Buyers, thinking of going AWOL this summer? Think again!
Buyers, I know exactly what you're thinking. You're thinking, "I've worked hard at being a home buyer, all last winter and all this spring. I've gone to open houses. I've searched the Internet every day. I've even made offers that went nowhere and looked at disclosure packages that bummed me out. Well, the lazy days of summer are here and I'm due for some R&R. I'm taking me a vacation from homebuying. No one will even notice I'm missing."
Wrong!
First of all, I'll notice, and if you're not back on base in twenty-four hours I'll put you on report and have you peeling potatoes for the rest of your life. There's a war on, man!
Well, maybe not a war. Maybe it's more like a border flare-up, or like two forward outposts throwing rocks at each other, but this is no time to go Absent WithOut Leave. Sellers have gotten used to winning every battle, gotten soft and complacent behind their walls, while being on the move every day has made you buyers lean and tough. Heck, you're just getting good! You've got those sellers right where you want them! This is no time to retreat. Victory is yours!
Translation: it's a really bad idea to drop out of the real estate market this summer. Why? Because most of you have been operating in seller's markets, especially this spring. And man it's been tough, getting repulsed at the offer table, overrun by wave after wave of bugle-blowing buyers charging the best homes, the homes you and every buyer want. So doesn't that qualify you for three months leave? What's it take to get a break in this man's army? Why not go missing and report back in September when the kids go back to school?
Because everyone else is skulking around getting ready to go missing too. So if you don't, you'll steal a march and outflank them.
Translation: you'll have less competition this summer. And it's all that competition that's kept you from getting the home you want, right? Yes sir! You're pre-approved, right? Yes sir! You're motivated, right? Yes sir! I don't heeeear you! You're motivated, right? Yes sir!!!
Okay then. I want every man, woman and child to stay at their post this summer and keep up the homebuying pressure. Because my scouts tell me the other side is about to crack. Inventory is starting to pile up. Well, it's supposed to start piling up any day now, although I haven't seen much sign of it in the hottest markets. So maybe we can't count on that. Maybe we'll just have to keep our heads down, use what cover we find and carry their trenches with our bayonets. With all the other buyers at the beach, we'll have plenty of room to maneuver.
Translation: even if inventory doesn't reach critical mass, just subtracting buyers from the market has got to help the buyers still active. At least it always has. Every war is different, but sticking around this summer beats waiting until interest rates go up or a meteor hits or your competition gets abducted by aliens.
So cancel that trip to Disneyworld—I hear Florida is swarming with Burmese Pythons as big as Buicks—and stay mobilized and ready to move on targets of opportunity.