As mortgage rates rose last year, activity in the housing market slowed down. And as a result, homes started seeing fewer offers and stayed on the market longer. That meant some homeowners decided to press pause on selling.
Now, however, rates are beginning to come down—and buyers are starting to reenter the market. In fact, the latest data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) shows mortgage applications increased last week by 7% compared to the week before.
So, if you’ve been planning to sell your house but you’re unsure if there will be anyone to buy it, this shift in the market could be your chance. Here’s what experts are saying about buyers returning to the market as we approach spring.
“Mortgage rates are now at their lowest level since September 2022, and about a percentage point below the peak mortgage rate last fall. As we enter the beginning of the spring buying season, lower mortgage rates and more homes on the market will help affordability for first-time homebuyers.”
“We expect the labor market to remain robust, wages to continue to rise—maybe not at the pace that they did during the pandemic, but that will open up some opportunity for folks to enter homeownership as interest rates stabilize a bit.”
“Homebuyers are waiting for rates to decrease more significantly, and when they do, a strong job market and a large demographic tailwind of Millennial renters will provide support to the purchase market.”
Bottom Line
If you’ve been thinking about making a move, now’s the time to get your house ready to sell. Let’s connect so you can learn about buyer demand in our area the best time to put your house on the market.
Last year, the housing market slowed down in response to higher mortgage rates, and that had an impact on home prices. If you’re thinking of selling your house soon, that means you’ll want to adjust your expectations accordingly. As realtor.comexplains:
“. . . some of the more prominent pandemic trends have changed, so sellers might wish to adjust accordingly to get the best deal possible.”
In a more moderate market, how you price your house will make a big difference to not only your bottom line, but to how quickly your house could sell. And the reality is, homes priced right are still selling in today’s market.
Why Pricing Your House Appropriately Matters
Especially today, your asking price sends a message to potential buyers.
If it’s priced too low, you may leave money on the table or discourage buyers who may see a lower-than-expected price tag and wonder if that means something is wrong with the home.
If it’s priced too high, you run the risk of deterring buyers. When that happens, you may have to lower the price to try to reignite interest in your house when it sits on the market for a while. But be aware that a price drop can be seen as a red flag by some buyers who will wonder what that means about the home.
To avoid either headache, price it right from the start. A real estate professional knows how to determine that ideal asking price. They balance the value of homes in your neighborhood, current market trends, buyer demand, the condition of your house, and more to find the right price. This helps lead to stronger offers and a greater likelihood your house will sell quickly.
The visual below helps summarize the impact your asking price can have:
Bottom Line
Homes that are priced at current market value are still selling. To make sure you price your house appropriately, maximize your sales potential, and minimize your hassle, let’s connect.
Nov. 7th – Downtown BR When you sponsor the Cap City Beer Fest, you become a highly visible partner in creating one of the most anticipated events in downtown Baton Rouge while helping the more than 8,000 lost, abandoned, and abused animals who will need Companion Animal Alliance in the coming year.
1 PM VIP ENTRY
2 PM GENERAL ADMISSION
LIVE MUSIC BY THE MICHAEL FOSTER PROJECT IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE ARTS COUNCIL OF GREATER BATON ROUGE’S SUNDAY IN THE PARK.
$6 General Admission. A portion of the proceeds will benefit children in need.
MISTLETOE MARKET HOURS
November 13, 2021, 9 am – 6 pm
November 14, 2021, 10 am – 5 pm
LOCATION
Lamar Dixon Expo Center9039 S. St. Landry Ave, Gonzales, La 70737
Louisiana Book Festival
The Louisiana Center for the Book in the State Library of Louisiana is proud to present the 17th edition of this free, world-class literary celebration. In lieu of our usual live and in-person festival this year, we are pleased to feature over 30 virtual programs with more than 80 authors, poets, and other participants. Check back here or follow us on Facebook for more details!
White Light Night
November 19th – Mid City BR
6:00PM – 10:00PM
White Light Night is Mid City’s largest art festival featuring Louisiana’s best artists, makers, and more. It’s free to attend and the best way to kick off your holiday shopping! Revel under the white lights adorning the streets, meet local artists, enjoy live music, and eat at Mid City’s exceptional and unique restaurants.
Check out the map for parking and a list of all of the participating shops and businesses along the route: HERE!
When deciding whether you should rent or buy, make sure you’re considering these factors.
Buying a home means consistent monthly payments. Homeownership also helps to build your wealth. And owning a home gives you greater flexibility than renting.
If you’re ready to take advantage of the perks of homeownership, let’s connect to explore your options.
When it comes to the current housing market, there are multiple misconceptions – from what the current supply of available homes looks like to how much houses are selling for.
It takes professionals who study expert opinions and data to truly understand the real estate market and separate fact from fiction.
Trust the pros. If you want to understand why it’s still a good time to buy, let’s connect today.
C O V I D – 1 9 It seems every day brings new challenges regarding COVID-19, and we are so sad to have to implement the following procedures. However, the most important thing to us is the health and wellness of our family, friends, team, clients, and community. WE all need to be doing our part to avoid unknowingly spreading COVID-19. Here are a few of the things Team Sisters are doing to keep our community safe… Team Sisters will be working remotely from home. All documentation will be presented and signed electronically. This is now becoming a necessity and we are very thankful to be able to have this capability for ourselves and our clients. We are conducting meetings via conference phone calls as necessary for our buyer and seller consults. We are also available via text and email. We are temporarily postponing all in person Seller & Buyer consultations. As always, we want our sellers’ listings to get plenty of attention and exposure, so while there is so much attention and distraction with COVID 19, we are working with our new sellers individually to assess whether or not we should list now or wait to list once things have calmed down a little so as to not miss out on new listing activity. ONLINE Video tours in place of in person showings will also be implemented. We are working on marketing plans for all of our active listings and will continue to market across all platforms. We are continuing to conduct home searches for our active buyers and sending housing options via email. We are happy to report that despite COVID-19, we are currently negotiating several offers and still responding to inquiries on our listings. Rates are expected to remain low and once we are through this the market will take off and homes that are ready will sell quickly. If there is anything we can do for you, please let us know. Thank you for so much for your business and continued trust. We will get through this together. Prayers for peace and calm during this time. Please follow the CDC Guideline. Stay strong & STAY HOME! Team Sisters BR Web site
Many potential home buyers give up before they’ve even gotten started because they think they don’t have enough for a down payment. Often times it’s because they’ve bought into the myth that you can’t buy a home with less than a 20% down payment. Use our free infographic to show potential buyers that their dream is within reach and that now is the time to start their search.
Email it to potential clients, post it on your website, or use it in a blog post. Here are some post ideas to get you started:
YOU CAN BOTHER TEAM SISTERS ANYTIME…. YOUR AGENTS FOR LIFE!
Real estate agents hear this all the time…
“I wish I had called you before. But I just didn’t want to bother you. I know you’re busy…”
…after it is too late.
There are times when you might feel like you shouldn’t “bother” the real estate agent you know. (Could be your friend, a neighbor, your brother-in-law, cousin, your sister…)
Maybe you’re truly trying to be considerate.
But, maybe it’s because you’re not even aware that you should.
Or, you just don’t want to feel obligated or pushed into doing something. (Despite what many people think, most agents are not pushy. Most are the exact opposite.)
So, let’s go over a few times that you should “bother” your real estate agent. Because it really isn’t a bother.
In fact, we’ll get into why it will bother them if you don’t reach out to them for any of these things.
1. You just want to check out a house.
You see a house online. Or a For Sale sign. Maybe even just stumble across an open house.
You’re not all that serious about buying a house. Maybe you’re only just starting to think about it. Or, maybe you have no desire at all to move, and you’re just curious and want to take a peek.
So, you don’t want to “bother” the agent you know to show you the house.
Instead, you call the listing agent. Or some random agent you don’t even know. Or just walk right into the open house.
Next thing you know, you love the house. You’re making an offer. The offer is accepted. And then you regret it. Or problems come up. Or the process is miserable. Or you don’t feel like the agent you’re dealing with is giving you the best advice.
And that’s when you call the agent you know.
Too late. At that point, the agent you know can’t help. (Or at least shouldn’t…) Because now you are represented by another agent. The agent you know can get in a lot of trouble for even giving you friendly advice.
As innocent as it seems, when you just want to go see a house… you are inadvertently making a bigger decision than you think — you are deciding who will represent your interests, advise you, and help you through the process.
Even if you just go see a house with another agent, and before you even make an offer you decide to have the agent you know write up the offer and represent you… the agent who simply showed you the house could claim you as their client. It’s called “procuring cause”. I won’t get into the details here, but it can become messy.
You’re better off calling the agent you know to show you the house in the first place. You won’t be considered a bother.
What will bother him is to have to bite his tongue and not give you the help you want further into the process.
2. You want to know how much your home is worth.
Maybe you’re just curious about how much your home is worth. Or, maybe you’re actually thinking of selling. It might be because you want to get a feel for your net worth.
Nowadays, you can hop online and check out any number of sites that will give you the value of your home.
So, why “bother” the agent you know about this?
Because most of what you will find online is highly inaccurate to begin with. They are “automated” valuations. They are based upon data and algorithms. They have never even seen the inside of your home. They do not take into account your local market conditions.
And if you base your hopes, dreams, and decisions off of an inaccurate value, that can hurt you quite a bit.
Again, asking the agent you know to do an analysis and give you a true market value… not a bother.
But, it would be bothersome to hear that you’ve based important life decisions off of an inaccurate value once it’s too late.
3. You are considering a home improvement project.
The real estate agent you know probably isn’t an architect. Or a builder, a plumber, an electrician, a painter, etc. So, they probably can’t advise you about the ins and outs of a specific project or costs.
But once you have a sense of the proposed cost of a project, before you just pull the trigger and move forward, you really should “bother” your agent for their input.
Putting on an addition? That will surely increase the value.
A kitchen or bathroom remodel? Yep, your house will be worth more.
But will the value increase more than the amount you spent? Will that matter in your situation? Will the choices you make in decor, layout, or fixtures appeal to a buyer down the road? Does that even matter, given your future plans?
All questions and thoughts your agent can get into with you. Before you spend the money and go through the headaches of a huge project.
On the other hand, if you go forward with a home improvement project and spend, let’s say $60,000, and then call your agent…
You could seriously regret how much you spent, or even doing the project at all.
Your agent doesn’t want to break the news to you that your home is only worth $38,000 more after you spent $60,000. There is no joy in that. There is nothing that can be done at that point.
That’s just three examples. There are certainly more. But you get the point…
So, reach out to your agent before you do anything real estate related… and just trust that it isn’t a “bother”.
It’s a New Year Coming.. So that means Goal Setting Time. Have you thought about what your focus will be in 2020? If you would like help with any thing relating to Home Ownership we are here to help you meet your goals this coming year.
![Reasons Renters Buy [INFOGRAPHIC] | MyKCM](https://files.mykcm.com/2021/10/30142601/20211001-MEMa-1046x1991.png)
![Fact or Fiction: Homebuyer Edition [INFOGRAPHIC] | MyKCM](https://files.mykcm.com/2021/09/09142043/20210910-MEM-1046x1998.png)
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