Using NAR Research to Address Prospective Buyer Concerns “Is Now a Good Time to Buy?”

REALTORS® can use NAR Research information to give the customer a different perspective on the question of whether to buy: the press encourages clients to think in terms of price.  Price is important, but the main reason clients want a home is lifestyle—i.e., for family and living purposes. Like most economic questions, there are two answers to the question of whether it is a good time to buy: “Yes” and “No”.  Put differently, “Yes, it is always a good time to buy if you need a home for your or your family.”  The answer is “No if you are over-extending your financial capabilities, speculating on changing home prices, or expect to need to move in the near future:  that is how people get in trouble.”

NAR has detailed the major benefits achieved by homeownership: 

• Higher student test scores by children.
• Higher rate of high school graduation thereby higher earnings.
• Children more likely to participate in organized activities--less television screen time.
• Homeowners take on a greater responsibility such as home maintenance and acquiring the financial skills to handle mortgage payments and those skills transfer to their children
• Lower teenage delinquencies.
• General increase in positive outlook to life.
• Homeowners reported higher life satisfaction, higher self-esteem, happiness, and higher perceived control over their lives.

Quality of life is a major benefit from homeownership—which is why a prudent home purchase by someone who is financially responsible makes sense at almost any time.