YOU ONLY GET ONE CHANCE TO MAKE
A FIRST IMPRESSION,
LET'S MAKE IT A GREAT ONE!
Patti Lee, Real Estate Consultant. Realtor, Homes For Sale, Land, Realty, New Construction, Property, Foreclosures, Home, Lease, Texas, Results, Move, You, Properties
Saturday, April 13, 2024
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The Best Week To List Your House Is Almost Here
Are you thinking about making a move? If so, now may be the perfect time to start the process. That’s because experts say the best week to list your house is just around the corner.
A recent Realtor.com study looked at housing market trends over the past several years (with the exception of 2020, since it was an unusual year), and found the best week to put your house on the market this year is April 14-20:
“Every year, one week stands out from the rest as that perfect stretch of time when it’s great to be a home seller. This year, the week of April 14–20 is the best time to sell—that is, if sellers want to see lots of interest in their homes, sell quickly, and pocket some extra cash, according to Realtor.com® data.”
Here’s why this matters for you. While the spring market is a great time to sell no matter the week, this may be the peak sweet spot. And if you’ve been putting your plans on the back burner and waiting for the right time to act, this could be the nudge you need to make your move happen. As Hannah Jones, Senior Economic Research Analyst at Realtor.com explains:
“The third week of April brings the best combination of housing market factors for sellers. The best week offers higher buyer demand, lower competition [from other sellers], and fewer price reductions than the typical week of the year.”
But, if you want to get in on the action, you’ll need to move quickly and lean on the pros. Your local real estate agent is the perfect go-to when it comes to figuring out a plan to prep your house and get it on the market.
They’ll be able to offer advice to balance your target listing date with what you need to do from a repair and renovation standpoint. And they can walk you through exactly how to prioritize your list so you know what to tackle first.
For example, if your house is already in good shape, you’ll be able to really focus in on the smaller things that are easy to do and make a big impact. As an article from Investopedia says:
“You won’t have time for any major renovations, so focus on quick repairs to address things that could deter potential buyers.”
Here are some specific examples from that article:
Just remember, even if you’re not ready to list within the next couple of weeks, that’s okay. The window of opportunity doesn’t close when this week ends. Spring is the peak homebuying season and it’s still a seller’s market, so you’ll be in the driver’s seat all season long.
Bottom Line
Ready to get the ball rolling? Connect with a real estate agent to schedule a time to go over your next steps.
keeping current matters
Friday, April 12, 2024
Thursday, April 11, 2024
It Takes 10 Weeks for a Typical Buyer to Find a Home:
5 Things You Can Control That Affect How Long It’ll Take You
Buyers often wonder how long it’ll take to find the perfect home, so they can plan when to start their home search in earnest.
Well, according to the National Association of Realtors®, the short answer is that it typically takes about 10 weeks for a buyer to find a home, based upon the most recent data. That might sound like no time at all, or it could seem like an eternity, depending upon how urgently you need to find a home.
The reality is, buyers often take as much time as they have to work with. For example, if you’re not in a rush and time is on your side, you might take way more than 2.5 months (even over a year!) to find a place. On the other hand, if you need your home search to be as quick and concise as possible, there’s a good chance you’ll do what it takes to keep the time it takes to a minimum.
Unfortunately, there’s no way to actually predict how long it’ll take for you to find the perfect house, because there are a lot of factors to consider. First and foremost, it really depends on the current market conditions. For instance, if there are a lot of houses for sale in the areas and price range you’re looking in, and not that many other buyers competing for those homes, you’ll have a lot more control over how long it takes to find a home you want to buy. But if there aren’t that many homes for sale, and there are a lot of other buyers competing for them, then your home search may take even longer than 10 weeks.
However, while you can’t control supply and demand, there are some things that often cause buyers to prolong their home search, which you do have control over and can be avoided. So, in order to make your home search as efficient and stress-free as possible, here are 5 things to be aware of when searching for a house to buy:
- Know the areas you’re interested in ahead of time. You’re certainly entitled to pivot during your home search and look at areas you might not have been considering before, but the more you can hone in on the areas you’re interested in, the better off you’ll be. Buyers who focus on the houses that appeal to them first, and then back into deciding whether the overall area is a good fit for them, often find themselves wasting time looking at homes in areas that they don’t end up wanting to live in.
- Know what to expect in your price range. Buyers will often joke about how they’re just being “picky” about the houses they’re seeing, and forgo completely great houses in their price range because they don’t want to settle for anything less than perfect. It’s understandable for a buyer to want as nice of a house as possible, but it’s usually not a matter of buyers being too “picky,” so much as it’s a matter of them not accepting the reality of what they can afford. It might sound harsh, but the more realistic you can be about what your dollar can get, the more quickly you’ll be able to hone in on the perfect house for the money you can spend.
- Don’t waste time looking at houses above your price range. A lot of buyers say they just want to see what they could get in the next price range above their limit. Then it stretches into another price range above that. And another. It’s a slippery slope, and it’s usually pointless because, unless a house is grossly overpriced, the odds of negotiating the price down into the price range you can afford is slim. It ends up making it even more difficult for a buyer to like the houses they can afford, when they fall in love with houses above their price range, which are typically more appealing since they’re worth more money. Not only is it a waste of time spent looking at houses you can’t afford, but it often adds time to the process due to the subtle psychological and emotional tolls it takes on a buyer during the process.
- Go see houses as soon as they’re listed. House hunting isn’t a weekend warrior effort anymore. Buyers are often aware of new listings in their price range the minute they hit the market. The most serious buyers in the market will do everything they can to go see a new listing as soon as possible. While this might sound like an obvious thing to do in the fast-paced real estate market, it takes many buyers time to figure this out when they first start their search, and only learn just how fast they need to be once they’ve lost out on a house or two because they waited until the weekend to go see a new listing.
- Make strong offers right away. Some buyers think there will be all the time and options in the world when they first get started on their home search, and will make offers that aren’t as strong or aggressive as they should be. Many buyers waste time making weak offers until they’ve lost a house or two because the owner wouldn’t accept their offer, or they lost to other buyers’ higher bids.
While you can’t control supply and demand, or overall market conditions, those five things will certainly help keep the time your house search takes down to a minimum.
Wednesday, April 10, 2024
TRIVIA TIME Play-doh Question
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TRIVIA TIME Play-doh Answer
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Tuesday, April 9, 2024
BEYOND THE HEADLINES (Part 5 of 5)
The Takeaway:
While the headlines about changing real estate commission structures might sound exciting and like a potential game-changer for you as a home seller or buyer, they are misleading, because nobody knows exactly how things are going to play out. While it’s true that commissions may shift, the details remain uncertain.
If the proposed settlement is accepted by the courts, sellers won’t be able to advertise agent commissions, however they will still be allowed to offer them, just not within their listing. In many cases this will still benefit the seller to do so in order to get the most exposure for their house, and sell it for the most money possible.
Buyers will be given the option to not work with a buyers agent, however that could come with some unexpected downsides and difficulties, and may not produce the savings they anticipate. Fortunately, you will still be able to hire your own representation, and have an agent looking out for your interests and helping you through the process.
PATTI LEE PROPERTIES
Monday, April 8, 2024
BEYOND THE HEADLINES (Part 4 of 5)
Here Are Some Things to Keep in Mind if You’re Buying a House…
- The way buyers’ agents have been paid is a result of originally trying to protect buyers decades ago. Years ago buyers didn’t have an agent dedicated to representing their interests, and were often unaware that the seller’s agent didn’t actually represent their interests as well. So rules and laws were passed to change that, and listing agents were compelled to offer buyers agents a percentage of the commission if they represented a buyer on a house they were listing. This gave buyers more choice in who represented them, and the ability to compensate their agent without having to pay out of pocket. So, for many buyers, this isn’t that great of a change for you unless you cherish the idea of representing yourself and figuring out how to do everything that needs to get done.
- You will now have to choose a buyer’s agent and sign an agreement with them. This has always been an option, and it could be argued that it should always have been required, but most buyers’ agents didn’t want to seem too pushy or aggressive, so they never asked for one. Now you’ll need to sign a contract to work with them.
- Don’t expect agents to be willing or able to work for a much lower commission than they’ve been working for in the past. According to recent data from the National Association of REALTORS®, the average agent earns between $44,951 and $58,528. And they work long and hard to even earn that much. There is rarely a day off, let alone a vacation, and they easily work more than 40 hours per week. Will you be able to find an agent who will work for lower rates? Perhaps. But as is the case in any industry, sometimes going with the lowest cost option ends up costing you more in the end.
- While you may expect sellers to drop their price because they don’t have to pay a buyers’ agent, don’t be surprised if they dig in their heels and expect to get as much or more than similar houses have recently sold for. They will still be basing the market value of their house off of data that had buyer agent commissions factored in.
- If you go it alone, go in knowing that finding the right house, understanding market values, negotiating the best deals, and handling everything involved throughout the process from contract to closing isn’t as easy as it may sound. There is more to buying a house than just finding it online, making an offer, and then going to a closing. You will have to do the work your agent would have done, and know what needs to be done in the first place. The sellers’ agent won’t be doing the work of the non-existent buyers’ agent.
While it’s impossible to predict exactly how everything will play out, those are a few things to keep in mind whether you’re buying or selling.
The best thing to do if you’re curious or concerned about the coming changes is to reach out to your local agent and ask them for their perspective, insights, advice, and to keep you in the loop as the changes get finalized.
to be continued
PATTI LEE PROPERTIES
Sunday, April 7, 2024
BEYOND THE HEADLINES (Part3 of 5)
Here Are Some Things to Keep in Mind if You’re Selling a House…
- It doesn’t mean that you can’t offer a commission to buyers’ agents.
- Although you can’t publish how much you’re willing to offer or agree to on your listing, in most cases, it will still benefit sellers to offer and be willing to offer commissions to buyers’ agents in order to get the most exposure for their home, and ultimately the best offers possible.
- There’s a good chance that buyer agent commissions will likely still be paid through the proceeds of the sale, as they have been for many years.
- If you’re selling to a buyer who doesn’t have an agent representing them, they’ll likely expect you to drop your price accordingly since you’re not paying another agent. In other words, if your house was worth $300,000, and buyers perceive that a buyers’ agent commission would have been 3% — even though it rarely was in reality… but that’s what the public and media have often perceived it to be — then the buyer will want a $9,000 reduction on your price below what they already want to negotiate as the fair market value.
- It could cause more risk and lawsuits that may directly involve you and your property. Dual agency, which is when an agent represents both the buyer and the seller, is one of the leading causes of lawsuits in the industry. This new way of doing business could create a lot more situations where consumers don’t have their own independent representation, which could lead to either the buyer or seller feeling like their interests weren’t entirely represented.
to be continued
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