Home Sales Archives - Page 3 of 5

March 10, 2015 by changescapeweb Leave a Comment

Pending Home Sales Rise in January to Highest Level in 18 Months

WASHINGTON (February 27, 2015) — Improved buyer demand at the beginning of 2015 pushed pending home sales in January to their highest level since August 2013, according to the National Association of Realtors®. All major regions except for the Midwest saw gains in activity in January.

The Pending Home Sales Index,* a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, climbed 1.7 percent to 104.2 in January from an upwardly revised 102.5 in December and is now 8.4 percent above January 2014 (96.1). This marks the fifth consecutive month of year-over-year gains with each month accelerating the previous month’s gain.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says for the most part buyers in January were able to overcome tight supply to sign contracts at a pace that highlights the underlying demand that exists in today’s market. “Contract activity is convincingly up compared to a year ago despite comparable inventory levels,” he said. “The difference this year is the positive factors supporting stronger sales, such as slightly improving credit conditions, more jobs and slower price growth.”

Yun also points to more favorable conditions for traditional buyers entering the market. All-cash sales and sales to investors are both down from a year ago¹, creating less competition and some relief for buyers who still face the challenge of limited homes available for sale.

“All indications point to modest sales gains as we head into the spring buying season,” says Yun. “However, the pace will greatly depend on how much upward pressure the impact of low inventory will have on home prices. Appreciation anywhere near double-digits isn’t healthy or sustainable in the current economic environment.”

The PHSI in the Northeast inched 0.1 percent to 84.9 in January, and is now 6.9 percent above a year ago. In the Midwest the index decreased 0.7 percent to 99.3 in January, but is 4.2 percent above January 2014.

Pending home sales experienced the largest increase in the South, up 3.2 percent to an index of 121.9 in January (highest since April 2010) and are 9.7 percent above last January. The index in the West rose 2.2 percent in January to 96.4 and is 11.4 percent above a year ago.

Total existing-homes sales in 2015 are forecast to be around 5.26 million, an increase of 6.4 percent from 2014. The national median existing-home price for all of this year is expected to increase near 5 percent. In 2014, existing-home sales declined 2.9 percent and prices rose 5.7 percent.

For more info: https://www.realtor.org/news-releases/2015/02/pending-home-sales-rise-in-january-to-highest-level-in-18-months

Real estate is already booming for the New Year! Last year was the busiest real estate market that we have had in years. It is never too early to get your home ready for the market or for buyers to call me to discuss the Spring market. Don’t miss out on lower home prices & interest rates below 4%. Call me for details today! 314-691-1320

November 13, 2014 by smeranda Leave a Comment

6 Reasons why this is a good time to sell your home

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As with every decision in life, there are pros and cons to consider when selling your home. There are many factors that need to be taken into consideration. Many homeowners believe selling a home during the fall or winter months is not a good idea and that the spring is the only time a house should be sold. This is the furthest from the truth. Certainly most real estate markets across the United States experience a “spring market rush” every year, however, the fall and winter seasons may be the best fit for you for many reasons.

There is Less competition. The fewer number of comparable homes for sale, the greater the probability that a buyer will look at your home.
Serious buyers are out there! The fall and winter months are a great time for a potential buyer to see what a specific neighborhood is like.
The Best Agents Are Always Up To The Challenge. A great real estate agent will know how to adapt to the current season and market their listings to reflect that.
Staging For The Holiday Season. Simple “seasonal” staging such as adjusting the color of the decor or having an aroma in the air that is relative to the time of year can go a long way with some potential buyers and possibly be the difference between a home selling or not.
Mortgage Rates Are Low. If you’ve read about real estate in the past year, it’s likely you’ve read that the mortgage rates are very low. You also probably read that there is an expectation that the rates will increase by spring.
Quicker Transactions! Right now, there are fewer real estate transactions than there will be in the spring. The fewer number of transactions means the mortgage lenders have less loans to process, attorneys have less closings to do, and home inspectors have fewer inspections to do.

https://blog.rismedia.com/2014/sell-home-now-wait-spring/

September 3, 2014 by smeranda

The final 4 of the 8 top ways sellers sabotage their own home sale, and the scripts and tips you need to save the day.

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5. Using Lousy Photos (and Not Helping their Agent Get Great Ones)

Ninety percent of all home shoppers start their home search online, and nothing can tank a home sale like terrible listing photos. But sometimes sellers don’t understand the importance of fantastic listing pictures—and that can mean that agents need to resort to grabbing a few fast photos on a cell phone or on a rainy day. After all, the only thing worst than terrible listing photos are listings with no photos at all.

What Sellers Need to Hear: “Think back to when you were originally looking for a home. Even if you were house hunting when online wasn’t a huge thing, you probably remember that seeing a home told you more about it than any text ever could. Even in a sellers market, great photos can help draw in the best buyers—the ones who will be willing to make a big offer on this property.”

6. Holding On to Clutter and Junk

For as long as buying and selling a home has been a “thing” (so averylong time) there have been sellers that say, “Oh the house looks fine. Buyer’s will see right past all my boxes and collections of plaster cookie jars and shelves overflowing with nick-knacks.” Big mistake. Huge.

What Sellers Need to Hear: “It may sound like a good idea, but it’s not a smart approach. Believe me, I have seen homes come on the market that could have sold much faster, had the home owners spent just one weekend depersonalizing and removing all the extra things inside the home. Clutter makes your home seem smaller, ultimately eating equity and killing deals. Take inventory of all your possessions and think to yourself: should I save it, store it, sell it, or chuck it? It may seem like a solid amount of work, but one weekend of work could mean thousands of dollars come closing.”

7. Selling A House Via “For Sale by Owner” (FSBO).

When the market is hot, many people think that selling their home on their own is easily doable. “Who wouldn’t want to save on commission?” think many sellers. Despite the lure of not having to pay an agent a commission, sellers need the expertise and know-how of a professional, who can help navigate the stacks of paperwork, provide priceless neighborhood knowledge—and negotiate on the seller’s behalf.

What Sellers Need to Hear: “The numbers don’t lie: the typical FSBO home sold for $174,900, compared to $215,000 for agent-assisted home sales. There may be more to a home sale than you realize. Let me walk you through what type of service I can provide you with.”

8. Overpricing the Home

For agents, this is the one major seller mistake that we see the most frequently. It is a misstep that seems to rear its head whenever the market seems like it’s heating up.

What Sellers Need to Hear: “Yes, the market is hot. But not hot enough that you can push the envelope and price it for way more that the comps will support. Overpricing your home is dangerous —and you can end up burned in this ‘hot market.’ You run the risk that your home will sit on the market for weeks and months and become the stale listing that every home seller wants to avoid. Know the competition and set the right price—never overprice too high in hopes that someone will unknowingly overpay. Let me walk you through the data.”

August 5, 2014 by smeranda Leave a Comment

The First 4 ways sellers sabotage their own home sale, and the scripts and tips you need to save the day.

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1. Refusing to Make Obvious Repairs Prior to Sale.

Agents tell sellers this everyday, all day: “You will lose money if you don’t take care of repairs before the house goes on the market.” Showing a house when there are leaking faucets, cracks in the walls, water stains on the celling, and a busted hot water heater are all ways to turn off potential buyers.

What Sellers Need to Hear: “Shelling out the money may seem like an extravagant expense—especially if you don’t think that the repair will add much to the value of your home. Trust me—time and time buyers over estimate the cost of a repair, so they are going to try to get what they think the repair will cost, and that’s going to cost you more in big credits or discounts!”

2. Ignoring the Backyard

Everybody knows that fantastic front curb appeal sells homes, but many sellers forget what’s out back. In the summer and fall months, everyone’s attention turns to the outside spaces, where they dream of warm summer nights and outdoor entertaining.

What Sellers Need to Hear: “If you don’t maximize and capitalize on your backyard, you are missing a huge component of your warm weather living spaces. That back yard patio is not just for storage of old bikes and broken patio furniture that should have been thrown out years ago. In a buyer’s eyes, it can be the most important ‘room’ in the house. You need to stage your backyard and outdoor entertaining areas as beautifully as you would the interior of your home. Green grass, flowers and trimmed trees should be the same standard as your curb-appealed front.”

3. Hiding Problem Issues From the Buyers.

Far too many agents have watched too many home sellers pay out big bucks because they didn’t “reveal it all.”

What Sellers Need to Hear: “Disclose! Disclose! Disclose! Once you have an accepted offer, sellers are required to fill out disclosure statements. If you did renovations to the house without a permit over the years, disclose. If there was a roof leak that damaged the attic two years ago, disclose. If the electrical blows every time you run the dishwasher and the microwave at the same time, disclose. You know the history of the home better than anyone, and we need to work together so that we know how to address any potential issues. The buyers will find out eventually. And if you knowingly have kept things from them, it sets the tone for an ugly and difficult closing. Not to mention that you are setting yourself up for the liability.”

4. Getting Egotistical When Negotiating

Every agent has had that seller who just simply cannot fathom that a buyer would even think to make such a low offer, but the truth is that most of the time, the buyer doesn’t mean to offend the seller. Heck, the buyer may even know that the home is outside of their price range, but they may just love it so much that they couldn’t resist making an offer. Too many sellers take negotiations personally and lose out on creating a win-win deal.

What Sellers Need to Hear: “Real estate transactions are business deals. Plain and simple. There is no room for ego here. If an offer comes in low, the mistake is to be insulted and not counter back. Always counter back and keep deals in play. Keep your ego out of the equation and put your head back into it. Remember your end goal: getting your house sold and having a smooth and successful closing.”

P.S. Summer is in full swing and now is the time for sellers to be getting their homes ready for the Summer market & for buyers to start looking for their new homes. This will be another great real estate year! Don’t miss out on lower home prices & good interest rates. Contact me for details today!

June 9, 2014 by smeranda Leave a Comment

6 Home Buying Hang-ups and What Agents can do for Their Clients to Help Them Avoid These Common Missteps.

1. Missing out on the perfect place.

Hundreds of new homes hit the market every day, and buyers who are not using all of the house hunting tools available, could let their dream home slip by unnoticed —or worse, someone else might snatch it up before they even know that it’s for sale. One of the toughest lessons for a first-time (and, yes, even a second-time) buyer is that in this market, passive house hunting simply will not cut it. No matter what agents do—and no matter how many e-mails they send showcasing a just listed property that agents would love to show their clients—if the buyer doesn’t make house hunting a top priority, it’s going to be a painful process.

What Agents Can Do: As soon as you secure your newest buyer clients, set up a time to discuss your house hunting strategy. Ask them what their preferred method of contact is when there is a home that just can’t wait to be seen. Setting up such a strategy will let buyers stress less and think more about window treatments than missing their window of opportunity.

2. Choosing the wrong lender.

Few things are more frustrating (for buyers and agents alike!) than finding the perfect property only to find out that the loan isn’t coming through.

What Agents Can Do: It’s best for clients to use the preferred lenders because they’ll get great rates, the VIP treatment, and if there’s a problem they’ll find out on the front end. Remind clients that preferred lenders earn their preferred status only after they’ve consistently delivered loan closings. Provide them with a list of preferred lenders, and provide clients with educational materials to help them get their loan situation in order before they hit on their must-have property.

3. Fixating on price per square foot.

Buyers who search by price per square foot may be prime for some major disappointment.

What Agents Can Do: Be sure to reiterate to clients that if they are using this as part of their search criteria, they might want to think again. Measurements, as agents know, are not guaranteed to be accurate, and improper measurements can place appropriately priced homes outside of a client’s search parameters.

4. Desperation.

When prices are on the rise, buyers get antsy and sellers get greedy. Too often buyers have been outbid on numerous properties and get discouraged. As a result, they are placing ridiculously high offers on properties that just aren’t worth it, just to get into a home this minute.

What Agents Can Do: Tell buyers to avoid the temptation and work with them to build up a backup plan. Suggest neighborhood or areas that may actually have the right home at the right price that the buyer potentially crossed-off the list due to superficial reasons. You don’t have to commit to changing your home search, and you’re not tied into anything. If all else fails, recommend short-term or corporate rentals options, so they’ll have a soft place to land while they wait for their dream home to appear on the market.

5. Foregoing inspections.

In a perfect world, sellers would disclose every single issue to the prospective buyers. Since that’s not the case, inspections are a great idea; yet one that clients skip too often.

What Agents Can Do: Inspections identify red flags and can address the general state of a property. Plus, they can provide leverage when it comes time to negotiate. Discuss these issues in details with your clients, and remind them of how much neglecting inspections may cost them in the long run.

6. Buying a “project.

The unwritten rule of renovating states that it will take more time and money than expected. So it’s important for buyers to know their threshold for renovations before buying a fixer-upper.

What Agents Can Do: Be prepared to share referrals to general contractors and specialty tradesmen. It doesn’t hurt to schedule a showing with one of these pros in tow either. It’s better for clients to know what they’re getting into before they find themselves in over their head. Plus, a happy new homeowner is the source of a great recommendation and referral clients for years to come.

P.S. Spring has sprung and it has been the busiest Spring in years! Now is the time for sellers to be getting their homes ready for the Spring market & for buyers to start looking for their new homes. This will be another great real estate year! Don’t miss out on lower home prices & good interest rates. Contact me for details today!