Perfection. 

If this past Sunday taught us one thing, it is that perfection is a fleeting state of being.  One minor (or major) blip makes perfection a thing of the past.  While perfection lasts, it sets you up for a huge fall.  And the fall does eventually come.  Just ask Tom or Bill, or any member of the team.  It was a pretty sickening feeling for me as a fan/spectator.  I won't even try to fathom what is was like for the team, coach, or owners. 

Perfection does set a high standard in any other walk of life ... spouse, job, house.  The feeling of euphoria is short lived, and is over in a blink of an eye when it eventually becomes flawed.   

At least with a house, you can cosmetically enhance it so it becomes your idea of perfection.  Change the paint, carpet, move some walls, add new cabinets, etc.  The prices seen today are allowing more and more consumers to envision a feeling of perfection because they can use more of their hard-saved cash for improvements that previously would have had to be used for a down payment.  What a great feeling.

My lender friends are telling me that January saw a higher than usual request for pre-approval letters.  That indicates that more purchases will be made, and in a typical spring market that begins to happen after the Super Bowl.  And let's face it, New England fans are working hard to overcome the sense of loss we have all experienced and with no more football, house hunting will be filling in those Sunday afternoon gaps.

One question that continues to be asked is "When will it bottom out?"  The answer is only truly known once the upswing has begun.  Many end up loosing out on the "bottom" because they waited for the billboard to tell them "The bottom is here"!  It doesn't happen that way, so get pre-approved, begin seeing some houses and getting educated to market conditions, and you will feel more confident in the great deals that are out there and won't be scratchin your head when the upswing has begun.