Is Fall the Right Time to Make a Home Sale?

Right now is a great time to sell your home. Not only is there less competition for you to face, but buyers are far more serious this time of year.

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During this time of year, homeowners who are thinking about selling their home often face the same question: should they list now or wait until spring?

If you find yourself in the same situation, we think you should try to sell now. The number one reason is the lack of competition you’d face. By comparison, many more people are planning to list their homes come springtime.

Another reason is that many people expect interest rates to increase next year. If they do, that will make it harder for potential buyers to buy your home, thus shrinking your buying pool. A number of job changes also occur at the end of the year, and the people who are affected by this will need to move quickly. This means you’ll deal with serious buyers only instead of any looky-loos like you would in spring.

With that in mind, what’s the fall/winter season going to look like for the Charlotte market? We think it’s going to be strong, and we base this on four statistical indicators measured over the past year:

• Pending sales are up 18%  
• The average days on market before homes go under contract is down 28%  
• Supply is down 28%
• The number of showings per listing is up 28%

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The Charlotte market is strong right now.

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If any of this sounds interesting and you’re considering jumping into the market, give us a call. We would love to help you out!

Why Should You Consider Buying Now?

Buying a home now in the Charlotte area means you'll be able to take advantage of some key benefits the marketplace is offering.

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A lot of people don’t even entertain the possibility of buying a home in the fall or winter months. Contrary to popular belief, we think that this is a great time of year to buy a home. Here are five reasons why:

1. Less competition. For houses that are on the market, there are fewer buyers right now. There aren’t as many people to compete against for the best houses, giving you a better shot at securing them.

2. Tax advantages. If you buy towards the end of the year, closing costs and property taxes would be deductible. These benefits are unique to home buying.

3. Close faster. The main reason transactions close faster during this time is because there aren't as many transactions. Attorneys, inspectors, and lenders have less work, so the process moves along a lot faster.

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The process moves along much quicker in the fall.

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4. Motivated buyers. They want to get moved and settled in before the holidays.

5. Lower interest rates. The Fed is suggesting that they will increase interest rates next year. Buying now means saving a lot on your loan long term.

If you have any questions for us or you are looking to buy or sell soon, give us a call or send us an email. We would love to hear from you.

Charlotte Market Snapshot

The Charlotte real estate market is humming along quite nicely. Sales are up, homes are selling quicker, and inventory is down.

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We have a short update to share with you today on the current state of the Charlotte real estate market. We looked at the metro area numbers over the last four months, which is essentially the entire summer. 

When we looked at this summer’s numbers compared to last year’s, we saw that the number of sales were up by 3%. This is good, but what was even more interesting is the fact that this number was much higher in certain price segments.

For example, for homes priced $250,000 to $1 million, sales were up 20%. Home sales in the $1 million to $2 million range jumped up by about 46%!

As for what we predict will happen for the rest of the year, we like to look at a few specific measures. The first is pending sales. Those are up 18% overall, and they are up 40% in the $250,000 to $1 million range. The inventory and average days on market are both down by 26% from last year. Also, the showings per listing is 28% higher than it was last summer.

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All indicators point to a strong 4th quarter.

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Really, all signs point to the fact that it’s going to be a strong fourth quarter. If you have any questions or are interested in buying or selling, give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you.

What’s So Important About Housing Inventory?

The reason housing inventory is such a vital statistic in real estate is that it gives you an indication of whether it’s a buyer’s market or a seller’s market.

A healthy equilibrium rate is considered six months of inventory. Anything longer than that is considered a buyer’s market. Anything less is considered a seller’s market. By “months of inventory” we mean how many months it would take to sell all the properties that are for sale given the average number of sales per month. If the number is six months, that means it’s going to take six months to sell the properties that are on the market right now.

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Housing inventory tells you whether it’s a buyer’s or seller’s market.

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Is Charlotte a buyer’s market or a seller’s market? Right now, Charlotte is a very strong seller’s market for homes listed under $500,000. Within that price range, the inventory rate is about three to four months. For homes listed over $500,000, it’s a buyer’s market. It’s an even stronger buyer’s market for homes listed above $2 million. Within that price range, the inventory rate is 26 months.

If you have any questions you’d like answered, just give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to talking with you soon.

Everything You Need to Know About Appraisals

Two questions we get asked all the time are, “Why do I need an appraisal?” and “Why are appraisals important?”

Whether you’re buying or selling a home, the appraisal is going to have a significant impact on you. If you’re a seller and the buyer who’s purchasing your home is getting a loan to do so, their lender is going to want to get an appraisal order. If you’re a buyer, you’re going to want to make sure that the home you’re buying is going to appraise for the amount you’re paying for it.

What happens when it doesn’t appraise? If you’re the buyer, you’re going to have to either increase your down payment or convince the seller to reduce their price. If you’re the seller, you can either hope the buyer offers more money or gear up for a renegotiation.

There are ways that you can help yourself by helping the appraisal process. Like lots of folks, appraisers can be overworked and underpaid, so they don’t have a lot of spare time. What we do is meet with the appraiser when they’re coming in to do one and give them information like the house measurements and the property’s highlights. We also give them comparable sales nearby that justify our price. After this, we usually have much less trouble getting appraisals that work for both the buyer and the seller.

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Help yourself by helping the appraisal process.

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If you have any questions you’d like answered, just give us a call or shoot us an email. We look forward to talking with you soon.

Ideas to Help You Win a Multiple Offer Situation

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How do you win a multiple offer situation? Charlotte is a pretty busy, competitive marketplace, so we run into this scenario a lot, and you may have as well. There are, however, ways around it, and we’ve got some ideas for you:

1. Get fully-approved. Take the next step instead of just having a pre-approval letter. That will make your offer almost as good as cash.
2. Call the other agent and have a conversation. This is one we like to do to find out what this seller is looking for. Is a high earnest money deposit important to them? Or an extended move-out date? We like to know what their situation is so that we can cater our offer to fit exactly their wants and needs.
3. Guarantee the appraisal. Appraisals are always a big deal. One way you can win is to guarantee yours.
4. Write a contract stating that our offer will always be $500 above the next closest offer.

Those are just a few, but we’ve always got more! If you have any questions, just reach out to us by phone or email.

Don’t Trust Zillow For Your Home Valuation

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Why can’t you trust Zillow? Not to just pick on Zillow, but also Trulia, or Realtor.com, or any automated valuation websites. The reality is, they just can’t come up with an accurate price of your house without physically seeing it. We’ve seen them off by as much as 30% or more. There are lots of reasons why it just doesn’t work.

For example, it can’t account for where you are in the neighborhood. Are you on a main street, or a cut-through street? Or are you in the back of a cul-de-sac? That makes a difference. So does how much you’ve remodeled or updated, or haven’t updated. Automated sites can’t tell you that. More importantly, they don’t know what the most sought-after school districts are in Charlotte. There are big disparities between some of them. You want to make sure you’re in a highly sought-after school district if that’s something that is important to you.

So, how do you get around this? It’s pretty simple - just get a real estate professional to get out there and take a look. We can do that, and so can other people. The other thing you can get when someone comes out is advice on what to do and what not to do to get the most for your money itself. Don’t do more than you need to.

Thanks for joining us, if you have any questions feel free to call us or send us an email.

Shave 8 Years Off Your Mortgage

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As most of you probably know, there are 30-year mortgages and there are 15-year mortgages. Even though 15-year mortgages are probably the better option, most people can’t afford it.

Fortunately, there is one simply thing you can do to turn your 30-year mortgage into a 22-year mortgage: make one extra payment a year.

You can either make an extra payment all at once, or you can add 1/12 of your mortgage payment to your monthly payment.

For example, if you pay $1,000 a month for your mortgage, simply add another $80 to make that extra payment. Then, in 22 years, you will have paid off your loan!

If you have any questions, give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to help you!

How Does Professional Photography Help Sell Your Home?

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As you probably know from looking at homes, most everybody starts their home search online. That’s why it’s so important to have professional photographs taken of your home.

We always use professional photographers to make your listing shine online. We work with them until we get a number of “Wow” shots - these pictures are so beautiful that they really entice people to keep clicking.

There is a whole science behind it, and we specialize in making sure that we get more people to look at your photographs. If necessary, we will even come back to your property and have a twilight photoshoot, especially if the location and setting call for it.

We also include wording with each photo that entices the viewer to keep clicking through each picture on the MLS. This way, they don’t have to go back to the description each time. The wording also helps them visualize themselves in this home, which helps you get a lot more clicks and helps us get a lot more sales.

If you have any questions about professional photography, give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

How we helped Christine Serio by providing stellar service.

"They were off the charts!  My husband and I went to Charlotte for a weekend just to see if its somewhere we would consider moving in the future.  We not only bought a house but Dee managed to introduce us to a home that was not yet on the market.  She had listened so well to what it is we were describing, she knew of something that was going to become available and arranged for us to see it.  We ended up making an offer and closing on the house.  Tar's service before we got to Charlotte and Dee's service during and since has been stellar.  So much so that we introduced my sister and her husband to them and also bought a house. We can't say enough great things about Tar and Dee, it's like they made magic happen."
      Christine Serio, Home Buyer

How we helped Wade Hobgood by going beyond the call of duty

"The overall experience was spectacular.  It was so promising and wonderful that I referred my daughter, my best friend, and another best friends daughter.  There have been referrals that I have provided for Dee knowing full well that she will give them the professional attention that they need to find the home that they love.  A home for one of my good friends daughter, it is her first home, she was looking for a home that was a short sale.  Dee went our of her way to use her money to make a deposit on the utilities so they could turn the utilities on for a home inspection.  That is way beyond the call of duty for any real estate agent to put their own personal resources on the table to make a successful purchase."
       Wade Hobgood

How we helped Maureen Karhut by understanding exactly she wanted.

"The results were spectacular! She narrowed down what we wanted - she only took me to see properties that we'd like based on her recommendation after meeting us! We really appreciated that because we're very busy. Knowing we're from out of town, she volunteered a conditional agreement - things that benefited us. She recommended a handyman for us! I'm a really big fan! I'm asking her for everything from dry cleaners to her hairstylists!"
      Maureen Karhut, Home Buyer

Now Is a Great Time to Sell in Charlotte

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Today, we’re going to talk about what’s going on in the Charlotte real estate market.

Lately, a lot of people have been asking, “Are we in a buyer’s or seller’s market?” Well, it is definitely a seller’s market right now, as we only have three months of inventory overall. That said, different areas in Charlotte have different inventory levels. For example, Ballantyne has two months of inventory while Lake Norman has six months of inventory.

Overall, though, it’s a great time to sell. If you’re selling a home, you can even push your pricing up a bit in our current market.

The good news for buyers is that interest rates are still incredibly low. Even though the Fed raised their rates a few months ago, rates are still under 4%, so now is a great time to buy or refinance your home.

For buyers, it may be tougher to find good properties. However, if you are getting information quickly with an exceptional online service, like our Home Hunters System, you can find a great deal quickly. Our site lets you tell us what you’re looking for, and then we send you new properties as soon as they hit the market. In a competitive market like this, the sooner you know about a property, the better.

Charlotte Real Estate Market Update

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Today, we’re here with a quick market update. Charlotte remains in a definite seller’s market. 2015 was a great year for sellers, but this year is even better!

Right now, there are only three months of inventory on the market, which is near record lows. Overall, the real estate market in Charlotte is great, but the Southern part of Charlotte is in an incredibly hot market. Homes are still selling all over Charlotte, but in Ballantyne and surrounding areas, properties are flying off the market.

While the market does favor sellers right now, the good news for buyers is interest rates are still historically low and hovering around 4%. It’s a great time to buy a home, and these low rates make selling a home more competitive. Multiple offer situations will drive the price of some homes up. 

The likelihood of winding up in a bidding war does depend on the price point you are looking in. There’s less inventory in lower-priced homes, creating more demand. On the high end of the market, properties listed over $1 million are still moving very quickly despite the higher inventory levels. 

What does this mean for buyers and sellers overall? As we said, it’s a great time to sell. Rates are low, there isn’t much inventory available, and prices are even going up. In fact, you can probably stretch the price of your property a little and earn more for your home than what the market dictates. 

Buyers need to see new listings as soon as they get on the market. We have a Home Hunter system that will take everything you want in a home and search through the 20,000 properties for sale to find you the right match. Our system lets you know the minute these properties come on the market so you can get a showing right away. You get the information as fast as the Realtors do, and it’s free!

If you have any questions about today's video or about real estate in general, give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you!

Let Us Be Your Real Estate Resource

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We’re here to announce our new video blog! We'll be sharing tips for buyers and sellers alike, as well as the latest information from our local market. We want this to become your local real estate resource. If you’re curious about a particular topic, reach out to us by phone or email and we’ll make a video about it! Have a look around and we’ll talk to you soon.