Rock & A Hard Place
August 21, 2009That is where many home sellers find themselves today. Home sales are up, but prices remain low. Those sellers who would like to move find that they must compete with bank short sales and foreclosures.
With the $8,000, first time home buyer tax credit quickly coming to an end, (buyers must “Take Possession” no later than December 1, 2009) the pool of buyers is most likely to dry-up fast.
Unless buyer’s have an aggressive marketing plan, a competitively price property, that is in top shape, they may be waiting a long time before they receive an attractive offer.
Recently we sold three homes in less than one week, but it took us three or more weeks to get the home ready for the market. The owners needed to first work with our stager and next came all the cosmetic fixes that make the difference between a sale and disappointment. Now, more than ever, homes find themselves in beauty contests.
One additional note, real estate is local, and sometimes really local. This is why we are always on the lookout for new and better tools for our clients…both buyers and sellers. Our weekly market reports by zip code are a must for all buyers and sellers that need to stay up to the minute on price. The nice thing about this report is it breaks price down in many different ways including by price quartile. As we all know homes in the lower price range have been moving much quicker than homes at the upper end…this report breaks out that difference.
OK…let’s look at some charts to see exactly what we are talking about:
Below, I’ve constructed a chart that shows the trend in three areas, Dublin, Westerville and New Albany.
As can be seen here, Westerville has faired better than the other two and has started an upward trend, while Dublin has suffered, has also started an upward trend. New Albany continues to tail downward.
We will need to keep an eye on this and other charts as we approach year end and the last of the homes are sold under the First Time Homebuyers Tax Credit.
