounted future cash flows of a business. On a housing perspective, it should be much the same. However, the cash flows are what you can make in an average salary in the area. If unemployment is rising, jobs are paying less, and there is huge vacancy in the market, the fundamentals do not say that it is a good time to buy; that is UNLESS you get a deal that is so good that the fundamentals work. This is the case for VERY few people now-a-days. So, spare me the “Do you always leave your glass half empty before bed?” retoric, because it has no data behind it.

That is a very pessimistic way of looking at things. Do you always leave your glass half empty before bed? I’m sure we all appreciate your input and alternate opinion, but REALLY?? Do you have to think of it this way?

I work a project in Southern Utah, and we have pulled 20+ building permits in the last 15 weeks.
We wrote up 10 Real Estate Purchase Contracts in a matter of 10 days-(Feb 13-Feb22) with a minimum of $300,000 as the price tag. None of these were foreclosures or short sales. ALL new construction.
One of our builders pulled 13 new (different from the 10 REPC’s we wrote up as agents) custom home build jobs in that same 10 day period. That is enough to keep an entire construction company with 2 superintendants in business for the entire year. Each of those homes in the million dollar range.

It IS a great time to buy. IF you have the money to do so. Out of all the contracts my brokerage has at this moment…not one is a conventional loan. Most cash, and a few other anomalies.

“Seems things are typically not as good as real estate agents always tell us. On the way up it was the “perfect” time to buy, and apparently the msg is the same on the way down.”
If the market is a roller coaster their is only one certain thing…It is always a good time to buy. It just depends on how long you are willing to wait to sale.

Home construction drops far more than expected
New home construction falls to annual rate of 466,000 units in January, record low

* Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer
* Wednesday February 18, 2009, 12:19 pm EST
* Yahoo! Buzz
* Print

WASHINGTON (AP) — Construction of new homes and applications for future projects both plunged to record lows in January as all parts of the country showed big declines in building activity.

The Obama administration, seeking to combat the most serious housing downturn in generations, on Wednesday unveiled an effort to deal with mortgage foreclosures to go along with housing support included in the $787 billion economic stimulus program. But analysts said they still do not expect a turnaround in housing until late this year at the earliest.

The administration’s new foreclosure relief plan will spend $75 billion in an effort to prevent up to 9 million Americans from losing their homes. The plan also will double the size of the lifeline the government is providing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to $200 billion each as a way of reassuring financial markets of the viability of both mortgage finance giants.

The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that construction of new homes and apartments dropped 16.8 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 466,000 units. That’s well below the 530,000 units economists expected, and was the slowest pace on records dating back a half-century.

Applications for building permits, considered a good barometer of future activity, also dropped to a record low, falling 4.8 percent to a rate of 521,000 units, slightly below economists’ expectations.

“Conditions in the market for new homes have not been this bad since the 1930s and they continue to worsen,” said Patrick Newport, an economist at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Mass., who predicted that housing starts would remain depressed for months to come.

Builders are slashing home construction as skyrocketing home foreclosures dump more empty properties on an already glutted market. The reduction in new projects should aid the housing market in the long run as fewer properties for sale help increase competition and stabilize prices for those left on the market.

I heard a professional real estate speaker talk the other day about how you make your money when you buy a property. If you buy right you’ll sell right. If you buy wrong, you’ll probably sell wrong too. This is what has unfortunately happened to people who bought right as the market was peaking and prices were climbing. They now cannot sell for a profit or even break even, however I believe those who are able to buy right now are going to be really happy with their purchase for years to come. When have prices ever fallen like this with such low interest rates and now an $8,000 tax credit that doesn’t need to be repaid?