4 Reasons why The Corals Homeowners who are sitting on the fence to sell, Should sell sooner as opposed to later

The housing market
keeps moving upwards, and the only major obstacle is the lack of inventory for
sale.  The National Association
of Realtors (NAR) reported recently that there were 410000 fewer homes (SFH)
 for sale, this March compared to March of
2020. The key for the momentum to continued is for more listings to come onto the
market.   However, many homeowners are
concerned that selling their homes could be challenging for several reasons.

Recently, Homes.com published a finding of a survey that highlighted
these concerns, as well as what it will take for homeowners to feel confident
in selling their homes.   The 4 major issues and responses to what’s actually happening
in today's real estate market.

1. You're worried that you won't be able to find your next home before
selling.

In negotiations, The power
that one side may have to influence the other side while moving closer to their
negotiating position is called Leverage. A party’s leverage is based on the
ability to award benefits or eliminate costs on the other side.

In today’s market,
buyers have compelling reasons to purchase a home now:

·       
To own a home of their
own

·       
To buy before prices
continue to appreciate.

·       
To secure a mortgage
at a historically low rate, while they last

These buyer needs give
the seller's tremendous leverage. Most already realize this leverage enables the homeowner
to sell at a good price. However, this leverage may also be used to negotiate
time to find their next home.  The homeowner may sell their home to the buyer at today’s price, which will enable
the purchaser to take advantage of current mortgage rates. And in return, the buyer might lease the house back to the seller for a pre-determined length of
time while the seller finds a new home or has one built.

This gives the buyer
what they want while also giving the seller what they need. It’s truly win-win
negotiation.

2. You don’t know if your
home will sell for the asking price or top market price.

This is the perfect
time to maximize your profit while selling your home. NAR just released a  report that showed bidding wars are at an all-time high.  The report shows that when comparing the first
quarter of last year to the first quarter of this year, the number of offers on
homes for sale doubled from an average of 2.4 to 4.8 offers. Whenever there’s a bidding war, the price of the item for sale escalates. Bloomberg recently published saying:

“For the first time ever, the average U.S. home is selling for above its list price.”

If a seller is looking for a top-dollar sale, there’s no better time to sell than right now.

3. You don’t know if they will get an offer without making repairs or updates.

Leverage is the greatest strength a seller has in this market. Due to the lack of homes
for sale, many buyers are more willing to take on home improvement projects
themselves in order to get the home they’re after.

A recent post
whether or not to renovate before selling notes:

“It may be wise to let future homeowners
remodel the bathroom or the kitchen to make design decisions that are best for
their specific taste and lifestyle. As a seller, your dollars and time might be
better spent working on small cosmetic updates, like refreshing some paint and
power washing the exterior. Instead of over-investing in your home with
upgrades that the buyers may change anyway, work with a real estate
professional to determine the key projects that will maximize your listing,
without overdoing it.”

If you are concerned about
doing work or updates on your home, you should realize that today’s
historically low inventory likely renders these projects less critical to the
sale of the house.

4. You don’t know if you can
have a quick closing process.

When speed is
important, there are two points sellers should look at:

·       
The time it takes to
find a buyer for the home

·       
The time it takes to
close the transaction

In the most recent Existing
Home Sales Report NAR reports that:

“Properties typically remained on the market
for 18 days in March, down from 20 days in February and from 29 days in March
2020. Eighty-three percent of the homes sold in March 2021 were on the market
for less than a month.”

Eighteen days is fast,
and it’s a new record. Here are the days the average house is on the market in
each state

Regarding the time it will take to close  the transaction, all-cash sales accounted for 23% of all home purchase
transactions in March. All-cash sales can usually be closed in thirty days.

If a mortgage is
necessary, the last published Origination Insight Report from Ellie Mae read

“Time to close all loans decreased in March.
The average time to close a purchase fell to 51 days, down from 53 the month
prior.”

If you’re looking for a quick closing process, there’s never been a market in which the two-step
process (finding a buyer and closing the deal) has taken less time.

Take Away

Selling your home can be overwhelming, especially in a fast-paced market like today. The fact that we’re in such a strong sellers’ market should

eliminate many common concerns. Let’s connect so you can learn more about the opportunities for homeowners who are ready to sell.

Tom Wolf Team

The Corals / Coral Heights Oakland Park Real Estate Experts