Many people were saying the market was slowing down late last year and that interest rates would cripple the market. I was not one of those people and have always felt the market tends to slow down a little over the winter because of the snow and holiday seasons. However, once the snow starts to melt and temperatures start heating up, so does the real estate market. This year was no different and the market is in full swing and not slowing down at all.
As of right now while writing this article, there are only four homes active on the market in Windham under $500,000. Although there are two more that will hit the market later this week, that is still a very limited inventory.
These types of inventory levels across Cumberland County are making it very difficult for buyers to purchase a home. This creates higher prices because of the demand, even with the interest rates up around 6 percent.
I know of one property that hit the market and after just two days on the market had over a dozen offers come in. Each one of those offers were submitted for more than the asking price and many were around $50,000 over the asking price. Several of the offers waived inspections, several waived the financing condition, and several were very creative in the way the offer was presented. All of the buyers were trying to put their best foot forward in hopes of being selected as the buyer that the seller wants to work with.
While I cannot share with you details about who the seller selected, I can share that it was not the highest offer that was chosen.
Why would a seller accept less money for their house? There are a lot of reasons that the sellers make those types of decisions and as a buyer, you want to try to use as many of those tricks as you can so that your offer stands out among the rest.
You can ask any reputable builder in the area, and they are all booked out until late in the fall and many are booked out until next summer. I share this with you because new construction is a great indicator for the real estate market and the demand for new construction remains very high.
The inventory of new construction homes for sale is very low and most are under contract long before the home is even close to being completed. So, what should a buyer in today’s market do to improve their chances of putting a home under contract and finally being able to call a property home?
Each buyer’s situation is very different and unique to their own circumstances. There is not a one-shoe-fits-all when it comes to writing offers. Working with an experienced realtor as your buyer agent is almost always a must in a market like this one. Having a mortgage broker that knows the business well is important if you are using financing. It is also important that all three of you work well together as a team and hopefully spend some time going over different scenarios that may arise.
Also, you can all have input together when it comes to being creative in preparing an offer and presenting it. All of this should be discussed ahead of time so everyone is on the same page and things will move much more smoothly when your offer gets accepted.
Lastly, I would suggest trying to stay positive and open to new ideas. I know it is difficult trying to find a home, putting in offers and not having them selected over and over again. Don’t give up. When the right home comes along, it will work out for you if it is meant to be. Good luck out there! <
This article was written by Matthew Trudel, Owner of Five Star Realty, Windham, 207-939-6971.
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