GET SERIOUS!

Familiar with the law of supply and demand? In real estate right now, it may seem like the supply of homes for sale is much greater than the numbers of buyers demanding those homes, forcing prices down and decreasing activity. But what's really in shortage may be serious, legitimate sellers.

A committed seller is willing and able to accept the best offer in the current market, and be motivated to do so. Receiving a fair offer is inextricably connected to pricing your home fairly. The best way to arrive at an attractive price is to aggressively challenge the competition. Using past prices, your investment in the home, or even appraisals may not produce the ideal value factor for your home.

If you're serious about selling, let an agent describe to you how an appropriately priced and aggressively marketed home will always generate interest and offers, and will ultimately sell for exactly what it's worth in the current market. All other factors being equal, a home that languishes on the market is simply overpriced, and a seller willing to wait for more than fair price would be better served by waiting until the market catches up before entering the fray.

Remember this Golden Rule: There is a buyer for everything. Any home can be sold in any market when proper pricing is combined with effective marketing.

READY FOR SOME GOOD NEWS?

Some financial experts have labeled 2007’s market as the "roulette economy." As we all know, whatever goes up must come down, but the nice thing about real estate is that whatever goes down always comes back upward again (much like stocks work).

A healthier market is anticipated in 2008, as Wall Street cleans up the lending mess and the pressure cooker of home demand releases its top. While the national average of home prices declined between one and two percent in 2007, that's peanuts compared to how much homes appreciated in the previous years. And many markets are appreciating still.

Keep in mind that “national” statistics for real estate mean about as much as a forecasted high temperature for the entire nation. Consumers get skittish when they hear that 40% of foreclosures are due to doubtful subprime loans, but it's important to put that in perspective, because those loans only constitute about 10% of all mortgages.

As the lending industry stabilizes and interest rates rise only slightly, buyers who are ready to purchase will discover that housing is still the best investment out there. Ask a real estate agent to monitor new listings, selling times and final sales prices, and then to advise you when conditions are right to either buy or sell. 2008 should be a year of opportunity in the real estate industry.