Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Get It On, Or take It Off? That is the Question.

I get asked the question of whether it is better to list in the Fall/Winter vs. Spring/Summer all the time. To be honest, if my clients started talking to one another about this issue they all might think that I lied to them! What I mean by that is, it depends on the person, the circumstances and the inventory available in the neighborhood and how quickly it has been selling. The answer for each client is going to be different. Makes sense right? I mean aren't we all individuals, with different goals and circumstances? If your agent has a standby-cookie cutter answer for this question, I would fire them. Just Sayin'.....


Here is my list of factors that may help you determine whether or not you should be listed, stay listed or consider listing in the Winter Holiday Season:


  1. Do you have a true need/desire to sell by a certain date? To be honest, some people just are not that motivated to sell their house. I prefer to only work with clients who do have deadlines, and are realistic about their goals in order to focus my attention only on those clients. However, maybe your "need to sell by" date is the following August...In that case, I would just wait until after the first of the year. On the other hand, maybe your "need to sell by" date is in February  In that case, listing in the late fall/early winter and remaining on the market may be a smart idea.
  2. How quickly is inventory being absorbed into you local market? In my last blog, I talked about absorption rate and how it can help a seller determine when to to sell or hold. How many houses like yours are currently available in your neighborhood? How quickly are listings selling currently? Is there a lack of inventory? If there is a lack of inventory, and things are selling quickly, I would put the house on the market and stay that way through the holidays. 
  3. Can you realistically be out of your house on short notice during the Holidays? Are you baking loads of cookies? Does your family come in from out of town, and stay with you? Is your house decorated from top to bottom? Is the Holiday Season the only time during the year that you and your family get to spend peacefully together? This is a lifestyle factor, that has nothing to do with the market but it can affect your sanity. In all honesty if receiving showings is going to be a supreme hassle...I would just hold off until after the first of the year.
  4. How much traffic is your real estate agent saying they are seeing right now? Personally, I have had 4 homes go under contract in the last week. People have to buy at all times of the year, and the inventory usually shrinks during the Holiday season. Most of my sellers who decided to stay on the market are seeing lots of showings right now.
If you decide to wait until the Holidays are over to put your house on the market, allow me to share a couple pieces of advice:

  • The Spring season hits its climax in April/May. In order to snag that perfect buyer, you should be on the market no later than Feb. 1. That is when people really start to get out and look.
  • A lot of people make New Year's resolutions to buy houses, so being on the market as soon as Jan. 1 is not too early. We all know that people stand firm with their resolutions in the beginning, but they passion almost always tapers off. Strike while they are HOT!
  • Love birds are out after Valentine's Day...Little Bungalows do really well between that time and April.
  • Beat the rush, most sellers will wait too late into the Spring season to list and will have a ton of competition. 
What do you think is the "perfect time to sell"?







Tuesday, December 4, 2012

The Shaw Neighborhood is Truly a Seller's Market, RIGHT NOW!

Trailnet on Tap, Sasha's on Shaw, March 27Recently, I went to a class that taught real estate agents how to price property based upon how many months worth of inventory was available in a particular market (neighborhood) using past sold data. Basically, you take how many houses have sold in a 6 month period, divide that number by the 6 (for 6 months) and then you come up with the average number of sales per month. Then you look at how many houses are currently on the market and divide that by 6 (number of months), this formula will give you an idea of how many months worth of inventory is currently on the market. I know that this seems like a mind boggling math brain murdering fest, but I assure you it is rather simple. We just want to know, how fast can the current inventory be absorbed into the market. Anything less than a six month supply, is considered a Seller's Market.

Here is Zan Monroe, the man I took the class from explaining it on YOUTUBE. I will be making my videos shortly, but I wanted to get this information out as quickly as I could.

As soon as I got home, I started running numbers for my favorite neighborhoods for the last 12, 6 and 3 months. This gave me an awesome idea of where the market was heading in a particular area, AKA The Market Trend. Local market trends are much more accurate than the national data that gets pumped to us by the media. What is happening in Arizona may not be happening in St. Louis. St. Louis is such a highly segmented market, and trends will vary neighborhood by neighborhood, and school district by school district. What is happening currently in Shaw, may not be occurring in Dutchtown. Knowing which markets were considered to be Seller's Markets, and which were Buyer's Markets help all of my clients tremendously. Being able to analyze the trends helps people for whom timelines are very important.

SO, WHY IS SHAW A SELLER'S MARKET?

Simply, because the numbers say so...

In the last 12 months there were 67 houses sold in Shaw
67/12 months=5.5 houses sold per month
Currently, there are 13 houses ACTIVE FOR SALE on the Market
13 available houses/5.5 houses per month = 2.36 months of inventory on the market currently A STRONG SELLER'S MARKET!

Now, of course there is much more that goes into it. Different price-points will have different rates of absorption. When pricing a house for sale factor like condition, past sales, features, number of houses that flowed through the market and competition all come into play. BUT, if you live in Shaw you may have a better chance than most to GET IT SOLD!

If you would like more information on buying or selling in Shaw, or any other St. Louis City Neighborhood feel free to drop me a line! Leigh Maibes 314-324-3322 or lmaibes@gmail.com