We’ve all been hearing stories from family, friends and news anchors about the “crazy” real estate market of this past year. It’s been a red hot seller’s market and houses are selling easier than toilet paper and hand sanitizer were during early days of the pandemic. All you have to do is list your home and you will immediately get dozens of offers above your asking price. There will be a fanatical bidding war and you’ll make a ton of money.
Market Correction
Some of these things were true as of a few months ago, but the real estate market has been steadily self-correcting this summer. Buyer demand is trending downward. Housing inventory has been creeping upward. We’re starting to see more of a “normal” market again. It’s still more of a seller’s market than a buyer’s market right now, but it’s certainly not moving at the “crazy” pace we were seeing. Ultimately, this is a good thing for our economy. Real estate is cyclical and no extreme home buying or selling trends ever last too long.
Resetting Your Expectations
As a home seller in the second half of 2021, you simply have to reset your expectations. There is still a lot of money to be made on your home sale. Prices are up and buyer demand is more than strong enough to ensure you get quality offers. Just don’t expect frantic bidding wars. Price your home properly and strategically prepare it for sale. Then, you should get at least your asking price—or close to it.
Preparing Your Home for Sale
Preparation is very important. We’re past the extreme market conditions where sellers could put up any property in any condition and get immediate offers on it. Even then, the sellers who took the time to clean it, make repairs/upgrades, stage it and market it effectively saw better offers and more bidding wars. Selling quickly above asking doesn’t necessarily equate to selling for true top dollar. Getting yourself and your house ready for sale will benefit you greatly. You’ll get more and better offers. You’ll have a much smoother sale without inspection concerns and complex renegotiations.
In other words, you can no longer just throw any old piece of junk on the market and expect to get a line out the door!
Recent Home Sales
We put three homes on the market recently. They were all at different price points and in different areas. For each property, we did professional home staging, strategic property preparation and quality photography. We also held open houses. Our sellers and our team put in the work to get these houses ready for max-profit sales.
We did get plenty of attention on each of these three homes. However, we had much fewer showings than we had for similar properties a few months ago. We received fairly quick offers on all three homes, as well. That said, there were no more than two offers on each property and all were at or around asking price. There weren’t any ultra-aggressive offers with major buyer concessions or prices well above asking. They were standard, quality offers from good buyers with healthy financial situations. There were no bidding wars, but our clients had the right expectations and they set the prices where they needed to be to attract buyers while still making a great profit.
All three homes are already in contract and doing home inspections. One of the offers was settlement contingent.
Some Sellers Aren’t Prepared
Meanwhile, we have been watching other competing homes on the market. Some sellers clearly did not make much of an effort. The properties were rushed to sale and they aren’t getting the offers they were hoping for. The sellers weren’t prepared and their expectations weren’t set properly. Now they are stuck hoping and waiting a desperate buyer will come through. Unfortunately, buyers just aren’t that desperate right now. The sellers will need to rethink their plan.
No matter what the market conditions, it pays to work with an experienced listing agent and do the necessary prep work. This enables you to position your home on the market in its best light. This attracts more quality buyers, makes the transaction go smoother and, above all else, will get you top dollar for your home.
If you are thinking about selling your home in the Southeastern Pennsylvania or Northern Delaware areas, contact The Cyr Team today for a no-obligation listing consultation. Let us help you get better prepared for today’s normalized real estate market.