Missing In Action.

Whether you're looking to buy a house, sell a house or choose an agent the world of real estate can be anxious, harrowing and for many people completely overwhelming.

Making the right decisions can be challenging and this is largely due to the fact that we are emotional creatures. Owners can’t look at their homes objectively, I know that when I sold my last home I went kind of crazy.

One thing I always try to warn clients about is well-meaning friends and family. Whilst it’s important to have trusted people to talk to I find that seeking the opinions of too many people can then lead to a form of analysis paralysis. In many cases people will advise you against making any decision because they don’t want to be held responsible (fair enough too!).

I remember when I bought my first semi for $1.6 million and my darling mother was devastated, certain that I had made the worst decision of my life…I can confirm that I have made many worse ones.

When people are selling they often look at the value of their home on the basis of what they want or need to make their next move. This is flawed thinking but it's understandable - ultimately the house isn’t worth what you need it to be worth...it's worth what it’s worth.

Right now, many downsizers are struggling with the concept that their home is often worth close to what they want to downsize to. I hate to say this but this is only going to get worse over the next few years. The majority of wealth is with the baby boomers and developers know this, we have an aging population and downsizing will get more expensive as time goes on.

Weird, I had actually started this newsletter wanting to write about how it's odd that some agents just go missing in action. I do know that when agents get in trouble with Fair Trading they often cop temporary license suspensions...I don't know...maybe it's just a coincidence.

Until next week,

David Murphy