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Four reasons why homeowners should consider selling in the fall.
I’m sure you’ve heard that spring is always the best time to sell your house. While spring is traditionally a good time to sell, each other season also has its advantages. Here are a few reasons why you should consider selling in the fall:
1. Inventory. There’s less inventory in the fall compared to the spring and summer months. While there may be fewer buyers out there, you’ll also have less competition.
2. Buyer quality. The buyers during this time of year are typically more serious than those out on a nice day looking at an open house or touring homes to get decorating ideas.
3. School and weather. Summer vacation is over now, and kids are back in school. The weather is also very nice this time of year.
4. Autumn marketing. Fall décor will look great in the photos of your house. A cozy house is very inviting.
If you have any questions about selling or listing your house, please reach out to me at (608) 212-5743. I look forward to helping you.
An update on the Madison housing market and what it means for you.
The national housing market is changing drastically—so what does that mean for local markets? Today I have an update on the market specifically in the Madison, Wisconsin, area. Overall, we have seen days on market, prices, and inventory increase, but the number of showings has decreased.
One huge thing is that rising interest rates have put pressure on affordability. Every 1% increase in interest rates raises your monthly payment by about 10%. Plus, rising prices aren’t just affecting real estate; the cost of groceries and gas are climbing too. This means the cost of living is going up, which is putting a strain on many buyers’ affordability.
Secondly, there are around three weeks of available inventory in our area, which is more than just a few months ago. However, even though inventory is rising, it’s still historically low—a balanced market has about six months of inventory. Between this and the rising costs, it is clear that we are still in a seller’s market.
If you want more information about what the market is doing now, or if you’re thinking of buying or selling a home, please reach out to me by phone call or email. I’d love to chat with you and discuss the specifics of your situation!
Four ways to make your offer more competitive in multiple-offer situations.
Today’s real estate market is still competitive for buyers. If you fall in love with a home, chances are that other buyers have seen it as well, and you’ll have to compete against them to get your offer accepted. Even though interest rates have increased, there still aren’t enough homes to balance out our market. That means sellers have the upper hand, and buyers are forced to compete against each other. Fortunately, there are a few ways you can make your offer stand out to sellers:
1. Offer above the asking price. You’ll have to offer more than asking price if you want to win in a multiple-offer situation, but that doesn’t mean you’ll have to bring too much more money to the table. An extra $2,000 might be enough to draw the seller’s attention. As long as you don’t offer far more than the asking price, this shouldn’t change your monthly payment that much.
2. Limit your inspection. Many sellers worry about deals falling apart because of issues during the inspection. However, if you waive your inspection entirely, you could be on the hook for costly repairs. Instead, you can limit your risk by reducing the inspection period or agreeing to only ask for major repairs.
3. Cover the appraisal. With home prices rising so quickly, many houses aren’t appraising for their final sales price. Normally, the buyer and seller would negotiate to see who’s responsible for the difference. However, you can make your offer more attractive by agreeing to cover a potential appraisal gap. If you’re already fully underwritten, you can waive your appraisal contingency entirely. If not, then you can offer appraisal gap coverage, which is where you’ll cover any gap up to a certain amount you choose.
4. Be flexible. Sellers might want different things concerning the timing of their sale. You can work with the seller’s agent and either offer an extended closing or a quick closing to coincide with the seller’s needs. Doing so can help your offer stand out to the seller. To sweeten the deal even more, you can also offer a leaseback agreement or post-occupancy period, where you let the seller stay in their house after closing to give them time to move and/or find another house. These agreements usually last for anywhere up to 60 days and can be a great way to offer your seller a flexible closing.
If you’re tired of competing, have hope. Interest rates are rising, and it looks like the competition from buyers is easing up slightly. While we still expect to see a seller’s market for a while, it may get easier to purchase a home in the coming months.
If you’d like to take a look at what’s presently available on the market, you can view our multiple listing service here:
Click here to see all available homes in your area.
If you have any questions about making your offer more competitive or buying homes in general, feel free to call or email us. We would love to help you navigate this market.
Looking to sell a Dane County home? Get a FREE home value report here
Today’s Madison market update is geared toward what sellers need to know.
Today I’m discussing what happened in our Madison area real estate market in 2021. I’ll also talk about how that affects our current market and what it will mean if you’re considering selling this year. Based on current conditions and what’s likely to come, now may be the best time to sell your house, and today I’ll explain why.
Feel free to watch the full message above, or use these timestamps that will direct you to various points in the video:
0:00 — Introduction to today’s topic
0:58 — Number of homes on the market
2:05 — What prices are doing right now
2:35 — What interest rates are doing right now
3:03 — What to expect from the second-home market
3:58 — What all this means for you
4:34 — Wrapping up today’s topic
If you’re ready to get the selling process rolling or have any questions, give me a call or send an email. I would love to be your real estate resource.
This week’s blog post on our sister site, MadisonNeighborhoods.com, was an absolute blast to write. We spent some time interviewing a few of the ladies of Keller Williams Madison, picking their minds on what their dream homes look like. Head on over to hear what they had to say!
Head over to our sister site, MadisonNeighborhoods.com, to check out our latest blog post for events in Madison for the month of June.
Head to this week’s blog post on our sister site MadisonNeighborhoods.com to learn ways you can pay tribute to the brave military personnel we’ve lost while they fought for our rights.
Head to today’s blog post on our sister site, MadisonNeighborhoods.com, to get a feel for some of the food trucks you can find in Madison this summer!
Head to our sister site, MadisonNeighborhoods.com, to check out our latest blog post which gives a list of some pretty neat tree houses that you can actually rent out through hosts on Airbnb!
…even more Madison events!
Check out our latest blog post to hear about all of the upcoming events in Madison in May 2019.
