Always Time to Buy

Regarding “Spring Break: Home Sale Slump Has Bottomed Out, Southland Realtors, Builders Say” (March 24): If you believe that, I’ve got some great property in the Southland that I’d like to sell you.

How many of these articles are we the public going to have to read? Why must our intelligence be insulted on a weekly basis by the Times real estate section?

If you don’t already know it, realtors and builders have a tendency to say “Now is the best time to buy!” They said it five years ago, they said it two years ago, they said it yesterday, they say it today and they will say it tomorrow. They have always said it and they always will say it. They are sales people.

Anyone who says that real estate has bottomed out is either ignorant or lying. The proof lies in the fact that the same people who tell you that today are the ones who told it to you a year ago.

It is true that these “positive thinking” tactics have worked in the past. The lies and hype coupled with questionable S&L; practices have definitely caused the real estate boom over the years that was hoped for.

In fact, the positive tide has washed over us like a tidal wave, carrying real estate prices beyond the ridiculous into fairyland. The problem now is that people have finally realized that things are totally out of proportion as far as real estate is concerned.

The next time someone tells you what a good buy real estate is, tell them to go ahead and buy as much as they can right now. Real estate has NOT bottomed out, and we all know it.

CRAIG D. GORDON, D.M.D.

Beverly Hills