Changing Market Requires Foresight
While most sellers are still optimistically seeing the market as appreciating, we are starting to see sales slow. In the spring, multiple offers and bidding wars were all the rage. Today, price reductions are more prevalent as sellers compete for what appears to be a smaller buyer pool.
For Buyers: There will be “great deals” out there for savvy buyers this winter. In most cases, either these deals will be the result of sellers who started too high on their initial asking price or they did not properly prepare their home for the market or even both. In some cases, buyers will find sellers who want to get on with their goals, and are either open to a lower offer or will drop their price. That being said, some of the best values are homes that are only on the market for a day or two. Watching the entire market with a keen eye and a quality Realtor advisor is the key to finding a great value.
For Sellers: Gaining accurate market data and pricing counsel is the key to planning. At ELEETE Real Estate, our proprietary Price Report model, combined with our Competition Absorption Calculator, not only provides our clients with a realistic perspective on pricing, but also gives our clients a hyper-focused insight on the specific competition and projected market time to sell.
Big Picture: For most clients who are trying to determine whether they should sell first and then buy, or buy first and then sell, this question is best answered by doing the micro market research on your existing home and gauging your tolerance level for holding two properties. This past spring, we as practitioners were bullish on buying first and then selling, because selling your home was easy. Fast forward to today, the answer to that question is based on specific evaluations of the market you are moving to, the property you are selling, what price you need to achieve, and finally, your capacity to endure stress when your home takes longer to sell, which could then translate to a lower price than you were projecting.
At ELEETE, we pride ourselves on doing the work up front, providing several strategic options for our clients to achieve their real estate goals, and advising our clients with pragmatic and realistic information, while always keeping their long-term best interest in mind.