Ahhh, the spring weather is here! Trees are budding, the grass is getting green, and everyone is outside. Basically, all those warm-weather feelings are here in full force! All of the “lawn gurus” have been out fertilizing and prepping for this year’s competition of the “best grass on the street”. Do you live with a “lawn guru”? You know the type, always watching to see what the neighbours are doing. What lawn treatments they are using, how often they are cutting the grass.
I don’t get too excited about the lawns, or the gardens for that matter. But I will admit, I am shamed into gardening and weeding. Our neighbour is a die-hard gardener. She is always out weeding, trimming, edging and planting.
After days of waving to her as I rush off to appointments – I find myself saying, “I need to spend some time on the gardens”. The real reason for this shame? There is one large garden, in particular, half is on her property and the other half is on mine. It is very clear where the property line is and who the slacker is! Maybe one day, I will enjoy gardening. But right now, it still feels like a chore my parents have written on my “to-do” list
One thing that I do love about the spring weather, especially this year. Is the increase in new listings on the market. More listings mean more options for buyers and less competition. I am not saying that we won’t see multiple offer situations, I just think we will see less of them.
This doesn’t mean the sky is falling for sellers, the prices have increased and the new standard has been set. I recently had this conversation with a seller client, actually this morning. They’re upset because they haven’t had a ton of showings. And they did not receive an offer 150,000 over their asking price. The neighbor that sold 3 weeks ago did receive 200,000 over asking…WHAT IS WRONG!
As you can imagine, this was not a fun conversation. But one that I had to have.
The market is starting to shift, a combination of things have caused this. Buyers are tired of set offer dates and they are tired of competing. More inventory, another stay-at-home order in effect, and interest rates have changed slightly. All of this combined has started the shift. How does my client proceed from here?
We need to price the home accordingly. By this I mean, we cannot list 150,000 under our expected price. We need to look at the whole picture – what do we need to make this move happen. And then price the home. Pricing low and expecting to get 100’s of thousands of dollars over our list price could hurt us. We could spend longer on the market than necessary and still not receive the desired amount. My clients need to be ahead of the market shift, not behind it.
The buying public is tired of shopping for homes, having to add 100,000 to 200,000 on to the asking price. Let’s be honest with the public about what we are expecting in terms of a sale price. Let me, your agent market the home. To the demographics that can afford to buy in this range and that want to live in this area. That is my job, to find you the right buyer.
Don’t let this discourage you, whether you are planning to buy or sell. This should be a breath of fresh air in your real estate plans. Some of the craziness has eased up, prices may not be driven as high due to fewer multiple offers. But it is all relative in the bigger scheme of things. Always look at the bigger picture and the potential changes, let’s make your plan based on 2 scenarios. Where the market is currently and where the market could potentially go.
