When you want to sell your house, it might surprise you to learn that there are times when putting it on the market is going to result in a quick sale. But another time will lead to your home sitting on the market for months without an offer.

Most homeowners more often that not, do not understand how they can tell if it is a buyers’ or sellers’ market. This is something that an experienced real estate agent can tell you by showing you the most recent data on what is going on in your area.

You must keep in mind that the data for one city or town may not mirror what’s going on in another. You can have a buyers’ market in one city in a state and a sellers’ market in another city in the exact same state.

The difference will come into play when a property can or cannot be moved. This is something that I use my tools, through professional subscriptions, that are only accessible as a licensed Realtor. You may discover some of these answers but be aware they can be misleading at times.

Selling a house works just like any business does. It is based on supply and demand. When you have a lower inventory than you have customers, the demand in a normal market is high.

So that means that it is a sellers’ market. This market can also change even within the same town or city. One neighborhood might be a sellers’ market while a neighborhood a mile down the road will be a buyers’ market. This was something Del Webb experienced June 1^st, through June 22^nd. Buyers were quickly moving to Florida from the Northeast to get away from the COVID-19 hot spots. Well they brought it with them.

Other things can sway the type of market we are in. Amenities that the area offers and the cost that you have to sustain these under a Homeowners Association and/or Community Development District. If it has what people are looking for, that can also affect and alter the market.

Some things that change a market are which school district the home is in, proximity to places of convenience, and desirability of the area. A market can also be influenced by the selling price of the house. I have experienced sellers that just want to sell and will accept any reasonable offer. This effect the overall value of homes in a specific community.

Homes in a certain price range may be more in demand that other a different model home has to offer.  If a buyer has a lot of homes to choose from in the area that he or she wants to be in, then it’s a buyers’ market.

If there are few homes in that area, then it can be a sellers’ market. You can figure it out by asking your agent or you can go online and look at the number of homes that are for sale in your area. However, the online data is not always accurate.

Check to see how many of the homes have a sale pending. When you divide the listed properties by the contracted ones, that will tell you the sales rate or the number of inventories that is moving versus the amount on hand. If it takes homes less than three months to sell, that’s usually a sellers’ market.

Whether we are in a sellers’ market or a buyers’ market I tend to suggest that my sellers get a Home Inspection prior to placing it on the market. This helps when you close a CASH offer quickly, and it also helps you put out any RED flags in discovery.

You ask what is the importance of this? You eliminate any potential room to negotiate a lower sales price at closing. Never give the buyer an open opportunity to leverage you down on the sale price. At the end of the day, and you finally close on your property, everyone walks away happy!

We are RE/MAX, stocked full with inventive ways to keep our staff and you safe. We’ve rearranged our offices to encouraging social distancing. Reference CDC guidance for cleaning and staying up to date on our local and state governing bodies! We are always reviewing and inspecting Personal Protective Equipment. (PPE). Although it may be second nature to many agents by now, we are to stocked with on face masks, gloves, hand sanitizer and cleaning products (without hoarding them and contributing to shortages) we welcome clients into the office even if they aren’t prepared with PPE.

We continually acknowledge other perspectives. We recognize that there are many varying degrees of comfort when it comes to ‘IN-PERSON” interactions. We are interacting daily on the side of being overly cautious and respectful. Continually self-educating, self-evaluating how we can become better ally’s.

If the pandemic and recent protests have taught us anything, it’s that now is the time to create bridges with others and try to be sensitive to points of view that differ from our own. We are engaging and practicing dialogue about how to best approach interactions with our clients and between each other in a cautious and respectful manner during these particularly trying times. Many have suffered job losses, illness and death of loved ones over the past few months — and many more have been redlined or sidelined over the years because of racial bias. We are mapping new industry standards to address the injustice.

We are reinventing our office events. Customers by choice still have reservations for large groups, doesn’t mean we can’t host an open house. We are creative and learn from others in the industry and take it out in the open, if you will! We even use vehicles for open interactive events, and if you keep up to date with my blogs, mastering the virtual open house when demanded. https://danswingblogdotcom.wordpress.com/2020/05/10/8-tips-for-virtually-prepping-a-home-for-sale/

Real Estate tech keeps improving in new ways. My staff is using it, and we are continually engaging our National, State and Local Real Estate Associations to practice and use these new Technologies.

We are extremely mindful of monitoring our health regular and take sick days seriously when the need arises. This does not mean disengage, technology does not lend restrictive measures in current times.

In closing, we have checklists of “To-Do’s and necessary supplies for reference before ALL IN-PERSON meetings.

The first two (2) interactive charts are pulling data of a median priced home in this category. You may come back to it anytime for updates. The third chart is pulling the average priced home and the fourth (4th) chart goes back to Median price homes. *NOTE the fourth chart is indicating these Median values are selling currently at $570,000!

Note that this line graph is interactive and place your cursor along the line to see what’s trending. Click on the link below!

This next line graph is interactive, by placing your cursor along the line anywhere to see what’s trending.

This next line graph is interactive for the average price homes clear back to January 2017. By placing your cursor along the line anywhere to see what’s trending. Note there is a slight difference in values between Median and Average priced homes.

What’s extremely interesting, Del Webb is a 55 Plus community and you would want to believe buyers are downsizing. In this next graph, the trend defy’s these statistics. Buyers are looking for larger homes and the values are consistent with this and noticeably a far better investment at the moment.

We had an extreme surge in buyers between June 1st and June 22nd. Most all were cash deals and have pushed values up a little bit. This may indicate a progressive sellers market, “IF the asking price supports the LIST price or close, thereof!” More importantly the Staging and amount of photos completed, uploaded and the minor bits and pieces of tidbits without doubt enhance the interest and value, providing you have a CASH buyer!

I will post some more interesting tidbits in the next week or so. At the moment, I have CASH buyers looking for homes in and around Ponte Vedra Beach and Ponte Vedra.

An “INTERACTIVE LINE GRAPH” of the trends in St. Johns County. Single family, resales, all prices and all sizes, all bedrooms.

You’ve most likely seen yellow throw away signs on street corners, main thoroughfares, intersections that say “Sell Your House for CASH” You may have received a Post Card, a personalized computer generated letter offering you cash for your home and can close in one day with no contingencies!

Does any of this raise a RED FLAG? “NOTHING IS FREE” You either got to work for it or there are underlining factors that affect these company services. We Buy Houses & Pay Cash! Sell Your Home Hassle Free! We Buy Ugly Houses! Open Door, and many more internet companies offering to buy your home for cash if they do not sell it!  “THESE ARE REAL ESTATE INVESTORS”

What is the catch?  These companies say they offer NO CLOSING FEES, BUY IT AS IS, NO COMMISSIONS, and many more promises. Like any transaction, nothing is FREE! These investors would not offer services of this nature if they did not make money on you.  

So, many of these companies are powered by “Algorithm-powered technology.” One of the most inconvenient aspects of buying a new home—and offloading the old one—is lining up move-out and move-in dates. Typically, people need to sell their old place before buying the new one because they simply need the money from their existing home to pay for the new one. But doing so can result in a gap between moving dates, requiring temporary housing.

They work like this: These companies, dubbed (iBuyers,) make cash offers for your current home at an algorithmically determined “fair market price,” allowing you to take the money, buy your next home, and move out at whatever date works best for you. The transaction closes in a matter of days.

The companies then clean and fix up your old house and sell it on the open market, collecting a fee from the seller. And because the price at which iBuyers buy the house is usually not the maximum the house would fetch if it were sold traditionally, they likely make a small gain on the sale price.

iBuyers resist being labeled “home flippers” because of the negative connotation (the practice has been “shown to diminish” cities affordable housing stock). It  boils down to a financing instrument. The companies essentially extend a line of credit to a home buyer using the existing property as the collateral. Customers then use that line of credit to buy a home.

I have many financial institutions that will offer you the same tools, allow me to market and sell your property for the highest and best offer while giving you the flexibility to purchase your new home. I do this all the time for my buyers relocating from all over the United States.

The key difference is that iBuyers do not collect on the loan through monthly mortgage payments or by selling the loan. Instead, they collect on the loan after the move-out by liquidating the collateral—the old house—for more than they paid for it.

Do you want to capitalize on the most you can get for your existing home and still have the flexibility to purchase that new home wherever it may be located? RE/MAX agents do this all the time.

Some old and some new technology! Investors capitalize by leveraging capital to purchase Real Estate for much less than you could ever imagine and how they do it. I’ll cover this in another Blog. It’s simple, your investment is minimal and your rate of return, (ROI) may set you up for life!

Courtesy of the National Association of Realtors.

This is an accumulation of different sources, and the National Association of Realtors.

It’s frighting how many buyers have very little knowledge when it comes to purchasing Condominiums! I might add, Townhomes, and properties located within a homeowner association offer certain perks, but it’s important to consider them in your decision process.

How much storage is available?
Some properties include storage lockers, but there may not be attics or basements to hold extra belongings.

How’s the outdoor space?
Your yard may be smaller than you’d find in a traditional single-family home, so if you like to garden or entertain outdoors, this may not be a good fit. But if you dread yard work, it may be the perfect option.

Are amenities important?
Many properties offer swimming pools, fitness centers, and other facilities that would cost much more in a single-family setting.

Who handles maintenance and security?
Property managers often hire professionals to care for common areas and perform in-unit repairs. Keyed entries and doormen may regulate access to your home when you’re not there (good news if you travel).

Are there required reserve funds and association fees? How much are they?
Although fees generally help pay for amenities and provide savings for future repairs, the HOA or condo board determines these fees, and you’ll have to pay them even if you’re not in favor of the improvements.

What are the association rules?
Although you have a vote on future changes, association rules can dictate how you use your property. Some condos prohibit home-based businesses; others prohibit pets or don’t allow owners to rent out their units. Read the covenants, restrictions, and bylaws carefully before you make an offer.

What’s the average vacancy rate?
It’s never too early to be thinking about resale. The ease of selling your unit may depend on what else is for sale in your building, since units are similar. 

How many units are owned by investors?
Some lenders require a certain percentage of the building to be owner-occupied and may not be able to offer you financing if the ratio is too low.

Can I meet other residents before making an offer?
You will share space and decision-making duties with your neighbors when part of a homeowner association, so it’s important to make sure you can work together. If possible, try to meet your closest prospective neighbors before you decide on a place.

QUESTIONS TO ASK THE CONDO BOARD!

Before you purchase a condo, you should have an attorney review property documents for you. However, you should contact the board yourself ahead of time. You’ll learn how responsive and organized its members are and be alerted to potential problems. Its very difficult to get cooperation from the management and the board. Rely on your Realtor to pull most of these resources for you!

How many units are owner-occupied?
Generally, the higher the percentage of owner-occupied units, the easier the condo will be to resell.

What covenants, bylaws, and restrictions govern the property?
Carefully read the bylaws to determine if you can abide by them. Also, find out if there are grandfather provisions that allow current owners more rights than you would have as a new owner, such as the ability to rent out your unit.

How much does the association keep in reserve?
Ask how the money is being invested.

Are association assessments keeping pace with the annual rate of inflation?
Smart boards raise assessments a reasonable percentage each year to build reserves for funding future repairs.

What does the assessment cover?
Ask specifically about common-area maintenance, recreational facilities, trash collection, and snow removal (if applicable).

What special assessments have been mandated in the past five years, and how much of that was the responsibility of individual owners?
Some special assessments are unavoidable. But repeated, expensive assessments could be a red flag about building conditions or fiscal policy.

What’s the turnover rate?
This will tell you if residents are generally happy with the building.

Is the condo building in litigation?
Obviously, this is never a good sign. If the builders or owners are involved in a lawsuit, reserves can be depleted quickly to pay legal fees.

What other projects has the developer built?
Try to visit one, and ask residents about their perceptions. Also, request an engineer’s report if the building has been converted from another use.

Are multiple associations involved in the property?
In very large developments, umbrella associations also may require separate assessments.

We are RE/MAX, stocked full with inventive ways to keep our staff and you safe. We’ve rearranged our offices to encouraging social distancing. Reference CDC guidance for cleaning and staying up to date on our local and state governing bodies! We are always reviewing and inspecting Personal Protective Equipment. (PPE). Although it may be second nature to many agents by now, we are to stocked with on face masks, gloves, hand sanitizer and cleaning products (without hoarding them and contributing to shortages) we welcome clients into the office even if they aren’t prepared with PPE.

We continually acknowledge other perspectives. We recognize that there are many varying degrees of comfort when it comes to ‘IN-PERSON” interactions. We are interacting daily on the side of being overly cautious and respectful. Continually self-educating, self-evaluating how we can become better ally’s.

If the pandemic and recent protests have taught us anything, it’s that now is the time to create bridges with others and try to be sensitive to points of view that differ from our own. We are engaging and practicing dialogue about how to best approach interactions with our clients and between each other in a cautious and respectful manner during these particularly trying times. Many have suffered job losses, illness and death of loved ones over the past few months — and many more have been redlined or sidelined over the years because of racial bias. We are mapping new industry standards to address the injustice.

We are reinventing our office events. Customers by choice still have reservations for large groups, doesn’t mean we can’t host an open house. We are creative and learn from others in the industry and take it out in the open, if you will! We even use vehicles for open interactive events, and if you keep up to date with my blogs, mastering the virtual open house when  demanded.

Real Estate tech keeps improving in new ways. My staff is using it, and we are continually engaging our National, State and Local Real Estate Associations to practice and use these new Technologies.

We are extremely mindful of monitoring our health regular and take sick days seriously when the need arises. This does not mean disengage, technology does not lend restrictive measures in current times.

In closing, we have checklists of “To-Do’s and necessary supplies for reference before ALL IN-PERSON meetings.

I had so many positive comments I was encouraged to post it again.

Photo’s courtesy of https://www.Unsplash.com Wow some big words that study the behaviors of individual market participants— such as Microeconomics or…

The Question is? Behavioral Economics, or Microeconomics?

Photo’s courtesy of https://www.Unsplash.com

Wow some big words that study the behaviors of individual market participants— such as Microeconomics or Behavioral Economics? That is the question!

Wow some big words that study the behaviors of individual market participants— such as buyers, sellers, and business owners and how they affect the allocation of resources. Something I have been trying to share since the challenges of this Pandemic surfaced. Yes, it killed the spring buying season, but it may have created a pent-up buyer demand!

There is an overwhelming amount of data and headlines circulating. I have been sharing hints, bits, and pieces and how this fall may be the Microeconomics that will excite sellers and challenge buyers.

Surprisingly my first thoughts when this COVID-19 first hit the headlines, was that of maybe a flu type virus. My expectations were soft conditions similar to almost ten years ago. With mortgage rates at an all-time low has triggered buyers to take advantage and we saw a huge rebound in June, however in my opinion is short lived. This is not totally disappointing, as our country began to fall into an economic destruction that inevitably lockdown our world, people began to scream. Three months later COVID-19 life is setting in. Yes, we have experienced a significant amount of economic destruction here and worldwide. Bluntly said, we are in a recession however most experts say this will be shortly lived, compared to 1992, 2008 to 20-09 for examples. With low mortgage rates I belieSurprisingly my first thoughts when this COVID-19 first hit the headlines, was that of maybe a flu type virus. My expectations were soft conditions like almost ten years ago. With mortgage rates at an all-time low, has triggered buyers to try and take advantage. We saw a huge rebound the first in June, however in my opinion is short lived. This is not totally disappointing, as our country began to fall into an economic destruction that inevitably locked down our world, and “people began to scream!” Three months later COVID life is setting in. Yes, we have experienced a significant amount of economic destruction here, and worldwide. Bluntly said, we are in a recession however most experts say this will be short lived, compared to 1992, 2008 to 2009 for examples. With low mortgage rates, it’s my opinion we will begin to see the rise in home values as they accelerate a rebound the last quarter of this year. “Better Times Are Ahead!”

Does America’s administration know something we do not know? Is this political divide a hoax! Something that is distracting us from a positive outcome to the mayhem, from racism, to systemic outrage. Interesting enough May is growing positively better than  Does America’s administration know something we do not know? Is this political divide a hoax! Something that is distracting us from a positive outcome to the mayhem, from racism, to systemic outrage. Interesting enough May has shown a positive upward  trend, better than  April, the unemployment rate still stands at an elevated 11.8 percent, appears to be declining, and the U.S. economy shrunk by 5 percent in the first quarter, and the second quarter will show an ever greater contraction in economic activity.

When these distractions display themselves in crisis, there will always be some people We are experiencing some ugly economic numbers, and whenever the economy heads south, the effects are expected to be temporary. When these distractions display themselves in crisis, there will always be some people who will get on their soap boxes and forecast Armageddon for the housing market. As I have been saying all along, they will be wrong. I will not deny that some exceptionally talented economists including the National Association of Realtors Lawrence Yun, are calling for modest COVID related price declines.

A couple of weeks ago, Zillow put their weekly market report, showing data through June 27^th .http://ZILLOW  home prices will drop by 1.8 percent between now and this October, but it did say that price growth will pick back up again this winter. I wonder if this is just a way to entice sellers to use Zillow for their option when considering the sale of their property.

CoreLogic, a valued resource for Economists, Real Estate Brokerages, Appraisers and Realtors is indicating prices dropping by about 1.3 percent. http://https://wwwcorelogic.com/insights-download/home-price-index.aspx 1.3 percent between now and next April.

These two forecasts inspired my interest as a drop in U.S. housing values is extremely rare. In my research, since World War II, on an annualized basis, home prices have dropped only twice — the first time was a very modest drop of less than 1 percent in the summer of 1992, and the second, as you will all remember, was following the bursting of the housing bubble. I have shared this in some past posts recently.

So you ask, where are we headed when it comes to home values in 2020!

Some of you might remember the beginning of this year I shared our National Association Chief Economist Lawrence Yun forecasts U.S. home prices rising in 2020 — with prices up by 5 percent — decent growth, but still the lowest pace of appreciation since we emerged from the Great Recession. I have been hopeful that with the low interest rates it would inspire buyers to relocate, as we are all aware, things have certainly changed. When COVID-19 hit, the dynamics of housing markets across the country changed, and to really understand those dynamics we can’t simply look at monthly aggregated data, but need to turn our attention to higher frequency data — and I tend to listen and watch the market analysis that provide weekly numbers, and unsurprisingly, the country started seeing significant drops in list prices, pending sales and closed sales starting in early March through the middle of April. May being soft in expectations.  June rallied the first three weeks, I was somewhat surprised with the sizable jump in the number of homes that went pending, and some with multiple offers. No doubt, the GOP Convention moving in part to Jacksonville and other indicators that the COVID-19 curve was subsiding. Clearly the housing market was reacting to these indicators.

Sale prices also started to pull back, but not until the end of April, as there is always a lag. So given this information, I think it is very safe to expect home prices to have dropped in May, and this might be why some are forecasting a longer than expected withdraw in sales. It appears that we are beginning to get a handle on the virus, business activity has modestly started to rise, and I hear new construction is spawning some real interest by the builders offering as low as 2.75 interest rates. Will this be the same with resales? I do not feel we will see these trends till possibly late September, October.

When I look at numbers over the past few weeks, I see new listing activity is somewhat soft but not everywhere — but in many markets. Pending sales due to the stampede of buyers the first three weeks of June has subsided due to Florida being labeled a hot spot for COVID-19. Some say the median list price of homes coming to market has begun to rise and is now close to the pre-COVID-19 peak we saw in February. I do not see this in our region.

When I look at numbers over the past few weeks, I see new listing activity is somewhat soft but not everywhere — but in many markets. Pending sales due to the stampede of buyers the first three weeks of June has subsided due to Florida being labeled a hot spot for COVID-19. Some say the median list price of homes coming to market has begun to rise and is now close to the pre-COVID-19 peak we saw in February. I do not see this in our region.

What does this mean?

The pandemic-induced slowdown killed a significant portion of the spring buying season, but there was a side effect and that was the creation of significant demand in new construction. Not so much on resales. Many home buyers — who had pulled back from the market earlier in the year because of COVID-19 are beginning to see a rise again. We will see Buyers reappear. Mostly because the resale home prices are lower than expected and the low interest rates. We know this because applications for new mortgages are on the rise, not just week-over-week, but year-over-year, and I believe that the cancelled spring buying market will become a fall and winter buying market.

Of course, not all markets are created equal. There are areas across the country that were hit harder by COVID-19 than others, generally markets with major leisure tourism industries. No doubts these areas will take longer to see a housing recovery, but they will recover at some point. I agree with most of the economists who are looking for prices to drop but as I have said, “ as we move through the summer, we will again begin to see the home values rise again.” Perhaps a modest amount, not as earlier predicted and I believe noticeably short lived as buyer confidence returns and mortgages remain competitive. I have always reflected on human nature, in challenges like this we tend to freeze up when faced with anything that scares us. Perhaps you can say we have experienced a FREEZE!

We are not there yet, but I absolutely believe that we are on the way to recovery. Housing will recover, the confidence the markets have is an indication. and anyone who is still hoping for a 2008-style collapse will be sadly disappointed.