Although real estate prices have declined over the last several months, by all accounts, there still may be more to come. It doesn't matter whether other commodities are experiencing larger declines, it's painful to see the value of your property decrease. We've just come off a very favorable selling market, some houses being "bid up" as buyers offered more than the sale price just to get the house.
If you've been a landlord or for some other reason you have a vacant house on your hands, you might be thinking, I'll wait it out. The real estate market always swings back around". You're probably right.
But let's consider two more items that should be factored into your equation, the time value of money and the value of your time.
If you are a landlord or have a vacant house to fill, let's look at the rental market. First of all, being a landlord is a lot of hard work. Besides dealing with leaky toilets, interviewing prospective tenants, and doing plenty of paperwork, what about the time factor? Unless you can afford a property manager which can become costly, you are pretty much "on call 24/7" for any problems that arise.
With inflation soaring and an uncertain economy, renters have less money to spend on housing which translates into your inability to charge enough rent to make it a profitable venture. So although we have an existing housing shortage in the country at present, the renters who can afford your house may have less income available to spend on housing. Wages overall are not keeping up with inflation.
So you have great tenants, but the air conditioning or heating needs repair or replacement. Inflation obviously impacts the cost of repair or replacement. What if the house needs a new roof? Again costly. Remember inflation is always passed on to the end user. As the cost of goods ramps up, so does your cost.
Regarding the time value of money, although real estate is traditionally a good investment, maybe you could use some money now to do some other things. So a cash offer to a real estate investor may look good right about now.