How To Live It Up In A Down Market

How do you come out ahead, when everything is upside down? "Chicken Little, the sky is falling,"has been around since I became a real estate professional in the 70's. Every time the market adjusted, it was the bubble bursting. Every time the finance community got to far out on a limb, the public was sold the notion that Armageddon was just around the corner. Now let me shine a light into the darkness and drive out the demons of despair.

First, let's look at the mortgage community and realize that the current loss of liberal loan programs is a direct result of competitive moves to capture market share during a hot market. The finance industry continuously stubs its toes in this fashion. (Overly conservative when its a buyers market, and ridiculously liberal in a sellers). The results for this turn of the wheel will be a substantial increase in rents until financing is once again relaxed. The interesting part of this demographics is that the supply and demand ratio supports purchasing, but the available financing supports renting. Therefore, a large portion of the buying public will be forced to remain in the rental market thereby driving down vacancies and forcing rents to go up.

So, if you own rental property, now is the time to spruce it up in order to optimize your rental profits. Many up and comers want the life, but can't afford the freight. Give them an upscale environment and you will get bigger rents and better quality tenants. Timing is everything, and knowledge is king. If you have artistic renovation skills, your time has come. Should you lack the time or talent, you need to make a relationship with professionals who specialize in rent ready property exorcism.

Currently, the contracting industry is adjusting to less work due to depressed market conditions. That always increases competition which is good for the consumer. However, you need to develop a plan so that when you get bids you know that you are comparing apples to apples. Employing small companies with minimum overhead that have in house design professionals is definitely a plus, especially if the designers are general contractors as well. Reason being, once you've done the work it's easier to know where to cut costs. The similarity is the same between a designer and an artist. A designer conceives and an artist creates. The same is true of an architect. If the architect did apprentice time in construction, he/she is far more apt to be cost effective as well as creative. Another great money saving resource for kitchen design is a place like Lowes or The Home Depot. These outlets carry a variety of modular cabinetry that can be matched up to fit your kitchen through computer generated design programs. Many times this service is free of charge.

Now, for those of you who wanted to sell, but find the market unsavory, there are alternatives. Most production housing especially in Southern California, between 1950 and the mid 80's lacked any scent of character or charm. They were on the whole devoid of architectural detailing. You might own one such as this: 1 inch baseboards, no crown molding, flat overly painted doors, Formica counters, carpet everywhere. Sound familiar? Well, just because the mortgage market is the pits, it doesn't mean that credit lines and remodeling finance is unavailable. Many of our homes are in great locations, close to schools, friends, and work. Some even have great views but are just ho-hum. Take this opportunity to add character and charm to your home. This will elevate your quality of life and reward you with a much more marketable property when the market turns, and it will turn. It always does.

Remember this, Life is Art - Live it. From the cut of you clothes to the choice of your car, what you choose is how you feel. I believe that great design professionals do more good for their clients than their shrinks. My clients spend their most intimate and personal hours surrounded by environments that I have created just for them, and if you don't think that isn't therapeutic your missing out on a big part of life, and you can't buy it back.

Live Well & Prosper - Scott Sterling - (http://www.dreamweaver-design.com)

About the Author

Mr. Sterling has been a design profession since 1970 A Real Estate Professional since 1979 and a Construction Company owner since 1990. After graduating from Cal State with a degree in psychology Mr. Sterling was seduced into the gift design field for many years. From there he evolved into directing large sales organizations and finally settled on a triad of businesses composed of Design & Construction, Brokerage, and Finance.