How's the market doing? That's the big million dollar question I get asked daily - almost hourly. Right now, it stinks. As a seller it stinks, to be perfectly frank. It really does - showings are low, appointments are low, open houses are everywhere because nobody can sell anything. Just drive around your town and you'll see open house after open house after open house - because everybody is trying to get something going. It's definitely turning heavily into a buyer's market.
BUT - here's my advice if you're a seller: I try and give this advice to clients, but it's so incredibly hard for them to take. Let's say you have a house that was worth $1.5M in February. Now, it's worth $1.25M (somewhere around there). Right now, you have to be so aggressive pricing it. If it sold for $1.4M in February, and you want to list at $1.3M, or $1.299M and you want to "try the market", you're going to be behind the market - that's the problem. You should be in front of it - you can't be behind it. So, after 2 or 3 weeks, you have to take it off the market and put it back on again at $1.195M and then you sell it for maybe $1.18M. So at the time you may be thinking "boy, we just got nailed - that's terrible" . But just remember, in another month, that house is going to be worth $1.1M. So, you're ahead of the curve - that's the thinking. You have think that the past is the past and the future is coming - and in the future, things are coming down. We're down 2-4% per month - that's something to consider. So if you're looking at a million dollar house, that could be down anywhere from $30-$50K per month minimum right now. And its still coming down - plus the rates are going to go up a half a point again in July. If that happens, it's going to affect the buying power again.
I have a true story. I just did a deal last week in Milton. Sold one of our townhouses and did actually better than expected on it because the person that bought the home had a locked in mortgage - a guaranteed mortgage rate for 3 months. But they couldn't find a place. Time kept ticking away and eventually they found our place and we were flexible on closing and we managed to get them to a pretty good price. We did alright, considering everyone is dropping like flies - we did pretty well. So that's one thing - there are a lot of buyers out there for sure and alot of them have locked in rates so you have to keep that in mind too. You might be able to get lucky here and there.
So if you're a buyer - IS IT A GOOD TIME TO BUY? Yes, it's a good time to buy. I put my money where my mouth is and I just bought a house last week for my family and I. And I know that in about a year, a year and a half, it's going to be worth about $200-$300K less than it is now. I know that. But the problem is, when you find something that's perfect for the family and it works out great for everybody, you don't think of that financial decision. Like my Dad always used to say, "you buy a pair of shoes to wear, you don't buy a pair of shoes to sell later". And you don't buy a house to sell it a month later, unless you've flipping it in a hot market - and it's not a hot market. So buy a house, live there for a minimum 5-10 years and weather the ups and downs .
So seller's point of view: you have to price it right. You have to be patient. You have to expect lowball offers. Don't be insulted. If a lowball offer comes in, then just do your best to work with it and get them to a compromise somehow. Whatever the compromise is, remember - that figure that you're staring at right now is going to be even lower in a month. So really make that hard decision - think about it.
And from a buyer's point of view: you really have the pick of the litter right now. The hard thing is thinking - if I buy a house right now and in 6 months it could be $100K less. But you have to put that out of your mind. If you've found the perfect place and you have needs that have to be met, like if your family has outgrown your current place - whatever the reason - buy it, hold onto it, live happily ever after!
