| When people ask me how the market is I almost always tell them it depends. It depends on which side of the market they are on and what their goals are. For example, right now, there is great opportunity for buyers. You can get more closing costs paid and more price reductions (though not always both) than you have been able to in the last several years. If people are selling right now, they need to or really want to. There is room to negotiate–but not always. At the same time, we are seeing some places sell in hours if they are priced right, are unique or in really really good shape. Or maybe, they hit at exactly the right time. Seems like I am conflicted, eh? Like I am contradicting myself. Well, I am. THAT is what defines this market. Contradiction, chaos and confusion–that lead to inaction and leads back to good deals–if you are willing to seek them out, have someone that can help navigate them and then jump when it is time to jump. You see, any time there is chaos, there are windows of opportunity. When people are stumped, or scared or desperate, they make deals they wouldn’t have otherwise. If I am feeling the pressure to sell because my new house is being built and it is almost done, I am not going to hold out for the best deal. I am going to take one that is palatable and try to mitigate the damage. This is great news for buyers that were priced out of the market a couple years ago. And it will only get better IF we don’t see interest rates soften very much. But there is a catch, if interest rates hit DO drop and hit a “magic number” — and we aren’t fully sure of what that is — you will potentially see more buyers come in and push out those deals. Those deals are happening now because they are happening. And very little else is. In other words, chaos for sellers and uncertainty, opens doors. When we see more certainty, we see less hesitation and we see less attractive deals for buyers. At the same time, sellers, if you want to sell and you’ve had your house for 5+ years, you aren’t really LOSING anything by “giving” someone a great deal. You are just not gaining as much as you thought you should based on the Zillow report or what someone told you last year. The reality is, your gain is not a gain until you realize it. An “on paper” number really means very little. So the current chaos means you can sell your place if you price it well, offer some incentives and have a nice product to offer. Why? Because a lot of what is on the market is stuff that NEEDS to sell–translation–it may not be in perfect shape, may not be staged or presented well. They may be trying to cut some corners to mitigate loss–especially if they bought in the last 2 years and have to sell now. Sometimes I overwhelm people with what ifs and with possible scenarios. I lost a listing this past week that I was sure I had because I was too honest with them. They felt somewhat beat up with the news I gave them. The reality is, it probably would have gone pretty well. Small starter home, in pretty good shape overall. But, I can’t keep the worst case scenario to myself. I think it is important that someone goes into this market with their eyes open. Here is everything that could happen, and here is the most likely scenario. These folks I had been working with got that from me but they got warm fuzzies from someone else. I did the job of delivering realism and someone else got the listing. It’s ok. And the sellers will do just fine. But that is another opportunity that comes out of chaos. Plenty of agents out there telling whatever will get them the listing and then modifying the message along the way. I see it over and over and over. The reality is, we don’t know right now. We don’t know why some houses stay on way longer than they should and why some sell at WAY higher numbers than they should. It is a chaotic, unpredictable market. So, if you are looking for a deal, they are out there right now. You have to be patient and ready. If you are selling, you also have to be patient. Everyone needs to have someone on their side ready to go to battle for them. Because all the deals right now take a little more fighting than in recent years. |
