Why the election will not impact the real estate market.

I've been hearing so many people out there, buyers and sellers alike, speculating that things will improve drastically as a result of what happens in November. Specifically I'm talking about the impending presidential election.

I believe, personally, that this is a lot of hogwash.

Now I, personally, live in an area, (the Chicago area specifically), that seems to have a tremendous liberal/Democrat bias. Obama is their boy and they all seem to believe that if he is annointed in November, that there will be a miraculous change to the real estate market on par with how Jesus changed water to wine.

I hate to break it to them, and everyone else who holds this belief but no matter who is elected be it Obama or McCain, the real estate market will not inherently change.

So many people hold the emotional belief that the Republicans are to blame for our current economic woes and that simply changing figureheads is going to "change" everything. But that is not the case. The congress has the Democratic majority and, with that, they could have easily and successfully changed politics in Washington over the last couple of years. They could have ended war funding and brought the troops home, they could have enacted stricter laws and penalties for the truly criminally misleading loans that have been written, (which is the REAL issue at hand here), and they have been impotent in effecting any change. In fact, overwhelmingly, they've towed the line for the current administration which, in my opinion, that whomever you vote for the outcome is likely to be the same. The two parties exist in theory as a dog and pony show but the course of the country has already been determined.

That said, if you look at the fundamental cause of the current crisis, you have to look not at the government per se, but at the banking industry. These guys are the real culprits and the blight that has been unleashed on the greater economy is a direct result of some really bad decisions.

The government, for all it's infinite wisdom, should have taken some larger precautionary steps long ago to avoid the fallout of what we're all dealing with today. Stricter regulation may have slowed the tremendous boom that the real estate market saw in the last 5 years or so, but it would have kept false growth in check. It would have curtailed a lot of speculation and it would have kept people from falling prey to loans they simply could not afford.

We should have seen this coming! It was exactly an environment like this where banks were making wildly speculative loans to unqualified borrowers, that threw Japan into a 10 year plus recession! TEN YEARS!!!

No matter what side of the political aisle you're on, I think there are plenty of people both Democrat and Republican who are unhappy with the present administration. But thinking a change in leadership will provide some sort of miracle relief to the current doldrums in the housing market is simply ludicruos.

What you need to look at and what matters statistically, is a very simple thing. If prices are moderating and interest rates remain low. If the negotiating power is in the buyer's hands and they are able to secure funding and a deal that places them in a positive situation: That means it is time to buy.

When rents outpace mortgages or on par with them, then it is a good time to buy, or in other words: If you live in an area where your mortgage would be equal to or less than your monthly rent then you should buy. Otherwise, it makes more sense to rent until a point of equalization is reached.

It's not rocket science. It isn't politics. It is simple economics.

It's more about how you manage your money than it is who you vote for.