Nothing to be Grateful for in the Real Estate Market? Bah, Humbug!

Thanksgiving is the day to trash your horn-rimmed glasses and don a pair of  new bifocals to view your world. I said bifocals, not rose colored glasses. After all, unemployment reigns supreme, the international stock market performs more consecutive summersaults than an olympic gymnasist, and members of Congress consistently vote along party lines rather than put their collective heads together to solve our budget deficit. 

Best kept secret? The real estate market is robust. Yes, I said "robust!" Not robust like 2004, when every Tom, Dick, and Sari were biting off mortgages guaranteed to put them in the poorhouse.  Not robust like 2006, when a 3 bedroom 1 bath ranch in the suburbs was selling for $300,000 because multiple offers were pushing the price sky-high!  Not "robust" like self-employed contractors getting "interest only, no income verification" mortgages.

Robust  as in 2011 "after the recession, sanity returning" robust, where first-time home buyers scale the American Dream through "starter homes" priced at $175,000 and up. Where luxury properties emerge from their three-year siesta, albeit realizing fifty percent off their initial listing price. Where empty nesters comfortably scale down into remodeled condos that cost $100,000 less than they did a couple of years ago. Where folks who've lost their homes to shortsale and foreclosure but still bring home a modest weekly paycheck can save money by renting, thereby paying off their credit cards and rebuilding their credit.  

So for Thanksgiving 2011, my wish for you is to securely position your bifocals on the bridge of your nose so that you can see clearly.  Follow your own drummer according to your individual economic situation. Refuse to buy into the "real estate going down the rabbit hole" myths fed us by politicians and media. Life is fleeting. Express your gratitude to your family and to whoever's listening up there in heaven for enabling you to fearlessly live each day to the fullest. 

I wish you and your family a Happy and Healthy Thanksgiving.... 

Jennie Spallone