How often we have used this phrase for so many reasons, but it can apply to real estate as well.

In these uncertain times, sellers are extremely stressed about selling their home, in-person showings, and moving on to a new location. Most sellers are looking to buy again, whether due to downsizing, upsizing, the need to be closer to family, or job changes. This is where the “having your cake and eating it, too” phrase comes into play.

Sellers want to sell high and buy low. In any real estate market, this is not a realistic outcome. When it is a “seller’s market” as it is right now, there are usually multiple offers on many homes for sale and buyers scramble to outbid each other for the same property. But for those sellers who are moving on to purchase something else, they, too, will pay top dollar for the new home they choose. When it is a “buyer’s market” there is a large inventory of homes waiting to sell, competing against each other in price, condition and location, attempting to attract few qualified buyers, and so prices are lower. The laws of supply and demand work for both of these markets: when demand is high and supply is low, prices go up; when demand is low and supply is high, prices go down. It does not work both ways.

So, remember that in any market, it all equals out. Both buyers and sellers must have realistic expectations that are concurrent with today’s market conditions. You cannot “have your cake and eat it too” but you can focus on the positive aspects of the current real estate market and know that you really didn’t lose anything. On one side or the other, there is always a win.