How did the 2016 real estate market do? What can you expect from the 2017 market?
Today, I’ll go over a quick recap of the 2016 real estate market, as well as a 2017 real estate market update. In 2016, listings were up 8% from 2015. Interestingly, the number of listings decreased by more than 4%. What does that mean? Inventory is shrinking and prices are going up. In fact, the average sales price went up by 3.6% to just over $231,000, and the average days on the market went from 75 days in 2015 to 68 days in 2016.
Now is a great time to be in the real estate market.
What does that mean for the 2017 real estate market? If you’ve been thinking about selling your home, now is the time to get on the market. Interest rates went up last year and they are expected to go up a few more times in 2017, so get on the market while rates are still low and buyer demand is still high. As a buyer, you might want to jump into the market before rates go up and your buying power goes down. If you have any other questions about our current market, just give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!
If you’re selling your home and you have pets, follow these tips to appeal to more buyers.
I thought I’d take some time today to talk a little bit about selling a home with pets. I’ve got five steps that will help you prepare your home for sale while your pets are living there, too. Whether you have a cat, dog, bird, or any other animal, follow these tips: 1. Get the pet(s) out of the home before showings. Whether buyers love or hate your pet, they are going to be a distraction during the showing. The best thing to do is have a doggy daycare, a family member, friend, or neighbor watch the pet while there is a showing going on. If you have no other option but to keep them in the house, make sure they are put in a kennel. 2. Hide evidence of pets. This includes food and water bowls, leashes, and toys. Eliminate any pictures of your pets and other signs that suggest you have them. 3. Clean up any pet mess. Be conscious of their hair, stains, and any other damage they may have caused in your house. 4. Remove any odors. Ask your agent or someone who doesn’t come to your house regularly if they notice any pet odors. If they do, fix it. Odors can linger in places like the carpet, a bed, or furniture. Clear those odors out with fresh air as opposed to air freshener.
Odors can linger in carpet or furniture.
5. Prepare your yard. This could be one of the best selling features in your house, so you want to make sure all waste is picked up and repair any damage to grass. If you want to sell your home and you have a pet, it’s much easier if you follow these steps. If you have any questions for us, give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
If you are looking for a real estate agent, it is vitally important that you ask them these five questions before giving them the important job of selling your home.
Despite what most people think, not all agents are created equal. Are all attorneys the same? Are all CPAs the same? Are all doctors the same? Of course not. So, how can you make sure that you hire the right real estate agent? I recommend asking them these five questions: 1. How many homes have you sold so far this year? You should also ask how many homes they sold the previous year. Why? The average agent sells fewer than three homes in a calendar year, which means that they probably don’t know much about real estate. At the Roth Team, we’ve sold 175 homes so far this year; last year, we sold 236 homes. 2. What is your average list to sales price ratio? In other words, how close is the purchase price to the asking price? Some agents offer a lower commission because they will give your house away. They let the buyer negotiate the price down. Our average list to sales price ratio is 98.4%, which is very close to asking price. 3. What is the average days on market for the homes you list and sell? Of course, if it takes an agent six months to a year to sell homes, they are wasting time and money. This year, our homes spent an average of 48 days on the market. 4. How many years of experience do you have? Do they have another job? Quite honestly, many agents do not make enough money to support their income in real estate. Many agents have less than three to five years of experience in the market. I’ve been doing this full-time for 35 years. Experience counts; it can really make a difference when it comes to selling your home. 5. How many people will you talk to every day to sell my home? Every agent puts your home on the MLS, throws it on a few websites, and takes out an ad in the paper. Some agents may even hold open houses. However, those methods are not good enough. They need to personally contact potential buyers every day. We call that active marketing. Our team contacts as many as 100 people a day to get your home sold.
You need an experienced agent who works full-time.
If you have any other questions about real estate, please don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. My team and I would be happy to help you!
