Exceptionally successful investor Warren Buffet, a man menitoned approvingly by both candidates in the second debate, (he’s endorsed Barak Obama) has been buying stock – right now – as the market goes down.  (True he’s an imperfect everyman, but so is “Joe the Plumber” and “Bob the Builder.”) 

The fact that the stock market goes down when new home building ‘starts’ are down shows how irrational and volatile the stock market is right now.  (Fewer starts means an easing of the too-high inventory and a quicker recovery of that segment of the homes market; it’s good news, not bad.) 

Warren Buffet editorialized, “I can’t predict the short-term movements of the stock market. I haven’t the faintest idea as to whether stocks will be higher or lower a month — or a year — from now.  What is likely, however, is that the market will move higher, perhaps substantially so, well before either sentiment or the economy turns up. So if you wait for the robins, spring will be over.”

That caught my eye, because although he’s talking about the stock market, which is a lot more volatile than the housing market, the same principle applies.  When the homes market reaches bottom, nobody will know we’ve reached bottom until months later.  It’ll only be after about six months of gradully improved inventory, numbers of home sales, and level prices that in retrospect we’ll see when the bottom happened. 

The best time to buy is just before the market hits bottom.  Lots of time to make an informed decision and get the house you want.  Make an offer, especially if the house is overpriced, that’s how you become the only buyer on the market to discover the sellers’ bottom line.  

You’ll get a better deal when you don’t compete with other buyers, so don’t wait for an inevitable price reduction, get your personal price on your schedule, a price available only to an interested buyer. 

Buy early, buy low, buy now.

Best place to search local homes online? www.HunterdonHomes.com  

All homes, fast local seaches with larger pictures and no time out for ads.  -

Don Sherblom   (908) 303-8130   contact Don

New Face of the US Dollar This Week

I remember as a tourist on Wall Street in late 1987 I saw a lot of Don’t Panic buttons worn on labels.  Don’t think those buttons are worn today, because this time we were told to panic!   During the past two weeks, most of us didn’t need to be told – we were already eyeing the exits.  It’s not the sky but something really big is not staying aloft. 

The sudden end of this under-regulated, overly-profitable fiasco-making party has already had an effect on real estate in Hunterdon County, slowing the number of homes placed under contract, if only slightly last month.  Reduced sales, not an

increase in the number of listings, pushed the inventory higher, but only to about the same level as two years ago. 

The local homes market will probably rebound slightly over the next couple of months, if the bailout is approvedby the House.  It depends on how much credit is released and, importantly, how much home buyers are reassured by any action taken to relieve our huge economic and credit problem.  As of right now, there are no measurable effects in the Hunterdon Homes Market of the past two weeks’ events.  

A resolution to the credit crunch will not move us out of the strong buyers’ market but it might stimulate some buyer activity.  Any one holding out for the homes market to reach bottom is postponing life changes.  At some point, it doesn’t make sense to wait any longer.  Resolution of this recent crisis may be the tipping point for some buyers. 

The autumn, usually the second best home selling season, may have been sidetracked by this recent crisis (part of a long stream of bad news) or it might return to normal if this bailout gives a psychological lift. 

In short, there may be a two-month window of resonable home sales, at prices above where they’ll likely be in the spring, since some buyers are getting tired of circling around and may decide this is the time to come in for a landing.

Call Don Sherblom for complete information (908) 303-8130 on the local Hunterdon Homes market.  Find out why the RE/MAX system has grown to be the world’s largest and how we can sell your home, even in a challenging market, just as I have so many homes in the past few months!  (908) 303-8130