Everywhere you look there seems to be disaster striking…TV, radio and newspapers all tout the hopelessness of life; recently it’s been centered on “the fuel crisis” – price of oil and gas. The other issue that gets media attention is the real estate “decline” somewhat predicated on the mortgage and lending downfall. We forget that real estate has normal market fluctuations with highs and lows.
Please consider this: (1) even if your property’s market value is down today from last year at this same time, it is probably still worth much more than it was a half-dozen years ago, (2) foreclosures are still a scant 7/10th of 1% of total homes in this country, (3) there is a large segment (30%) of all real estate owned in this country that is owned free and clear (no mortgage), and (4) the National Association of Realtors expects approximately 5 million homes to sell this year. Also, since we all need food, shelter and clothing doesn’t it make sense to “own” your home versus “renting” it, since you stand to make out from the power of leverage on an asset that we need anyway.
