Working Your Real Estate Muscles After a Long Rest

April 09, 2013

Working Your Real Estate Muscles After a Long Rest

Bidding wars, low mortgage rates, and high traffic listings have finally regained some of the lost confidence the U.S. has felt in the past few years. So now the question is: what moves should home owners be looking to make in order to get the most of the strengthening market?

HOME BUYING

Intermingled with all the positive surging market news, there are some grim facts buyers must face if they decide to plunge into the market. Inventory is tight. Bidding wars, although indicating a strong market, mean that the emotional investment in putting an offer in on a home is going to be trying. Loan requirements are tightening up each day.

How to actively counteract these strains: Buying is still the more economic living solution compared to renting in most areas. Just be aware of the current conditions and fully commit to the offers you make. Low-balling will only get you rejected offers—the days when you could snag a house at 20% less than asking price are over.

HOME SELLING

Getting the best price on a home is all about the timing and being honest to yourself about the value. 75% of clients think their agent’s CMA (comparative market analysis) price is too low. Pricing your home above the realistic value will slow down your deal, leave your listing sitting on the market, and potentially miss the bidding war side of the market altogether.

Solutions? Catch buyers’ attentions fast, get multiple offers on the table, and allow the market to natural pull your listings higher. Make the repairs needed. Address the obvious concerns. Find an agent you trust and who can provide you with the best service. In today’s market, buyers are going all out on the home purchase and not leaving too much room for improvements after so any added work could be that turn off.

Finally, be cautious:

“Yet while most economists agree that the bottom is behind us and the five-year outlook for housing is on solid footing, the shorter term is shakier. ‘Two thousand thirteen and 2014 are going to be transition years,’ says Mark Fleming, CoreLogic's chief economist. ‘The market's improving, but it's not totally healed.’” (http://money.cnn.com/2013/04/08/real_estate/home-buyers.moneymag/index.html)