For many Albertans, the outcome of the federal election on October 21st was a little more than disappointing. It would seem we are an island within our own country. If you are on social media with any regularity, you might think we are on the eve of some great political apocalypse. As someone who’s run for office and suffered the disappointment of loss, I assure you, the world isn’t burning, Alberta is going to be okay, and yes, people will continue to buy and sell homes in Lethbridge for the foreseeable future.
The lack of market confidence, however, remains palpable, and this impacts real estate in more ways than one. In the process of decision making about buying or selling a home, many of my Lethbridge clients continue to ask:
- Will real estate improve next year, Karri?
- (If selling): will house prices go up?
- (If buying): will house prices go down?
- Should I wait to sell? To buy?
These are the wrong questions to ask. For they put one’s future squarely on the shoulders of ‘the world out there.’ While the urge to shift high-impact decision making onto external forces beyond our control is understandable, it’s also an exercise in futility. No one but you can make—and control—the decision about your next big move.
Waiting for a utopian real estate state of the union is a fool’s errand. You’ll be waiting forever.
First of all, the Lethbridge real estate market doesn’t change measurably year over year, at least not since the last real estate bubble, the likes of which we may never see again. But more importantly, how does one time any big decision perfectly? Get married? Have a baby? Take a job transfer? Start a business? There is no perfect time to do these things.
What history knows for sure is that fear won’t get you to where you need to be, want to be, dream to be. More below…
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