I remember writing a piece for a mass mail brochure we sent out in about 2004 or 2005.
The title of it was “Should I Sell Or Buy Another” and it explored the idea that many owners were asking themselves at that time. Prices were at an all time high and people were jumping in buying second and third positions in places like Sea Isle City. It kind of speaks to the nature of man when you look at it from some distance. Prices were at an all time high and I was personally buying anything that wasn’t nailed down and not even considering any other idea except that it was going to continue going up. I survived those decisions but it left me a little weaker in the knees if you know what I mean.
So now here we are at the end of a long correction cycle and the stars are lined up like they have not been since 1990 here in Sea Isle City. I am working with a customer right now that was talking about that period because that is when he bought his first property here. At the time you could buy a new house and the rental income would carry it or come damn close to it. Buy the time the market was peaking in 2005 and I was buying house after house, the properties ability to carry itself was not even looked at let alone considered. Can the property carry itself from it’s rental income was always the qualifying question that you asked yourself.
So here we are with that being the case and if I asked that same question I asked in 2005 “Should I Sell Or Buy Another” of myself and other people that own a property here in Sea Isle not too many people would start looking for a second investment even though on paper it looks like the time to step in again. Deep scars like the ones caused by the damage done over the last 6 years restrict range of motion.
It hasn’t been this busy in 5 years and if you look back at the pattern of growth here at the Jersey shore over the last 20 years it all adds up. Our growth has always come in sudden and dramatic busts after long periods of correction and if it keeps going like this we could be right at the beginning of one of those dramatic growth periods. Interest rates are at an all time low and rental income is at an all time high. If you want, you can list your house and sell it pretty easily. So once more the question for you and me is “Should I Sell Or Buy Another?