The stupidest thing people say about property

The stupidest thing I hear people say at the moment is "I'm waiting until the property market bottom outs until I buy!". Who do you think you are - Donald Trump. The reason this is such a crazy thing to come out with is because:1. There is no such thing as a UK property market. Even within a single street house prices move as amazingly different paces. Take the example of a street I know well. On this street I've seen 3 bed terraces sell for £100,000 then £90,000 then £80,000 over the last 6 months - but try telling this to Mr. Hard Nosed Vendor at no.42 who is sticking to his guns with an asking price of £129,950! If we can't get a single message across within the space of 200 yards, what chance across the whole nation?2. Who knows when the market has hit rock bottom? I jokingly said at the start that you'd have to have the business acumen of Donald Trump to time the market but perhaps this analogy is not too far from the truth. How many people do you know who purposefully timed the 80s property boom correctly? How many got in and got out of the Dot Com boom in the black? How many made a killing when gold tripled between 2006 and 2008? How many bought Vodafone stock the week before they got a 3G licence? I'm going to guess that the answer to all these questions is none or not many. So why, oh why, do we listen to the pub know it alls when it comes to property? 3. Just because you wait for the market to bottom out doesn't mean that everyone else will. There is an old saying that the deal of a lifetime comes along every week - and this is as true in property as it is in other investments realms. Whilst you are waiting for the perfect deal others will have bought crackers? Don't get paralysis by analysis. By all means do your research and due dilligence but make sure that when a deal fits you don't let it pass by - just in case the market hasn't quite reached rock bottom.
In summary realise that there is no such thing as the UK housing market no matter what the Daily Hate may like to tell you. If you find a property that is a good deal then don;t rest on your laurels. Buy when the sale is on!