Listing in the Fall/Winter is One of the Best Ways to Get Your Home Sold

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There is a misconception out there that placing your home on the market to sell during the cooler months is a bad idea. Contrary to popular understanding, the truth is that it is a great time to sell your home! Why? Not only because there are fewer properties on the market competing against your home but also since the people that are out there buying continuously seek a great opportunity and keep looking regardless of season. 

Bring in the factor of today’s phenomenal interest rates and you have a winning combination for selling success with all the buyers eager to lock in amazing interest rates still making housing market history.

Home Sales In Fall/Winter Compare Closely to Sales in Spring
Consider this: house for house, there are almost the same number of homes sold during the cooler months of the year as there are in the “peak” real estate season, that is spring. To demonstrate this, I have pulled a few statistics that will surprise you.

Right now there are 15,228 active listings on our market. This translates to just over two months of supply. Going back to the basic concept of supply and demand, anytime there are fewer than 4 months of supply of homes, it is a sellers’ market where homes will sell quickly and for top dollar.

This is the part that surprises most of my clients; looking back to the sales in November of 2011, we had a total of 232 homes sold per day, 260 homes sold daily in December 2011 and skipping forward just a few months to that “peak” season the number was 290 homes sold each day on average in April.

This is merely an 11% difference. In other words, the number of homes sold in the winter months was very similar to those sold in the spring, as evident in these market statistics.

To see more detailed statistics of specific areas, Click Here.

Strong Selling Season Expected Ahead
What this means is that there is no reason for you to pull your home off the market – in fact, I believe that could be detrimental to your selling success. Furthermore, choosing to list your home in a market environment known to generate heightened interest and subsequently multiple offers yielding top dollar is the right choice for most people.

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If you would like me to look at your situation and provide a customized evaluation of what you might expect to receive for your home in today’s market – or anything else dealing with your real estate needs, contact me today.

Why This is the BEST Time to Refinance

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There is no reason to pay more for something – anything, if you don’t need to do it. And this could not be truer for mortgages. When the housing market crashed in 2007 most homeowners had no idea of what the aftereffects would be. Yet today, as we are on the brink of a full recovery and we continue to see national and local improvements across the board – it remains one of the best times to refinance your home.

Here’s why: The Fed continues to keep interest rates at their record setting historic lows. Add to that the slim chance we will not see an increase in the base rate anytime before late 2013 or even 2014 and you have the perfect recipe for mortgage savings.

Right now, we are seeing interest rates that are in the mid 3% range for 30-year fixed rates loans and even lower for 15-year notes. So assuming you qualify, how do you know if a refinance is the right thing for you?

The answer is a simple one. If you are a homeowner that is paying 4% or more on your mortgage – it’s definitely time to see if you qualify for a refinance! Not only is this a great time because the government is actively pushing interest rates down and banks are lending money but also you will see a huge dip in your mortgage payment.

It is important, however, to make sure that you protect your equity. There are several different ways to do a refinance and doing a no-cost one works very well. Keep in mind that purchasing a new home versus refinancing one are two completely different functions. When it comes to refinancing you want to be savvy about how you go about it. The first thing you need to do is find out the approximate value of your home. Your real estate agent will be able to assist you with that by doing a Comparative Market Analysis.

Though there will be closing costs associated with a refinance of your home, just like when purchasing a property, you can finance at a slightly higher rate and then save money since it’s a pure profit as opposed to if you had done a lower interest rate plus costs. There is also no prepayment period this way, making it the best way to refinance in our opinion.

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To find out if you qualify for a refinance or to learn the value of your home, contact us today! We are happy to help!