My Hopes for 2009

There are many prognosticators making predictions about what 2009 will bring to the housing market; some predict good things, other predict bad things and a few think real estate in markets like Lexington KY will begin to see a recovery while the harder-hit markets will continue to flounder.

While I don't claim to be able to read tea leaves, I am looking optimistically ahead to the new year and have put together some thoughts on what I hope occurs this year that I think will help get the housing market headed in the right direction.

So, without further ado, here are my hopes for 2009:

I hope interet rates stay low. Whether you're looking at homes for sale in Lexington, KY or in Miami, FL, low rates are certainly an incentive to buy a home. I wish there were some way to know for sure what rates will do in the coming year, but if you listen to those who are "in the know" (as much as anyone is "in the know" these days) many believe rates will stay at historic lows for at least several months, which can do nothing but help inspire movement in the market.

I hope the press continues its love affair with Obama. Regardless of whether you voted for him or not, I don't think there's any denying that the press in general is very fond of Barrack Obama. There are a variety of reasons for this, of course, but regardless of what they are, I believe if the press remains hopeful and positive in their reporting about our new president, we'll see that reflected in the marketplace.

I mean, let's face it, even though there are certainly people who's jobs are in jeopardy or who have already suffered from the difficult market, there are plenty of people who are doing fine. And those people are the ones who will, in my opinion, pull us out of recession IF they feel confident enough in the future of our economy.

In my opinion, the press is at least partially responsible for current market conditions as they have made it a point to harp on everything negative that has happened and gloss over anything positive that has happened. Remember when gas was hovering around $4/gallon? I remember specifically hearing from several pundits that we were sure to reach $5/gallon soon and that there was no end in sight to soaring gas prices.

When prices came down to a very reasonable level, however, you heard almost nothing about this in the press. I was surprised each time I went to fill up my car because prices just kept dropping and I hadn't heard a word on the news about it.

So let's hope that if and when positive economic news does come down the pike, that the media will, in their haste to shed positive light on the Obama administration, harps on the news endlessly to help increase consumer confidence which, therefore, in the end, will actually have a true, positive impact on the economy.

I hope the Obama administration will introduce a plan that will truly have a positive impact on the economy. The Wallstreet debacle and the shrunken housing market are serious problems that demand serious attention and solutions, and I'm not too proud to admit that I don't know what those solutions are.

Something I'm pleased about regarding President-elect Obama's administration is that he does appear to be appointing experienced, knowledgable people to the various posts, and this bodes well for the possible success of his presidency.

Much of that success will depend on how he intends to attack the market crisis we're in and how successful that plan of attack ends up being. I pray that Obama will, with imput from a variety of experienced advisors, come up with a plan that actually makes a fundamental positive impact on the economy instead of just throwing money at it willy-nilly the way the Bush administration has.

Don't get me wrong, I think the government will have to invest somehow in the economy to help get it going again, but if we're not careful, we'll end up just further in debt with only a momentary boost in economic conditions that won't be solid enough to actually get our economic rudder turning in the right direction. I'm sure I'm not the only one who is near the edge of my seat waiting to hear what the Obama administration will propose and trying to figure out whether it will have a real, positive impact.

I hope the Lexington, KY real estate market can function at close to the same levels it functioned in 2008. I know, I know, 2008 was not a record-breaking year in my area, but on the other hand, we haven't suffered as badly as many other areas in the country.

I actually had a better year in 2008 than I did in 2007 and would be happy to achieve the same sales volume I did this year as I did last year. I would also be satisfied with achieving the same level of market activity as we had last year because even during slower market times (right before Thanksgiving, for example) one truism remained: houses that are priced on market and staged well will still sell.

There's no doubt that it's harder to sell a house now than it was in 2005, but knowing that my staging efforts (combined with proper pricing) would virtually guarantee my listings would sell, I was happy to put in the extra time and effort into staging my houses and my sellers were happy to invest time and money into staging as well since they ended up selling their houses, on average, in 4-6 weeks. I only hope that this remains true for 2009; staging has become an important value-added service for me me and my listing clients and if it still has the desired effect on sales time, I'll be able to continue to thrive this coming year, no matter what else the market brings.

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