Well, mostly midsummer, at least. It's hard to turn on the news without some sort of daily update about the real estate market, but with so much click bait, so many opinions, and headlines crafted to grab your attention, what is the real story?? (And how much does the national news impact what's going on here in Central Virginia?) I'm here to break it down for you! What's Been Happening for a While? Well, it's no surprise that the real estate market has been going full steam for the last couple of years. The reasons for that are numerous. To name a few: The pandemic created different needs in the home- more work from home situations, more desire for home to be a "get away" when so many get aways were closed (think pools, putting greens, and more outdoor kitchens), and more people becoming something of digital nomads, with the ability to move anywhere. Interest rates dropped to historic lows, so money became so cheap to borrow, and that absolutely spurred the market, make home ownership more attainable for many. Millenials/older millennial buyers dropped into the market in force. Being the most populous generation, they made up 43% of the buyers out there in 2021 and those numbers continue to grow. The production of new housing units dropped after the mortgage crisis in '08, and the supply has diminished since. All of those factors created a serious supply and demand issue, where there were quite literally more buyers than homes. That's been going on for a couple of years now. What we're seeing now and how it's changed over the last few months.  Obviously, rates have risen quite a lot in the last few months, going from a low of 2.68% in December of 2020 to the current rate (as of July 2022) hovering around 5.5%. That has pushed some buyers out of the market completely, and more into different brackets of their price range. In our market, in Central Virginia and the Metro Richmond area, We're still seeing a good number of multiple offer situations. But, instead of 15 offers, we're seeing more 4 or 5 offer situations. Every home is not selling immediately. The homes that have don't have great curb appeal, show a lot of deferred maintenance, or are priced too ambitiously are not flying off the market like they were a few months ago. Buyers are able to be, and are being, a little more picky, and a little more cautious. Fewer buyers are waiving "all the things-" Inspections, appraisals, etc. More price reductions. Price reductions have tripled since early May. Those days of pricing homes by throwing a dart up high, and having offers that still exceed it, seem largely over. In most cases, at least. What is projected in the next few months/looking into next year? (And how will it all affect you if you're looking to buy or sell?) Despite some people's predictions of a housing market crash, that's VERY unlikely to happen here in the Richmond area. Demand is still high, and supply is still pretty low. While we may see a more "normal," market, it is doubtful that we'll shift completely from a seller's market to a buyer's market. It will likely just be more balanced. We're already seeing more home inspections and fewer high appraisal waivers, so if you've wanted to buy and those things have scared you, that window is opening just a bit. All of the experts do predict that rates will continue to rise over the next few months to a year, and that homes prices here will continue to go up (not at the same rate, but still, up) for the next few years, so if you're thinking of buying, don't wait for prices to go down. Buy when it's right for YOU. If you're thinking of selling, you may have missed *much* of the crazy peak of the seller's market, but with supply still low, it is still a good time to sell and leverage the equity you have in your home. Do you have more questions about the market? Follow me on social media and here for more market updates, or give me a call to give you a customized assessment of your unique situation.  

But wait a minute, if you're writing an offer, isn't it always about who is willing to pay the most money? In this crazy competitive market, we've been in now for a while. Sometimes it is. And sometimes it's not. Sometimes it's about those little individual things that make a difference to the seller. Here are a few things that I've seen recently. One, a seller that had 19 offers, the ones that they wanted to negotiate were the ones with no inspection, not because they thought there was going to be anything wrong with the house, but because they had small children. And the idea of not having to clean the house once more made a huge difference to them. When you're getting a mortgage on a home, you are going to have to have an appraisal, your lender is going to require one and if it doesn't appraise for the escalated value that that offer may have been, and you can't make up the difference in cash. You could be offering $10 million on a $300,000 house, but the lender is only going to give you $300,000. And sometimes people are just super emotional about their house. I've also seen situations where the people just knew that the buyer's love, love, loved everything that they had done, and that made a huge difference to them. They wanted someone to love the home as much as they did. Are you curious about more ways to be a lucrative buyer in this incredibly tough competitive market? I'd love to talk to you. Sit down and help make your homeownership dreams come true. Send me an email give me a call.

"Thinking of selling your home in the next few months. One of the things you definitely want to do is have everything ready. Get yourself ahead of the game. And one way to do that is to grab a copy of my 10 Things You Must Do If You're Thinking of Selling your home. It's a free guide that I'm offering. Click the link in my bio, shoot me a message. I'll get a copy of it in your hand and you can start working before you even sign the papers and make sure you are ready to go when it's time to sell." --- Are you considering selling your home? Whether you're looking to take advantage of the current Richmond market, relocating, or downsizing - get started on the right foot & grab my FREE GUIDE - 10 Things You Must Do if You're Thinking of Selling Your Home. These are things you can start right now to get you on your way to getting the most money from your investment. Download here: https://bit.ly/10ThingsYouMustDo. Got questions? I'm always happy to answer them. Find me on Instagram at @cindybennettrealestate or via my website at cindybennett.net.

Are you starting your home search? Get off the internet! Here's why a lot of those sites that seem so terrific on the internet might not be the best place to really get going on that home search. You just start poking around and then the next thing you know there's a house you want to see. Make sure that you are connected with, you know, me, or a realtor in your local market that's going to be able to give you the solid data, the actual listing price, and the comparables that are up to the moment in that particular neighborhood and area that you're looking at. Once you're ready to look at real homes in real life, let's set up a meeting in real life and set up a plan that's perfect for you and that home that you know you're gonna love.

Ugh, I wish I had done that sooner. Now I love my house! I hear this all the time. People do things to get their homes ready to sell, but they don't do them until they're really getting ready to sell. If you know you're thinking of selling your house this year, and you know that there are some things that you're going to want to do to get it ready, start doing those things now so you can enjoy them and not just the new buyers. If you're wondering what that list is, of things that you need to do to get your home ready to sell, give me a call, and let's walk through, get that list together so you can start doing those things that are going to help you not only get the most bang for your buck but help you enjoy the house while you're still living in it. Give me a call or shoot me an email today and let's get a time set up to take a look at your home.

So you want to buy a house in the new year, here are five things that you want to do now to get ready. Surprise, surprise, most of them are going to have to do with money. The first one is going to be your credit score. You can pull your credit score and your credit report all sorts of places for free. Now, you want to make sure that it's at least 620. To get a mortgage at all and at least 700 to get a good rate. Make a budget, look at what you actually spend and where you feel comfortable having your mortgage payment that may or may not be where your rent payment is now, because remember, you're going to have some extra expenses when you buy that home and it's not just the new stuff. Start saving, you definitely don't need 20% of the down payment anymore, but you are going to want to have a little bit extra in the bank to cover all of those things that might come up and closing costs. Be ready to compromise. We're going to talk about this in another video. But this doesn't have to be your forever home if it's your first home. I hope these tips were helpful. If you would like more tips, give me a follow, and if you want to put together a plan to buy a home in the new year. I'd love to help you. Give me a call.

So you want to wait until the market cools to buy a house. My advice, don't do it. The tricky thing about waiting until the market cools is right now, we are in an inventory shortage, rates are incredibly low. That means if you look at a normal market, like September of 2018, the average home sale was $262,000. Right now, the average home price is $320,000. The tricky thing about a normal market is rates are going to be higher. While the prices of homes may not continue to escalate like they have been, they're definitely not likely to go down with any great degree. The average home price in September of 2018 in a normal market was $262,000. At that $262,000 sales price with mortgage rates at 4.63%. Your payment per month would be $1,361, on that house. If you buy that $320,000 house now in September of 2021, at an average interest rate of around 3%. Your payment per month is only going to be $1,350. That's $11 cheaper than that $262,000 house was three years ago. So remember, if you wait until that market cools, that $320,000 house might still be $320,000 And you might not have to go over but your payment by looking at those 2018 rates is going to be $1,600 a month. And that seems like a difference worth sticking it out for a while I don't have a crystal ball and I don't think anyone does. One thing I do know is the market is still great right now to buy a home. If you're thinking of buying or selling I'd love to talk to you. Give me a call, shoot me a message, and let's get together and make a plan.

So, how did the market look in April? Well, the news may be saying there is a national slow down, but it doesn't seem to have reached us quite yet. Here's the breakdown by the numbers. Average Sales Price in the month of April was $412,850. That's up by 13.2% from last April, and it's still trending upward. (Yes, that means good news for sellers, but buyers in most price ranges are still engaging in bidding wars on most properties.) New Listings were actually down in April, by 25.3%,. but part of that can easily be accounted for by Easter/Passover holidays and spring breaks. Most people don't list during spring break weeks, so that is always to be expected. Closed Sales where also down (likely in part, at least, for the same reason) by just over 12% from last year. Average Days on Market seems to just keep going down! The average in April was 14 days, but keep in mind, that is indeed the average. Much higher than the median, which is only 6. Frankly, 6 is a high number, as most listings go on for 4-5 days, with a deadline for reviewing offers, so if they had no deadline, that number would certainly be lower. The average percentage of list price to sales price is up by just over 3% from last year, clocking in at 107.4% for the month of April. What does all of this mean? Well, at the risk of repeating the same refrain you hear all the time, it really is a great time to be a seller. That still means you have to price your home well, and do all the things to show it off in the best light. BUT, if you follow that course, there is a strong likelihood that you will indeed get multiple offers, with contingencies waived and more money than the listing price. If you're buying, well...things are tough out there, I'm not going to lie. But, having a plan, a preapproval, and most of all, a strategy, can get you in a great home to be enjoying by the time summer is truly here. With rates ticking up, we are likely to see a bit less competition in some higher price ranges, and many people are adjusting their price ranges and budgets to account for the increase. If you are thinking of buying or selling, or just wondering if it's the right time for you, reach out. I'd love to help.

Common mistakes sellers are making when they go to list their home, even in this market. Probably the most important and the most overarching mistake people are making in this seller's market is not hiring an agent or not hiring a great agent. A good agent, or a great agent, is going to not only listen to you, but actually hear your specific circumstances, and understand the specific details of your home but also be honest with you and tell you if there are things that you need to know to help get the return on your investment that you want to see. A great agent is not going to just tell you your house is pretty but they're going to tell you if it smells like your four dogs and three cats, or the fish you had for dinner last night. The next big mistake is not prepping your home for sale. Prepping your home means cleaning, decluttering landscaping, maybe staging, making sure all your light bulbs have been changed and making sure everything looks clean and shiny and bright and welcoming. The third mistake is bad marketing. No house that goes on the market in 2021 should have your bad iPhone photos in MLS or anywhere else. Marketing goes well beyond that. But make sure that your agent is prepared to market your home in the best way that suits your home and the market that it's targeted to. The biggest mistake sellers are making is pricing and that's another video so stay tuned for that one. If you have any other questions or concerns or you'd like to talk to me about selling your home, please reach out.

Yes, we're in a seller's market, but even in a seller's market pricing mistakes get made every day. Basing pricing on over customization, your $70,000 darkroom may just be somebody else's spare bedroom, basing your pricing on what you want to get. The market doesn't care if you want to buy a new boat and a new house once you sell this one, basing your pricing on the repairs that you made to get ready for market because you had to take three dead trees out of your yard and it cost you $12,000 is not going to transfer into $12,000 extra. Basing your pricing on online estimates you, know what I'm talking about, and they are not always right. And lastly, timing. Timing can have to do with price. This market today is not necessarily the market in October, so make sure that you're up to date on what the market conditions are when you're ready to list. If you have any other questions, reach out to me I'd love to talk to you!