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Buying & Selling At The Same Time?

Posted by on Mar 14, 2019 in Buying a Home, Local Experts, Pre-Market Opportunities, Real Estate, Selling a Home, Uncategorized | 0 comments

8 Mistakes to Avoid When Buying and Selling at the Same Time
By Jamie Wiebe | Jan 24, 2019

Plenty of people find themselves buying and selling a home simultaneously, but knowing that others have gone through the same stress does not make it one bit easier. After all, the stakes are so high: If your buyer backs out, you don’t have any cash to land your next home! Or if your own purchase falls through but your current home sells, you’re homeless!

It’s all like walking across the Grand Canyon on a tightrope: The tiniest thing goes wrong, and you fall. It turns out that most buying-and-selling mistakes are easily avoidable—or at least predictable. Follow these eight tips to enter escrow with eyes wide open.

  1. Waiting too long to prep your home for selling

Every home needs a little work before selling. You might need to repaint some scratched walls, fix broken decking, or add grout in a rarely used bathroom. Don’t wait until the last minute to kick-start this process, otherwise you could wind up in a bind.

Take, for example, one of the clients of real estate associate Kenneth Er. He was trying to buy and sell simultaneously. Er advised him repeatedly to start prepping the home, “but he kept pushing it off and pushing it off, despite actively looking for a new home and submitting offers.”

Once the client went under contract to buy a home, suddenly he and Er found themselves rushing to list his existing home. When they finally finished prepping, it was already October—precisely when the market was slowing down and it became tougher to find a buyer.

“I advised him—and would advise anyone—to get the little projects out of the way,” Er says.

  1. Skipping the backup plan

When you’re buying and selling simultaneously, the number of moving parts doubles. And if any of those parts gets jammed, it can throw off both transactions.

For example, Miami Realtor® Juan P. Rojas was recently involved in a three-way transaction where the sellers of property A wanted to buy property B—and the sellers of property B wanted to buy property C.

“We had to coordinate two closes and three different families moving in and out of properties,” he recalls.

It worked out, but Rojas cautions: “Assume that you won’t be able to buy and sell at exactly the same time.”

And with that assumption, you better have a plan in place in case everything goes wrong. Keep your emergency fund well-stocked. In a best-case scenario, you may simply need a hotel for a week, but you may also find yourself looking into short-term rentals. Have cash on hand—in addition to your down payment funds—to survive the setback.

  1. Buying too big

“One of the biggest mistakes that we see that simultaneous buyers and sellers make is the same one that many first-time buyers make: They fail to get pre-approved on their new loan,” says Orange Country Realtor Jessica Althoff.

Pre-approval is essential, because it puts a stop to unrealistic dreaming by telling you exactly what size of house you can afford.

 “Buyers assume that with a large down payment and increased income, they will automatically qualify for a larger home loan,” she says. “Many do, but not as large as they think or wish. They begin the search and are disappointed when they can’t upgrade as much as they thought they would be able to.”

  1. Working with too little cushion

You know what price your house should sell for. But what if the market softens? If you’re forced to take an offer that’s $20,000 less than expected, there goes the down payment on your new home.

“Give yourself a cushion on what you need to sell your existing home for,” Er says.

If you’re hoping to use the entire sale price as a down payment on another home, move forward with the assumption your home will sell for less than expected.

One of Er’s clients set a purchase budget of $2.2 million. In order to afford his new home, he needed to sell his home for about $1.3 million. Not only did he exceed his purchasing budget, Er says, “We’re unlikely to get $1.3 million for his current home, due to the softening market and the time of the year. He’s stressed out and scrambling.”

  1. Failing to compromise

Don’t forget you’re not the only human in a stressful situation. That person selling your dream home? And the buyers under contract for your current place? They’re all probably stressed, too.

So keep that in mind when issues come up—for example, if the buyers need an extra week of escrow because there was an issue selling their home, or the sellers don’t think they need to fix a leaky pipe for you.

“One mistake is expecting so much from the people selling the home, but not being willing to give anything to the buyers of their own home,” Althoff says. “A little compromise goes a long way, especially when there are two escrows (or more) on the line.”

  1. Using two different real estate agents

Expect this already messy process to get even messier if you’re juggling agents for your listing and for buying a new home. Simplify things by using the same agent for both transactions.

“I would always prefer to handle both sides of your sale and purchase,” says agent Michael Pacheco. “Having control and insight over both transactions allows me to make sure that we close both homes simultaneously.”

There are two instances when you should not use the same real estate agent. If you’re moving out of state, look for a reputable buyer’s agent in your new location. If you’re remaining in the same area, you may also meet and like an agent who works exclusively with buyers or sellers — not both. In that case, ask for a recommendation within your agent’s brokerage so you can, at a minimum, keep both transactions under the same roof.

  1. Closing on a Friday…

While you should work with your agent to determine the best timing, you’d ideally want to finalize the sale of your current home first, and then close on your new one. Try to aim for closings within two or three days of the other—”and never on a Friday,” says Realtor Karen Choate.

 

That’s because bank transfers can take a few days to go through. In order to ensure there’s money in your account when the time comes, buffer a few days to transfer funds.

  1. …or late in the afternoon

When you’re scheduling those closings, aim for the morning—especially on the sale of your current home.

“Banks usually stop wire transfers by 3 p.m. in the time zone where the property is located,” says Choate. Closing in the morning allows extra time for the money to hit your account.

Courtesy of Realtor.com https://www.realtor.com/advice/buy/buying-and-selling-a-home-simultaneously-8-mistakes/

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Housing Slowdown? Softening?

Posted by on Jan 25, 2019 in Buying a Home, Local Experts, Mortgage Info, Pre-Market Opportunities, Real Estate, Retirement, Selling a Home, Uncategorized | 0 comments

Whatever You Call It, It’s Real and It’s Here

By Clare Trapasso | Realtor.com

Ever since the whiplash-inducing, bust-and-boom cycle of the U.S. housing market kicked into high gear with last decade’s devastating crash and this decade’s ever-escalating home prices, bidding wars, and inventory shortages, one question has been top of mind for buyers and sellers alike: Is this “party” ending anytime soon? Lately, those who read economic tea leaves have been hinting that we may be heading toward a significant correction in the go-go-go American housing market. Surely national home price increases have to slow down eventually, right?

It turns out they may be on to something.

“The signs are pointing to a market that’s shifting toward buyers,” says Danielle Hale, chief economist of realtor.com®. “But in most places, we’re still a long way from a full reversal.”

Related Articles

ake no mistake: Prices are not exactly tumbling down—at least, not on the national level. And there’s no evidence on the horizon of a looming housing bubble about to pop and drag the world economy down with it. Median home list prices are still up 7% year over year this August, according to an analysis of realtor.com data.

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But hold on—those numbers are a drop-off from the past couple of years. In 2015 things were really rolling: Prices were soaring, multiple offers were the norm in many markets, and the number of homes available was falling fast. Last year, home list prices jumped 10% over the year before. The year before that, it was 9%. So while a 7% rise still sounds like a lot—especially compared with annual inflation of just 2.9%—it’s actually a very real sign that the market may finally be coming back down to earth.

And the national figures tell only part of the story. A deep dive into regional housing metrics by the realtor.com data team indicates that some of the nation’s highest-profile, bellwether housing markets are starting to slow.

Housing slowdown?  |  Tony Frenzel

 

So what does it all mean? Sellers shooting for the stars may not be able to get quite as much as they’d like. And, in a boon to buyers, the number of homes on the market is finally starting to rise. In August, 18 of the 45 largest housing markets, including such heavyweights as San Francisco, New York City, Los Angeles, Boston, and Dallas, saw more properties go up for sale than the previous year. That means folks not only have a better shot at closing on the home of their dreams, but they’ll also face less competition. And that controls runaway price inflation.

“We’ve hit that tipping point in a lot of these cities where what sellers think they can get is just not possible for many buyers,” says Daren Blomquist, senior vice president at real estate information provider ATTOM Data Solutions. “Now the pendulum is swinging away from sellers and back toward buyers.”

Now housing experts are divided on how much prices will keep going up or whether they’ll even—gasp—go flat.  So what does the future hold?

Why is the real estate market beginning to slow?

One of the main reasons the housing market is beginning to turn is rising mortgage interest rates.

Do the math: The more expensive it becomes to secure a loan, the less money buyers have left to spend on a property. Rates were up 0.82% year over year to reach 4.65% on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages as of Sept. 20, according to Freddie Mac. And each percentage point uptick adds about $143 to the monthly payments—and nearly $51,500 over the life of a loan—on a median-priced home of $300,000. (That’s assuming a 20% down payment.)

That’s no small chunk of change—and, as Blomquist points out, even a small increase can be enough to push enough buyers out of the game.

President Donald Trump‘s tax plan could also be limiting just how high prices can go, particularly in the priciest parts of the country. That’s because buyers can now deduct the mortgage interest they pay on loans up to only $750,000. Previously, they could deduct it for loans up to $1 million.

And while this sounds like a problem reserved for the 1-percenters, in some expensive markets, even starter homes go for around $1 million. Combine that with a $10,000 cap on a combination of property and either sales or income taxes, and it spells trouble for homeowners and buyers in California, New York, and New Jersey. Those states tend to have high property taxes that folks can no longer get a federal break on.

Homeowners certainly aren’t oblivious to these factors—many of them are rushing to put their homes on the market to get as much as they can before prices begin to come down, say housing experts and real estate agents. The resulting higher inventory gives buyers a bit more power.

Could California be slowing its roll?

California price reductions  |  Tony Frenzel

The one state in the country where the cost of housing is hurtling ever more out of reach for the 99-percenters has been California, particularly its coastal cities. The Golden State’s median home price is $542,500—well above the national median of nearly $295,000.

But now, after years as one of America’s hottest housing markets, California is showing some chinks in its armor. Many overzealous sellers who listed their homes at unrealistically high prices are now being forced to reduce them. The state experienced the nation’s biggest increase in the number of homes seeing list price reductions. But just because some sellers overshot doesn’t mean that the state’s housing is suddenly going through a clearance sale. Overall, median home prices were up 5%, and inventory increased 14% year over year.

“We are bumping up against peak prices,” says Patrick Carlisle, chief market analyst for the San Francisco Bay Area at the real estate company Compass. “Whether it will just be a slowdown or a plateau or a small adjustment in home values, and how big that adjustment is, that I don’t know.”

Santa Clara County, the heart of Silicon Valley, saw the biggest jump in the number of homes on realtor.com seeing price reductions. There, the number of homes where prices were lowered zoomed up 171% in August, even as the number of listings surged 77%. The likely culprit: rampant overpricing. It turns out home costs can’t go up forever, even in the shadow of Google and Apple headquarters.

Santa Clara–based real estate broker Rick Smith is seeing the most price reductions for higher-end properties in the $3 million-and-up range. But prices on homes located farther away from the bigger companies are also falling as folks are looking for shorter commutes to work. And buyers are more hesitant to take the plunge.

“People are concerned if we hit peak and I buy now, what happens?” says Smith, of Windermere Real Estate. So they’re waiting to see what happens.

Can Seattle’s double-digit price growth go on forever?

Now don’t get too excited: Median prices in Seattle, the birthplace of tech behemoth Amazon, aren’t coming down. (They’re about $552,600 for the metro area and $692,875 within the city limits.)

Prices are still sky high in Seattle  |  Mike Kane

But that doesn’t mean sellers these days can slap whatever price tag they want on their residences—and add some extra zeros. Many may have gotten overzealous in what they wanted to fetch—the number of listings on realtor.com with price reductions was up a whopping 76% in August year over year. That’s the second-biggest jump among the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the country. And it may be a blinking red light signaling that the market may be about to cool.

“A lot of people think that the market is peaking and are looking to potentially cash out” while they can still fetch the most money, says Windermere Real Estate’s chief economist, Matthew Gardner. “We’ve been on double-digit price growth for years, and that is clearly unsustainable.”

Overall prices are still soaring—at least for now. They rose 14% year over year, to reach $552,550 in August. They were up 13% the year before that and 7% in the one prior.

But prices are expected to increase more slowly in the near future, as there are more homes going up for sale, giving buyers a bit more choice—and negotiating power. Andres Carbacho-Burgos, a senior economist focused on housing at Moody’s Analytics, predicts that home price growth will slow to just 2% to 3% annually over the next few years.

The boomtowns: Austin, TX, and Nashville, TN

Austin boom  | Tony Frenzel

 

Then there are the smaller cities, like Austin, TX, and Nashville, TN, that burst onto the national scene just a few years ago—poster children for the supercharged housing recovery. Home prices rose to meteoric heights as builders raced to put up new abodes and transplants from even higher-priced metros flooded the cities. At the same time, their populations shot up 18.5% and 10.6% respectively from April 1, 2010, to July 1, 2017, according to U.S. Census data.

And then, despite all the hype, list prices did the unthinkable—they began to fall. Austin is a particular eye-opener: List prices dipped about 3%, to a median of $362,000 in August compared with the previous year, according to our realtor.com analysis. The year before that they dipped 2%. And while median sales prices (what these abodes actually fetched) actually rose 4.2% for the year, according to CoreLogic, it’s the slowest rate of growth since 2010.

“Home prices have just gone up too fast,” ATTOM’s Blomquist says of Austin. “It doesn’t mean that all of a sudden it’s a market that’s going to crash. But it does mean there are limits to what people can afford.”

Luxury homes in Austin | realtor.com

 

Four years ago, real estate agent Jason Bernknopf was seeing move-in ready homes in desirable central Austin fetch six to 10 offers. Two years ago, similar homes were getting two to six offers. Lately, multiple offers are more rare.

“Now things don’t go in the first day necessarily. You have to wait three to four days,” says Bernknopf, of AustinRealEstate.com. “Sellers are having to reduce some of their prices.”

Carbacho-Burgos, of Moody’s Analytics, expects prices to fall about 3% in Austin over the next few years, and level off in Nashville in the coming year or two.

A similar pattern is emerging in Nashville: The median list price on realtor.com in the country music hot spot was about $356,000 in August, representing a 1% dip from the previous year. But the median sale price climbed 7.9% year over year, to $286,000 in June, according to the latest CoreLogic data—a slower price increase than the 11.3% rise of the previous year.

Nashville real estate broker Brian Copeland, of Doorbell Real Estate, attributes the change to the finite number of buyers.

“There was a blitz of buyers in the marketplace, and now they’ve found their homes,” he says.

But he balks at labeling the city a seller’s or a buyer’s market. Instead, it’s moving toward “an equilibrium market,” where buyers aren’t whipped into a frenzy bidding on homes that went on the market hours ago and sellers can still get nearly all of their asking prices.

Nashville affiliate broker Lisa Peebles-Chagnon, of Nashville Luxury Estates, is beginning to see some pushback from buyers. Sellers, particularly those in the $500,000-and-up range, are waking up to the fact that, if they want to fetch top dollar, they need to clean and stage their abodes. In addition, they’ll need to have it pre-inspected, with any maintenance problems corrected.

A three-bedroom home in Nashville listed at $775K.  | realtor.com

 

Freakout alert: Is another housing bubble about to pop?

It’s time to address the T. rex in the room: Could lower price appreciation, an increase in inventory, and more price cuts on individual homes spell imminent disaster for the U.S. real estate market? Could we actually be primed for another housing bubble?

Most housing experts aren’t worried. That’s because the reasons behind the crazy-high home prices are different now than they were when the market crashed in 2008. And there are more checks in place to make sure history doesn’t repeat itself.

For starters, it’s become much harder to get a mortgage since the housing bust a decade ago. Ask anyone who’s experienced it. Folks can’t come in off the street claiming they’re making big bucks and score a lucrative mortgage anymore—without documentation or good credit scores. Those who do get a mortgage are often more thoroughly vetted and are therefore less likely to default and go into foreclosure.

And despite more “For Sale” signs going up, there is still a very real housing shortage at a time when there is strong demand for homes. So it’s not as if a ton of folks are purchasing scores of homes that they can’t afford, as there simply aren’t a ton of available properties on the market. And builders aren’t putting up enough abodes to alleviate that problem due to a variety of reasons, including a lack of available land, construction labor, and regulatory burdens.

“It’s hard to see this as the bubble popping in any way close to what we saw 10 years ago,” says ATTOM’s Blomquist. “I see it more as a deflating, letting some air out of the balloon … [so there isn’t] a bigger pop down the road.”

Data Analysis by Lance Lambert.

Courtesy of NAR:   https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/housing-market-finally-becoming-buyers-market/

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Time to Build?

Posted by on Jan 18, 2019 in Buying a Home, New Construction, Pre-Market Opportunities, Real Estate, Uncategorized | 0 comments

Livingston County has an abundance of excellent local and regional builders.  With the continued increase in growth of business and population, the demand for housing and new homes has never been greater.  The local experts at the Gerardi Group are familiar with the process of new construction and have an abundance of relationships with the builders.

Buying a new home can and should be a dream come true.  Part of that process is understanding value in the current market conditions as well as with intelligent choice in options and upgrades.  Nothing can be more disappointing than going it alone only to find that your new home closed upside down due to over-paying for the property or spending more than the market will bare on over-personalization.   An experienced agent can help you understand home value and comps, as well as the features that should enhance and maintain value with out over doing it.  Thinking new construction? Make your first call to the local professionals at the Gerardi Group at 810-626-8839 or email SOLD@GerardiGroup.com.

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Save Thousands on Your Mortgage

Posted by on Dec 27, 2018 in Local Experts, Mortgage Info, Pre-Market Opportunities, Real Estate, Selling a Home, Uncategorized | 0 comments

How To Save Thousands Of Dollars In Interest On Your Mortgage

One of the most common loans you can get to buy a home is a 30-year fixed rate mortgage. If the thought of paying for your home over the course of 30-years seems daunting, here are some easy ways to shorten that term which will actually end up saving you money over the life of your loan.

Any additional payments to the principal amount (the original sum of money borrowed in a loan), helps to cut down the amount of interest that you will pay over the life of your loan and can also help to shave years off the loan as well.

When you make ‘extra’ payments toward your loan, the key is to let your lender/bank know that you want the extra funds to go toward your principal balance as they will not automatically do this for you.

You don’t have to double your mortgage payment to make a big difference either!

If you have a 30-year mortgage on a median-priced home ($250,000) with a 5% interest rate, you’ll be responsible for a $1,342.05 monthly principal and interest payment. Over the course of the loan, if you pay your exact monthly payment, you will have paid $233,133.89 in interest alone!

Paying a Little Extra Can Pay Off Big

1. Pay an additional 1/12th of your mortgage payment every month

Benefit: In the example above, adding $111.84 to your monthly mortgage payment might not seem like a lot, but each year you will have paid one extra month’s worth of payments which will shorten the term of your loan by 4 years and 8 months, all while saving you $42,000 in interest!

2. Pay an additional $50 per month towards your mortgage

Benefit: Fifty dollars might not seem like enough to make a difference on the term of your loan, but that small amount will save you over $21,000 in interest and will take over 2 years off the end of your loan. Twenty-eight years from now, you’ll be happy to pay off your loan that much sooner!

3. Make one-time lump sum payments when you can

Benefit: If you find yourself with a little extra money after a yearly bonus, a tax return, or from investment dividends, paying that money towards the principal can cut your costs. This option, however, is less predictable than the extra monthly payments.

If you have higher interest debts, like credit cards, consider using any extra funds you have to pay those debts down before applying that money towards your mortgage. Also, if you do not plan on staying in your home for more than 10 years, paying extra toward your mortgage might not make sense.

Bottom Line

If you’re wondering what strategies would work best for you to shorten the term of your loan, consult a local real estate professional who can answer your questions or connect you with someone who can.

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7 Reasons To List During The Holidays

Posted by on Nov 19, 2018 in Buying a Home, Local Experts, Pre-Market Opportunities, Real Estate, Selling a Home | 0 comments

Every year at this time there are many homeowners who decide to wait until after the holidays to list their homes for the first time, while others who already have their homes on the market decide to take them off until after the holidays.

Seven GREAT Reasons Not To Wait:

  1. Relocation buyers are out there. Many companies are still hiring throughout the holidays and need their new employees in their new positions as soon as possible.
  2. Purchasers who are looking for homes during the holidays are serious buyers and are ready to buy now.
  3. You can restrict the showings on your home to the times you want it shown. You will remain in control.
  4. Homes show better when decorated for the holidays.
  5. There is minimal competition for you as a seller right now. Inventory of homes for sale traditionally slows in the late fall, early winter.
    Listing inventory as compared to the same time last year:Housing Supply Nov 2018
  6. The desire to own a home doesn’t stop when the holidays come. Buyers who were unable to find their dream homes during the busy spring and summer months are still searching!
  7. The supply of listings increases substantially after the holidays. Also, in many parts of the country, New Construction will continue to surge and reach new heights which will lessen the demand for your house in 2019.

 Bottom Line
Waiting until after the holidays to sell your home probably doesn’t make sense.

Keeping Current Matters!

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4 Things NOT to Do When Selling

Posted by on Jun 5, 2018 in Pre-Market Opportunities, Real Estate, Selling a Home, Short Sale & Foreclosure | 0 comments

So you’ve decided to put your home on the market. Congratulations! Hopefully, you’ve brought a rockin’ REALTOR® on board to help you list your spot, and together you’ve done your due diligence on what to ask for. As you start checking things off your to-do list, it’s also important to pay mind of what not to do. Below are a handful of things to get you started.

Don’t over-improve
As you ready your home for sale, you may realize you will get a great return on your investment if you make a couple of changes. Updating the appliances or replacing that cracked cabinet in the bathroom are all great ideas. However, it’s important not to over-improve, or make improvements that are hyper-specific to your tastes. For example, not everyone wants a pimped out finished basement equipped with a wet bar and lifted stage for their rock and roll buds to jam out on. (Okay, everyone should want that.) What if your buyers are family oriented and want a basement space for their kids to play in? That rock-and-roll room may look to them like a huge project to un-do. Make any needed fixes to your space, but don’t go above and beyond—you may lose money doing so.

Don’t over-decorate
Over-decorating is just as bad as over-improving. You may love the look of lace and lavender, but your potential buyer may enter your home and cringe. When prepping for sale, neutralize your decorating scheme so it’s more universally palatable.

Don’t hang around
Your agent calls to let you know they will be bringing buyers by this afternoon. Great! You rally your whole family, Fluffy the dog included, to be waiting at the door with fresh baked cookies and big smiles. Right? Wrong. Buyers want to imagine themselves in your space, not be confronted by you in your space. Trust, it’s awkward for them to go about judging your home while you stand in the corner smiling like a maniac. Get out of the house, take the kids with you, and if you can’t leave for whatever reason, at least go sit in the backyard. (On the other hand, if you’re buying a home and not selling, then making it personal is the way to go, especially when writing your offer letter. Pull those heart strings!)

Don’t take things personal
Real estate is a business, but buying and selling homes is very, very emotional. However, when selling your homes, try your very best not to take things personally. When a buyer lowballs you or says they will need to replace your prized 1970s vintage shag carpet with something “more modern,” try not to raise your hackles.

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Howell Branch, New

Posted by on Nov 14, 2017 in Buying a Home, Featured Property, Local Experts, Mortgage Info, New Construction, Pre-Market Opportunities, Real Estate, Selling a Home | 0 comments

New Office in Historic Downtown Howell, now 5 locations for Coldwell Banker Town & Country. Very excited to find the perfect downtown location for our new office. We are looking forward to seeing you at our grand opening near the end of November at 211 E Grand River Ave. Call or email us today for free market analysis on your current home and up to the minute new listing info.

The Gerardi Group are all Howell area residents ready to serve you. 855- GERARDI or SOLD@GerardIGroup.com  

#GerardiGroup #HowellHomes#ColdwellBanker

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Move or Improve – Update

Posted by on Jun 9, 2017 in Buying a Home, Local Experts, Pre-Market Opportunities, Real Estate, Selling a Home | 0 comments

Five reasons listing your home for sale this summer makes sense.

  1. Demand Is Strong The latest Buyer Traffic Report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) shows that buyer demand remains very strong throughout the vast majority of the country. These buyers are ready, willing and able to purchase… and are in the market right now! More often than not, multiple buyers are competing with each other to buy a home. Take advantage of the buyer activity currently in the market.
  2. There Is Less Competition Now Housing inventory is currently at a 2.8-month supply, well under the 6-months needed for a normal housing market. This means, in the majority of the country, there are not enough homes for sale to satisfy the number of buyers in that market. This is good news for home prices. However, additional inventory could be coming to the market soon. There is a pent-up desire for many homeowners to move, as they were unable to sell over the last few years because of a negative equity situation. Homeowners are now seeing a return to positive equity as real estate values have increased over the last two years. Many of these homes will be coming to the market this summer. Also, builder’s confidence in the market has hit its highest mark in over 11 years. Experts are predicting that new construction of single-family homes will ramp up this summer. The choices buyers have will continue to increase. Don’t wait until all this other inventory of homes comes to market before you sell.
  3. The Process Will Be Quicker Fannie Mae anticipates an acceleration in home sales that will surpass 2007’s pace. As the market continues to strengthen, banks will be inundated with loan inquiries causing closing-time lines to lengthen. Selling now will make the process quicker & simpler. According to Ellie Mae’s latest Origination Insights Report, the time to close a loan has dropped to a new low of 42 days, after seeing a 12-month high of 48 days in January.
  4. There Will Never Be a Better Time to Move Up If you are moving up to a larger, more expensive home, consider doing it now. Prices are projected to appreciate by 4.9% over the next year, according to CoreLogic. If you are moving to a higher-priced home, it will wind up costing you more in raw dollars (both in down payment and mortgage payment) if you wait. You can also lock in your 30-year housing expense with an interest rate around 4% right now. Rates are projected to increase in the next 12 months.
  5. It’s Time to Move on with Your Life Look at the reason you decided to sell in the first place and determine whether it is worth waiting. Is money more important than being with family? Is money more important than your health? Is money more important than having the freedom to go on with your life the way you think you should?

As for buying, the interest rates have gone down again after a winter increase. Rates are hovering around 4% having been at historic lows for the past 2 years. This gives you strength in buying and provides a great scenario for selling – and for your home’s buyers. Before you invest in updates and upgrades in your current home, it would be wise to learn what your home is worth today and how the expenditures in upgrades might (or might not) increase your home’s value.  Information on whether to move or improve would be best delivered when you understand the current market better. Get a home evaluation and compare that to homes you might like that already have what you are seeking.

Only you know the answers to the questions above. You have the power to take control of the situation by putting your home on the market. Perhaps the time has come for you and your family to move on and start living the life you desire. That is what is truly important.

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