Are we at the Bottom of the Joliet Real Estate Market Yet?

Everyone wants to know when the bottom of the real estate market will hit and when prices will start to rebound.  Well, hand me a crystal ball and I will pinpoint the exact moment in time. . .Buyers get your checkbooks ready, I'm about to  tell you the exact moment to make an offer on that Joliet home you have been eyeing.  Ready. . .

Seriously, economists way smarter than I am are running algorithms and scenarios and charting prices, sales and closing data to try and determine which direction the market is heading.  There are loose predictions running around, but they cannot pinpoint the bottom of the market and neither can I. 

What I can tell you, is that we will all know the bottom has come when prices begin to rise again.  But guess what, by that time the prime opportunity to buy will have passed. 

One of the mantras of real estate is that REAL ESTATE IS LOCAL!  Sorry to break it to the major media outlets, but there is no national real estate market.  There are national statistics, but how are those statistics relevant to the Joliet home buyer?  Housing trends in California, New York or Florida or Kansas for that matter, have little to do with our area.  What is occurring in the corner of Will County that we occupy is unique to this particular area.  Real estate is so local, that trends can be charted from neighborhood to neighborhood. 

So, try as we might, no one knows where the bottom is or when it will occur, but it is wiser to buy on the downward slide than on the upward climb.

In the Joliet housing market today, sellers are becoming more realistic about their homes value and are pricing to reflect the current market conditions.  There is a willingness among the wisest Joliet sellers to be flexible in offering closing cost assistance and other incentives to buyers. 

As the wind shifts and sellers smell the upward climb of property values, this flexibility will end and, knowing they have the upper hand, the game will change.  

Smart Joliet home buyers know that the time is now.  Hunt for a home that offers great value and jump in.  Waiting can mean a lost opportunity.