Let's Wait Until Next Year...

This seems like a common thing to say with the current state of the world and this COVID pandemic, but many don’t take the time to figure out why this might be the wrong thing to say.  For many of us, our home has been and always will be our single best investment.  The key to any good investment is time and many who see the wild swings in the stock market soon forget.  I often have clients ask me when the right time to buy or build a new home and I have kept my answer the same for the past 20 years.  It is “Yesterday" but you can’t go back in time obviously.  Each year we begin with price increases in labor, materials, and typically land.  We often think that this seems too high for our customers but by the following season our customers call and say how thankful they are that they built when they did.  This year will be no different for anyone who took that leap of faith and next year will be the same.  Our home has been the only place we are able to take our masks off, the only place many of us have been able to work, and the only place our kids have been able to learn over the past year.  That being said, we should look at our home as the place we should invest the most in and if and when the time is right for our family we should make the move to do what is right at the time.  Recently we have seen an uptick on the lumber costs across the nation and that has caused many to hit the pause button and think that if we wait until next year we might be better off.  Historically we have seen an average of 2-3% in new home increases from fall to the next spring and this is the overall effect that we are seeing with the higher costs in the materials today.  If the lumber prices go back down next year, you are only going to be paying the same amount for your new home and likely more with the normal set of increases we see yearly.  Interest rates are another factor.  We currently have historically low rates and next spring that home you can build now will be unattainable with a small shift in that rate.  The bottom line is this.  Never be afraid of taking the leap if your time is right.  Your home has been and always will be one of your best investments you can make for yourself and your family.  Yesterday is almost here so now is the time to get moving!