Tag Archives: house selling tips

Posted on by August 11, 2016

How To Get The Most Money When Selling Your House

Every homeowner wants to make sure they maximize their financial reward when selling their home. But how do you guarantee that you receive maximum value for your house? Here are two keys to ensuring you get the highest price possible.

1. Price it a LITTLE LOW

This may seem counterintuitive. However, let’s look at this concept for a moment. Many homeowners think that pricing their home a little OVER market value will leave them room for negotiation. In actuality, this just dramatically lessens the demand for your house (see chart below).

How To Get The Most Money When Selling Your House | Simplifying The Market

Instead of the seller trying to ‘win’ the negotiation with one buyer, they should price it so that demand for the home is maximized. In that way, the seller will not be fighting with a buyer over the price, but instead will have multiple buyers fighting with each other over the house.

Realtor.com, gives this advice:

“Aim to price your property at or just slightly below the going rate. Today’s buyers are highly informed, so if they sense they’re getting a deal, they’re likely to bid up a property that’s slightly underpriced, especially in areas with low inventory.”

2. Use a Real Estate Professional

This too may seem counter intuitive. The seller may think they would net more money if they didn’t have to pay a real estate commission. With this being said, studies have shown that homes typically sell for more money when handled by a real estate professional.

Research posted by the Economists’ Outlook Blog revealed that:

“The median selling price for all FSBO homes was $210,000 last year. When the buyer knew the seller in FSBO sales, the number sinks to the median selling price of $151,900. However, homes that were sold with the assistance of an agent had a median selling price of $249,000 – nearly $40,000 more for the typical home sale.”

How To Get The Most Money When Selling Your House | Simplifying The Market

Bottom Line

Price your house at or slightly below the current market value and hire a professional. That will guarantee you maximize the price you get for your house.

Posted on by August 10, 2016

Real Estate Values Today Compared to Pre-2008 Peak

This housing market has many people talking about home values; where they are and where they are headed. It’s also interesting to look back and see how home prices compare to values prior to the housing crisis.

Every quarter, Freddie Mac releases their House Price Index. The index usually provides monthly home values for:

  • the nation as a whole
  • each of the 50 states
  • 367 metropolitan statistical areas

This quarter, the report also included a look at today’s home values as compared to Pre-2008 values. Here is a graphic that breaks down the numbers on a state-by-state basis:

Real Estate Values Today Compared to Pre-2008 Peak | Simplifying The Market

Posted on by August 9, 2016

Home Sales Up in Every Price Range over $100K!

The National Association of Realtors’ most recent Existing Home Sales Report revealed that home sales were up rather dramatically over last year in five of the six price ranges they measure.

Homes priced between $100-250K showed a modest increase at 3.4%. This not only points to the lower inventory of homes available for sale in this price range but also speaks to the overall strength of the housing market.

Sales of homes over $250,000 increased by double digit percentages with sales in the $750,000- $1 million range showing the largest increase, up 16.7%!

As prices in many markets continue to accelerate, it is no surprise to see the percentage of homes in the higher price ranges increasing.

Here is the breakdown:

Homes Sales Up in Every Price Range over $100K! | Simplifying The Market

What does that mean to you if you are selling?

Houses are definitely selling. If your house has been on the market for any length of time and has not yet sold, perhaps it is time to interview other agents to see what can be done differently to market it. Contact us – we’d love an opportunity to show you why are sellers are selling in about half the time and for about 4% more (compared to the average agent).

Posted on by August 4, 2016

Thinking of Selling Your House? Pick the Right Agent!

Today, more and more sellers are stepping back, taking a look at the advice real estate professionals give them, and asking themselves whether they can trust that advice. And that is exactly what they should do.

The most important question you can ask when you are choosing a real estate agent is whether you feel you can trust them. You must know that they’re giving you great advice, and that they’re going to be able to help you accomplish your family’s goals. You must trust your listing agent enough to allow them to:

  • Handle the liquidation of possibly the largest asset your family has
  • Help set the market value of that asset (get the price right)
  • Set the timetable for the liquidation of that asset
  • Set a fair fee for the services required to liquidate that asset

All four of these require a tremendous amount of trust. They’re going to sell your prized possession, set its value, set a time schedule as to when your family will be able to move, and determine the fee that you’re going to pay to get those three things accomplished.

You have to trust your agent enough to allow them to help you and your family reach your dreams.

Whether you’re a grandfather up North looking to move to Florida to spend your later years with your grandkids, or a young person who wants to take that job in San Francisco but first has to get your house sold in Chicago, you need an agent you can trust to help you move on with what’s important.

Posted on by August 3, 2016

New Home Sales Up 25.4% Last Month!

According to the latest Census Bureau Report, sales of newly constructed homes soared to new heights in June to a seasonally adjusted rate of 592,000. This marks the highest annual rate in 8 years. 

Trulia’s Chief Economist, Ralph McLaughlin had this to say:

“New home sales jumped sharply in June, and marked the best month since February 2008. This is a continued sign that demand for homes remains solid and aptly reflects increasing homebuilder confidence.” 

Sales have been climbing consistently over the last six months as shown in the graph below.

New Home Sales Up 25.4% Last Month! | Simplifying The Market

One of the many reasons why many homeowners turn to the new homes market to find their dream home is due to the lack of existing homes for sale. As we have mentioned before, buyer demand is outpacing the supply of homes for sale at record rates.

Bottom Line

If you are a homeowner who is debating listing your home for sale this year, now may be the time. Let’s get together to help you take advantage of the buyers that are ready, willing and able to buy in your area.

Posted on by July 29, 2016

Home Sales Accelerate During The “Dog Days of Summer”

Some Highlights:

  • Existing home sales have accelerated to the highest pace since February 2007 at an annual pace of 5.57 million.
  • Inventory of homes for sale remains below the historically normal 6-month mark at a 4.6-month supply, down 5.8% year-over-year.
  • Median home sales prices rose to $247,700, 4.8% higher than a year ago and replaced the previous peak in May of $238,900.
Posted on by July 26, 2016

The Top Reason to List Your House For Sale Now!

 

If you are debating listing your house for sale this year, here is the #1 reason not to wait! 

Buyer Demand Continues to Outpace the Supply of Homes For Sale

The National Association of REALTORS’ (NAR) Chief Economist, Lawrence Yun recently commented on the inventory shortage:

“With demand holding firm and homes selling even faster than a year ago, the notable increase in closings in recent months took a dent out of what was available for sale.

Realtors are acknowledging, with increasing frequency lately, that buyers continue to be frustrated by the tense competition and lack of affordable homes for sale in their market.”

The latest Existing Home Sales Report shows that there is currently a 4.6-month supply of homes for sale. This remains lower than the 6-month supply necessary for a normal market and 5.8% lower than June 2015.

The chart below details the year-over-year inventory shortages experienced over the last 12 months:

Housing Supply Year-Over-Year | Simplifying The Market

Anything less than a six-month supply is considered a “Seller’s Market”.

Bottom Line

Let’s get together and discuss the supply conditions in your neighborhood to be able to assist you in gaining access to the buyers who are ready, willing and able to buy now!

Posted on by July 21, 2016

Is Now the Right Time to Put Your House on the Market …or Not?

Last week, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released their Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator of home sales based on contract signings. The report revealed that this May’s numbers weren’t quite as good as the year before:

“With last month’s decline, the index reading is still the third highest in the past year, but declined year-over-year for the first time since August 2014.”

The mainstream media ran headlines highlighting that the index had dropped for the first time in two years. Many read this as an indication that the housing market must be slowing down.

If you were thinking that now may be the perfect time to put your house on the market, these reports may have caused you some concern. We want to alleviate that concern today.

Though it is true that the index dropped in last month’s report, let’s take a closer look at the numbers. Below is a graph of the index since January 2014. We can see that the index has increased every month over the last eighteen months, leading up to this past May.

Is Now the Right Time to Put Your House on the Market …or Not? | Simplifying The Market

Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist at NAR, explained that it wasn’t a slowing of the market that caused the index to slip, but instead a lack of housing inventory:

“Total housing inventory at the end of each month has remarkably decreased year-over-year now for an entire year. There are simply not enough homes coming onto the market to catch up with demand.”

Here is a graph depicting the situation Yun was referencing:

Is Now the Right Time to Put Your House on the Market …or Not? | Simplifying The Market

Bottom Line

Did the latest numbers from the Pending Home Sales Index cause you to question if now is a good time to put your house on the market? If anything, it indicated the exact opposite: that this may be the perfect time to sell!!