More than ever this year, sellers are asking if they should list their home now or wait until spring. They are asking…are there any buyers out there?
Media reports make it sound like financing is difficult or impossible and people aren't buying. In spite of expectations of a big drop in home sales following the recent drops in consumer confidence pending sales have been showing year-over-year increases every week. Along with that is a decrease in the number of homes available for sale and an increase in the percentage of lender-mediated sales, now accounting for about half of pending sales.
The bottom line is, buyers who are financially ready are buying and in addition to lender-mediated homes on the market people who have equity in their homes are selling. Lending guidelines are stricter, but mortgage loans are still available for people with good credit, money for a down payment, and a steady job. Unemployment, which reached 6.5% in October, is an issue reducing the buyer pool…but that still leaves 93.5% of the workforce employed.
Regardless of economic conditions there are always people buying and selling homes because housing is a basic need. Life events happen in all economic times…people relocate and family situations change. Some people are choosing to buy now rather than later because of opportunities in the marketplace.
With fewer homes available, and a higher percentage of them lender-mediated homes, it can be argued that this is a good time to be selling a traditional home because there is less competition. If you wait for conditions to be ideal you may be waiting forever…we will know when conditions were ideal only by looking back.
People planning to sell also ask about renting for now and selling later. That certainly is a option. You might even consider offering it both for rent and for sale…whichever contract you get first is the winner…sometimes renters end up being buyers. Just a word of caution if you plan to rent…keep in mind that renters may not care for your home the same way you do. When we were in California last week, we heard of a very nice nice home that had been rented out down the street from where we were staying. Evidently the people hired to clean after they left had refused to even go in, it was such a filthy mess. If you are renting be sure to do thorough screening of your renters and check in on the the property. If you don't want to be a landlord, consider hiring a property manager.
