According to the Chinese calendar, 2010 is the Year of the Tiger. But in real estate, 2010 may come to be known as the "Year of the First-Time Home Buyer."
Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com, says there will be 1.84 million homes sold to first-time home buyers in 2010, compared with 1.73 million in 2009.
These buyers will invariably make some mistakes that they will come to regret a few years down the road, some experts say, including failing to use a real estate professional to help them manage the transaction. Real estate professionals have the time and the knowledge to sift through thousands of listings, creating market analyses to judge pricing and other key features, points out Ray Boss Jr., a practitioner with RE/MAX Realty Group in Maryland.
"I would want someone who is going to look out for my interests first and foremost," says Boss. "Someone who knows the contracts, who has experience negotiating, and who can walk me through the entire process smoothly - step by step - and make sure I get the house that's right for me."
Source: U.S. News & World Report, Kimberly Castro (02/18/2010)
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My Taiwanese friends got married in the waning days of the YEAR OF THE OX....just before this year's Valentines Day shift to the Year of the Tiger.
The year of the Tiger was said to be unlucky for getting married.
I don't know about their attitude about buying a place to live.....but the year of the Tiger is okay for having kids. So that ought to help the household formation impact on home buying. :-)
The other shoe may be preparing to drop. It is too soon to know if the "stimulus" programs for first timers has created more sales or simple caused folks who were going to buy anyway to accelerate their plan a little. If so. there will be a real slowdown after April 30th.
I agree.. there is juts a lot reasons why someone should buy. . opportunity is there