Northwest Living | Bellingham Real Estate Market

The financial markets are shrouded in gloom, but I’m still bullish about the real estate market. You can’t make money investing unless your willing to take risks along the way. The way to make money in this real estate market is to buy towards this bottom and then hold onto your real estate investment for better markets in the future.

With all the financial upheavals of the past two months, does it still make sense for the average investor to buy residential real estate? It’s a tremendous buying opportunity. Unless you need liquidity, real estate is the best long-term investment. I like the great leverage it gives you. You can live in this investment and enjoy it. If the numbers work out, you can eventually rent the home and purchase another one as your primary home.

You might be wondering whether you should liquidate stocks to invest in real estate, under the current scenario. I have very little money in the stock market myself. It’s way too volatile for me, and who knows when it will bottom out and get back to normal. If you have patient money, real estate gives you the ability to ride out bad times.

I think the current downturn in the real estate market should bottom out in 2009 or early 2010. There will be more job losses and increased inventory that will further depress home prices. This means if you’re buying a house, your going to find some good bargains along with great interest rates as well. I’ve seen some good buys in our Bellingham real estate market lately, with buyers snapping up some of these bargains.

Before you make an offer on a place, do your homework and find out what comparable properties are selling for. Consider negotiating the price down a little since it’s currently a buyers market. You should be able to get at least a small discount off the price or some favorable terms. Make sure to hire a real estate agent as a buyers agent to assist you.  Don’t let your emotions rule you. If you don’t have a deal, sometimes you just have to walk away.

In this type of real estate marked the question comes up about making money on current foreclosures and flipping houses. I personally don’t think this is the time to buy with the intent to flip a house. I would instead recommend buying a home you’ll enjoy living in for the long term or buy, rent and hold for several years or more.

Another end of the market to look at are the foreclosures in an area you want to buy a home. When it comes to foreclosures though I would probably stay away from luxury properties, because they won’t command enough rent to cover your equity investment. I would buy mid-priced homes in areas with good schools, transportation and job growth. When the market improves, your tenants may want to buy the property.

One of the biggest mistakes buyers make in this market is becoming too focused on being victims, rather than being opportunistic. The savvy real estate investors will be the people making a lot of money from real estate investments made during this downturn. When the market turns around, and believe me it will, the ones that took the risk today will profit from their investment years from now. You need to think: Why not me?

Jerry Campbell - Muljat Group - Bellingham Homes For Sale