Sellers Need to Step Back and Observe

Read any real estate book and it will tell you to look at comparable homes to gauge the real estate market in your area. This is smart advice, but you should also step back and survey the overall market for your area. Buying real estate in San Diego, for instance, is always smart. This is true even if you buy it at the top of the market and have a pull back. Why? San Diego is a beach city and people will always move there. More importantly, it is bordered by Mexico, the Pacific Ocean, Los Angeles and a desert. This means there is a squeeze on housing and prices will always be at or near the top of the nation. That makes it a good long term investment. Detroit, on the other hand, is not as rosy. It is highly reliant on the auto industry. As we all know that is a very cyclical industry, to wit, it is usually really good or really bad. This creates a housing market that has a cap and demand that fluctuates wildly. That is not a great long term investment strategy.