Several people have been asking me, “Mark, when is the time to buy? Is it the bottom of the market yet?” My answer? The bottom has come and gone. The real estate market was dead quiet for the majority of 2010. There was a scary silence in the air, and just when I was going to pack up my bags and move in with my mother, the phones started ringing.
Since February of 2011 there has been an awakening in the real estate market on the Westside. Remember, Los Angeles is a bubble; there is a plethora of wealth in Southern California so we will recover before most of the country. It’s hard to ignore the articles coming out from various trusted news sources about when the bottom of the market will hit, how many people are in foreclosure, and so forth but, as my wife likes to say, “That is not OUR reality.” Or as I like to say, “When it comes to real estate, there is the Westside of Los Angeles and the island of Manhattan in New York. Then there is the United States of America.”
So back to the question – the bottom of the market has hit and we have stabilized here on the Westside. I think the rest of our window will shut in six months, eliminating the only “Buyer’s Market” on the Westside in many decades. If you are in a financial position to buy, buy now and ideally, sell in 2-3 years if you can. My older daughter bought her house in 2009 and it couldn’t have been a better decision.
So to all my friends, clients, and family out there – take advantage now, because (hopefully), the real estate economy will have recovered sooner than you think. When you’re looking for the bottom, you’ll only see it in your rear-view mirror.
