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OPINION: It's time to buy real estate at Lake of the Ozarks
By J.B. Simpson/LakeExpo.com
Realtors at Lake of the Ozarks are working overtime to create a positive perception of what has been a rather dismal year in real estate.
These professionals point to a resiliency of property values for both residential and commercial real estate, while much of the nation shows deep decline. They tout lake area growth and massive improvements to the transportation systems servicing the area. And, of course, they promote low tax rates when compared to metro-burbs.
They say all real estate is local.
They're right, except for financing.
Wonderful were the days of cheap money for everyone while dirty paper was packaged and sold to companies that couldn't underwrite their way out of a paper bag. The fallout from Countrywide to Bear Sterns to Indy Mac to Freddie and Fannie to the Federal Reserve and ultimately to the taxpayer has made the industry come to Jesus and face its nemesis -- greed.
However, in all its double-edged omniscience, the government’s liquidation of tax money to rescue the mortgage industry will ultimately lead to the real estate recovery. It hinges on the mortgage industry’s ability to resist the urge to over-tighten standards and instead begin operating like the Wells Fargos have been all along -- by assessing risk and making rational business decisions.
In the meantime -- while homebuyers and investors remain apprehensive -- it's time for savvy, qualified buyers to snap up real estate at Lake of the Ozarks. When everyone feels good about real estate again demand for shrinking home inventories will change and you'll be kicking yourself for not buying at the bottom. This is the time to negotiate.
A quick boat ride confirms the fact there's no shortage of lake homes for sale. New home and condo construction has slowed, mainly due to cash-flow management by developers recognizing a down cycle.
Perhaps we're not at an absolute bottom. Maybe it'll be in 2009. That's what former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan thinks.
But does the short-term timing really matter?
Lake of the Ozarks is the premier second-home and retirement destination for Midwest boaters. With the first phase of baby boomers just reaching retirement the lake is primed for unprecedented growth. By most accounts, a lakefront home or condo is a solid investment just based on the fact no one is building any more shoreline.
Some speculate condos could proliferate so fast as to saturate the market and send value off a cliff. The same argument was made about beachfront condos in Florida during the 1970s. Have you priced one lately?
The bottom line is that people long for the water. They cherish the lake at sunrise, sunset and all hours in-between. They work and hold on to a dream that soon they’ll awaken to the lake every morning.
As long as boomers are willing to pay for their own piece of paradise the lake's shoreline will remain valuable in good times and bad.
Subscribe To Lake AlertsThese professionals point to a resiliency of property values for both residential and commercial real estate, while much of the nation shows deep decline. They tout lake area growth and massive improvements to the transportation systems servicing the area. And, of course, they promote low tax rates when compared to metro-burbs.
They say all real estate is local.
They're right, except for financing.
Wonderful were the days of cheap money for everyone while dirty paper was packaged and sold to companies that couldn't underwrite their way out of a paper bag. The fallout from Countrywide to Bear Sterns to Indy Mac to Freddie and Fannie to the Federal Reserve and ultimately to the taxpayer has made the industry come to Jesus and face its nemesis -- greed.
However, in all its double-edged omniscience, the government’s liquidation of tax money to rescue the mortgage industry will ultimately lead to the real estate recovery. It hinges on the mortgage industry’s ability to resist the urge to over-tighten standards and instead begin operating like the Wells Fargos have been all along -- by assessing risk and making rational business decisions.
In the meantime -- while homebuyers and investors remain apprehensive -- it's time for savvy, qualified buyers to snap up real estate at Lake of the Ozarks. When everyone feels good about real estate again demand for shrinking home inventories will change and you'll be kicking yourself for not buying at the bottom. This is the time to negotiate.
A quick boat ride confirms the fact there's no shortage of lake homes for sale. New home and condo construction has slowed, mainly due to cash-flow management by developers recognizing a down cycle.
Perhaps we're not at an absolute bottom. Maybe it'll be in 2009. That's what former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan thinks.
But does the short-term timing really matter?
Lake of the Ozarks is the premier second-home and retirement destination for Midwest boaters. With the first phase of baby boomers just reaching retirement the lake is primed for unprecedented growth. By most accounts, a lakefront home or condo is a solid investment just based on the fact no one is building any more shoreline.
Some speculate condos could proliferate so fast as to saturate the market and send value off a cliff. The same argument was made about beachfront condos in Florida during the 1970s. Have you priced one lately?
The bottom line is that people long for the water. They cherish the lake at sunrise, sunset and all hours in-between. They work and hold on to a dream that soon they’ll awaken to the lake every morning.
As long as boomers are willing to pay for their own piece of paradise the lake's shoreline will remain valuable in good times and bad.
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| Growth, value prove to be silver lining in lake area real estate | Larry Dablemont Column: Teaching the grandkids to become grizzled old outdoorsmen |
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