Spring Market is Coming! Or is it?

What does this all mean this year?

Hello all, and thanks for hanging in there with us. 2020 was a heck of a year and took a toll on all of us. So many changes, and so much to be concerned about. The real estate market stayed incredibly active through it all.

We did not know what would happen!

Having worked through the most recent crash as a full-time pro realtor and made it out alive, certain things about this past year were familiar. The first one was taking it as it comes.

We did not even know if we were going to be working when this all started. Nobody knew how much Covid was going to affect us as a whole, and we were also uncertain about how it would affect our institutions. We need banks, courthouses, inspectors, appraisers, buyers, and sellers to have a real estate market that has any movement at all. What if the bottom fell out and there were no more loans, as few dealt with previously? What if localities stopped accepting deeds to record? What if insurance companies stopped insuring? We didn’t know when this all hit in March what the real impact would be.

Here is what it was.

People stopped selling. People who were just thinking about selling to move up, to move out. People who did not have to sell were not selling, for the most part. Families were schooling their kids in these spaces, making more meals than ever, and taking the time to do those projects that they had maybe been hoping their new place would provide for them. They freshened where they are.

Meanwhile, the Fed lowered interest rates in order to stimulate an uncertain economy so buyers came out of the woodwork in droves.

Less sellers, more buyers.

This is simple 5th grade supply and demand. When inventory is down, prices go up. Purchaser specialists working harder than ever to get their clients’ offers accepted. Less experienced agents, and those without mentors losing bids because they do not know the ins and outs of making their offer the most valuable to the Seller. It’s been tense! It still is.

My listings have had as many as 15+ showings in a day, and almost all receiving multiple offers fast. My buyer agents working their tails off and beating out others in multiple offer situations more often than not, but still sometimes having to bring that bad news, “We need to keep looking.” 2021 will be no different, at least for a while.

So what do you need to be successful as a buyer right now?

I have a 10 point detailed list coming next week. In the meantime, reach out to me if you are thinking of buying or selling and we will talk about the three main pieces of a real estate transaction in order to determine what next steps are right for you.