THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT TODAY'S MARKET
Everyone has their own opinion of the market today. Experts cannot agree where we are headed, some say we have bottomed out others think we still are sliding. Here is my opinion of where we are, I think we are still trying to find the bottom in some areas, have hit bottom and moving up in others and yet others have stabilized. What kind of answer is that? Well it is an answer that is all over the board because that is where the market is today in almost all markets. There is always a sub-market area that is moving up, one that is still stabilizing and others that are stable. The sub-market in the area you are interested in is the most important thing to know. Are you going to learn about this on TV, radio? No you will not find your answers there. You have to get closer to the market.
GETTING CLOSER TO YOUR SUB-MARKET
How can you get closer to your sub-market? There are several ways, one is with the help of a knowledgeable real estate agent, second you can utilize some of the websites that are out there to help you get an estimate for what homes are selling at, days on the market, etc. Another way is by starting your research several months before you plan on entering the market as a buyer or seller but this can be very tedious and time consuming. I suggest a combination of both. Start with a real estate agent and ask for a comparable market analysis. You might actually ask two or three agents for this information. Make sure you get a listing of all homes that are currently active on the market (very few if any agents will include home for sale by owner so you will have to compile this yourself), homes that are pending, homes that have expired, those which were pulled off the market and of course those that have sold. You will want to know how long these homes were on the market before they sold and what their original listing price was so that you can determine the percentage difference between listing and selling price. Finally, you need specifics to compare with so that you are comparing like homes. I suggest you use number of bedroom, full baths, half baths and basement features. I usually also tell people to use the features that are important to them, so they are looking at the homes they will be interested in. Why would you spend time looking at 3 bedroom homes if you know that you must have at least 4 bedrooms? Or if you want a basement, you need to know how that impacts the price. This way you will be comparing similar homes rather than ones that are significantly different.
Once you have this information from several agents, you can now easily keep track of any new homes that might come on the market and make notes when those listed go under contract. You might just have to make weekly calls on all active listings to make sure they are active. In this market most agents will not put an Under Contract sign on their listing because they do not want to lose any potential leads. I suggest prior to actually making any move in the area you go back to the original agents and ask for another report. This will give you the sold prices on any homes that did sell during the time you were monitoring this area.
WHAT TO DO WITH THE INFO
Now that you have the information, what do you do with this. Well you need to analyze what has happened to the listing prices of homes. What is the difference between the listing price and sold price? Keep in mind the features you are monitoring so that you are analyzing like properties. A 3 bedroom, 2 bath full basement home is very different from a 4 bedroom, 3 bath, 1 half bath full basement. Again, if you have narrowed this down to those features that you will be looking for or those that match the home you will be listing then you will be in great shape when ready to make the move.
Again, the experts are giving you and overall view of the total market, some might be specific to your region or area but it is really important that you get the information for your sub-market. If you invest some time, you will reap the rewards.
