I looked at 40 years of housing data. You’d think timing the market perfectly would make a huge difference, right?
Wrong.
If you had perfectly timed the bottom of every real estate cycle since 1980 — versus just buying when you were ready — the difference in total wealth was only 4.2%.
But here’s what’s worse…
The average person who tries to time the market ends up waiting 2.3 years longer than they need to.
That’s 2.3 years of lost equity, missed appreciation, and paying rent instead of building wealth.
The truth is, when you buy matters less than how long you stay. So if you’re thinking about buying, don’t wait for perfect — plan smart.