Every year about this time I write my top 10 real estate predictions for the following year, and each year I get a little braver with my forecasts. People ask me how I do it, and it's really simple.
Here is my secret: I look at where the market is moving and predict it will continue to move in that direction. Sometimes I see movement in ways others do not.
It helps that I've been in this business since 1974, so I've seen swings and craziness that some younger agents have only read about. Providing, of course, I can remember any of it -- that's one of the drawbacks to getting older, you know.
Part of the problem with writing a real estate forecast is one could be wrong or even way off base. It's a risk. I suppose that's why some real estate agents don't want to make real estate predictions because they don't want to look like a doofus. I don't mind looking like a doofus now and then and will go out a limb to say what I believe, whether anybody else agrees with me or not. I'm sort of a maverick that way.
Here are my Top 10 Real Estate Predictions for 2009. Let me know what you think, OK?
P.S. You may reblog this blog but you may not copy or republish the article. It is copyrighted by The New York Times.
Photo: Big Stock Photo
The Short Sale, by Elizabeth Weintraub, coming from Archer Ellison in January 2009.
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Certified HAFA Specialist
My Sacramento Real Estate Listings
Elizabeth Weintraub is an author, home buying columnist for The New York Times-owned About.com, a Land Park resident, and a Land Park real estate agent who specializes in older, classic homes in Land Park, Curtis Park, Midtown and East Sacramento. Weintraub is also a Sacramento Short Sale agent who lists and successfully sells short sales throughout the four-county Sacramento area. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put 35 years of real estate experience to work for you. Broker-Associate at Lyon Real Estate. DRE License # 00697006.
The Short Sale Savior, by Elizabeth Weintraub, available at Amazon.com.
Lyon Real Estate is not associated with the government, and our service is not approved by the government or your lender. Even if you accept this offer and use our service, your lender may not agree to change your loan.
Photo: Unless otherwise noted in this blog, the photo is copyrighted by Big Stock Photo and used with permission.
The views expressed herein are Weintraub's personal views and do not reflect the views of Lyon Real Estate.
Disclaimer: If this post contains a listing, information is deemed reliable as of the date it was written. After that date, the listing may be sold, listed by another brokerage, canceled, pending or taken temporarily off the market, and the price could change without notice. It could blow up, explode or vanish. To find out the present status of any listing, please go to elizabethweintraub.com.
Last year about this time I put together a list of the top 10 real estate predictions for 2007. They were pretty much on the nose. But when I wrote them, I knew they were true for the previous year, so I didn't expect 2007 to differ much, and it didn't.