Top Reasons Why Selling Your Home in Today's Marketplace is Literally a Good Move

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Deciding to sell your home is one of the most significant decisions you’ll ever need to make and before you make that life-changing choice, it’s important to know how the real estate market is performing. During the past 6,7 or more years we have seen a steadily decreasing inventory as more and more buyers venture back into the housing market.

Back in 2008 the housing market was enduring one of the roughest times in history with plummeting home values, too much inventory and virtually no interest in the homes that were for sale.

Sellers Finally Have An Edge in the Marketplace

Today, it’s a world of difference. Our inventory of available homes for sale is at its lowest in 6 years. With just 3.7 months of inventory, or 3,100 active listings on the market, it would take that much time to sell the homes if nothing new were to come on the market.

So if you have been considering selling your home, now is the time to do it. As more and more homeowners ask how they can tell if it’s time to sell, we increasingly find ourselves sharing this important news of our market shift into a seller’s market.

Buyers Can Look Forward to Appreciation Moving Ahead

Buyers are also enjoying some benefits of today’s marketplace, including still historic low interest rates, increased flexibility with mortgage lending practices and market that supports buying more so than renting. But there are far more buyers today that are eager to lock in the still-amazing low interest rates before prices begin to appreciate. Predictions indicate the median priced home will see a three to four percent appreciation as early as within the next twelve months. The challenge, of course, is getting the home that buyers want in a market where there are more buyers vying for the most desirable properties.

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Before everything starts climbing again – now is the time to consider selling your home. Sellers are getting top dollar for their properties, often as a result of multi-offer situations, price competitions and the sheer scarcity of homes.

The same thing holds true for buyers; act now before it’s too late.

Contact us today if you’d like to have us provide an honest evaluation of your home’s value in today’s market. Depending on your motivation level, we will work out a strategy to help you achieve your real estate goals – and make the right move.

760 340 9253

dave@teamkibbey.com

Taking Advantage of the Market

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Have you ever made a decision not to take action and then a few years down the road you wished you would have done something? Don’t let that happen with this market. It’s time to buy. Inventory is thinning and, as soon as we get into summer, there will be even fewer homes on the market. When the inventory decreases, the price of homes will climb up. It’s the law of supply and demand.  

The market is definitely starting to tip toward a sellers’ market because of the dwindling inventory. What does this mean for the buyer? When the market transforms into a sellers’ market, since there are fewer homes on the market, there’s more competition for available homes. This makes it tough on the buyer. Low inventory often translates into multiple bids for homes in good condition, high list-to-sale price ratios and the sellers being able to negotiate better terms. Great for the seller, but not so good for the buyer. 

But right now, buyers have a great advantage because of interest rates. They can afford more of a home because of low interest rates. Interest rates are still below 4% with some as low as 3% with a 15- or 20-year fixed-rate mortgage, and mortgage bankers are eager to lend. When interest rates rise, the buyer could get locked into spending a few hundred extra dollars a month on your payment. So why wait? It’s an excellent time to buy.  

Let’s find a property before you end up paying a lot more it when summer arrives.  Give us a call so we can tell you where to be positioned and how to be successful in this market. Please contact us at (760) 774-0105 or dave@teamkibbey.com. 

5 Tips to Prepare Your Home for Market

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There are many things you can do to make sure that your home is prepared and in its most appealing state to buyers before you put it on the market.  Here are five of the most important things you as a seller can do to insure that when a potential buyer comes to your property, they feel at home.

Landscaping

The old adage about not judging a book by its cover certainly does apply to properties but the last thing you want to do is lose a potential sale because you haven’t paid attention to first impressions.  Most homeowners these days have watched some HGTV and one of the things that come up in many of their shows is “curb appeal”. Curb appeal refers to how attractive or enticing the exterior of a home is in terms of landscaping, the driveway area, front porch, entryway, garage and other exterior features.

It goes without saying that you should repair any damage and clean up areas that are out of sorts.  Adding soft touches like some flowers or even some professional landscaping can also make a world of difference in buyers’ impressions of the home.  If you are showing a home after dark, one thing you can do is to turn on exterior lights, creating an appealing peek through as people first drive up to the home.

De-Clutter

Nothing is more of a turn off to buyers than a home filled with too much stuff. The last thing buyers want to see is closets and counter space bursting at the seams with too many things, an over-abundance of personal items or a mismatched and unattractive arrangement of furniture.  Classic, simple décor with clean lines and neutral colors is most appealing. Not only does this allow them to see the actual house but it also gives them the opportunity to visualize their own customization in the space. 

Walk through the home and remove all extra items that are lying around, clear off kitchen counters and remove all personal items from bathrooms and other surfaces.  Imagine walking into the perfect hotel room – while looking lived-in, the space is still elegant without too many things crowding the space. 

Paint

You may not realize this but the simple act of repainting the walls in your home can do wonders for the success of selling your home. And when you add up just how little it costs versus how much the payback is – it’s a no brainer! Try to put yourself in buyers’ shoes and allow them as much flexibility with their imagination to envision their own stuff in the house. How do you do that? Easy. Cover the walls with a nice, neutral color and you can’t go wrong. That’s what our resident painter does and by the time he and his team are done, the homes he paints for us just before listing come out looking brand new and completely transformed.

Flooring

Most people think of the big things when considering what makes a property ripe and ready for sale, generating the interest of lots of buyers and creating lots of incoming offers on the sale.  But what many do not realize is that by just changing one aspect of your home’s interior, they can and will significantly enhance the value of that home.  By installing quality, buyer-friendly flooring, the value of a home will jump up, as will the interest from buyers looking for the perfect place.  

Leave the Home

In order for a potential buyer to feel like this could be THEIR home, it’s best for the owner to leave the property whenever there is a showing. If you remain in the home during showings then potential buyers will not be able to envision themselves living in the property; they will see themselves as visitors in your home.