Guest speaker, real estate attorney Harold Justman, gave sage advice
to my De Anza College short-course class on April, 4, 2008. “If you’re
waiting for the bottom of the market,…you’re going to miss the
bottom of the market.

Harold Justman

Justman not only has an active law practice, but he has been teaching
real estate law at community colleges for decades. Last year he was
asked to helm the writing and editing of The Robert Bruss Californina
Real Estate Law Newsletter. Real estate attorney Robert Bruss was a
respected nationally syndicated writer who passed away in 2007.

Robert Bruss

It was great to hear a prominent member of the real estate community
validate what we have been implying in our practice for months. Over
the past twenty years, I’ve watched many buyers wait too long to make
a move. The market, be it interest rates, an increase in prices, and/or
competing buyers, can literally change overnight; leaving these fence
sitters second-guessing their positions.

Sellers who want to move to a larger or smaller home are also adversely
affected. The inventory of homes is reduced while the competing pool of
buyers increases. These sellers quickly learn that while the value of their
home increases; conversely, their purchasing power decreases.

Discouraging newspaper headlines that can have an adverse affect
typically fuel the mass decision-making that has buyers sitting out
of the market.

In 1989 and 1990 I cut out these embellished headlines and inserted
them into my portfolio. These “the sky is falling” headlines applied
to the fast, cooling and slow markets, often days apart. Consumers
need to operate in the reality of the marketplace, not its perception.

Just shy of a month after real estate attorney Justman’s proclamation,
on May 21, the front page of the San Jose Mercury News, (SJMN),
headline reads, “Home Sales rebound in Valley.” The tag line in large
font read, “Lower Prices Attract Buyers After Months of Record-Low
Figures.” The article sites the March-to-April increase in home sales.

The next day, the front page of the business section of the San
Francisco Chronicle began a headline with, “Lift in Home Sales”
and ended it with a lackluster “doesn’t mean lid on pricing is off.”

Although I prefer the SJMN headline, I appreciate the gesture.
The mass decision-making process yet again, begins.
Who says newspapers are dead?

Pat Kapowich, “Negotiating Smooth Transactions Throughout The South
Bay” SiliconValleyBroker.com