Sam Abbott Sells Homes

Buying a home, once the home is found and the transaction has begun, typically takes between 4 and 6 weeks. This is largely because the financing process takes about that long. If a property is purchased with cash rather than relying on lender financing, a transaction can occur as quickly as ten days. The reason for this is to allow a title company to search title and verify that the home is being transferred free of all encumbrances (or not...), and can also allow some time for a property inspection and other due diligence items for the buyer.

The best time of year to buy a home is when there is the least amount of competition (demand) while having the most choice (supply). Most people don’t want to buy or sell in the wintertime. People that are selling in the winter are usually selling because they have to and this tends to be true with buyers as well. If you’re not in the ‘have to buy’ category, but you’re looking when sellers are and there are few buyers, you become the one that is in power rather than the seller. Increase in supply, buyer is in power. Increase in demand, seller is in power. Decrease in supply, seller is in power. Decrease in demand, buyer is in power. Now when you take two of those variables (increase in supply and decrease in demand vs. decrease in supply and increase in demand) and combine them, that’s when one can be very successful with their purchase or sale, respectively. Wintertime and Summertime. Spring and Fall in our market are the two busiest. Timing can make a significant difference in price.

1 - Marketing — This should be more comprehensive than putting the property in the MLS and putting a sign in the yard. Making sure that the agent has a comprehensive and well thought out marketing plan is instrumental in you having success as a seller. 2 - Experience — It's easier to make mistakes as a buyer agent than as a listing agent. When a listing agent makes mistakes it's almost always public. These mistakes cost you, the seller, money because they limit the exposure your home receives and/or position it poorly in the market causing prospective buyers to avoid or miss it. 3 - Pricing — This is not as simple as some might think. Making sure the agent is aware of pricing strategies and that they have one is an important thing to be aware of as well. Pricing can depend on seasonality of the market, whether the market is ascending or softening, whether there is immediate competition with this property relative to specific demand and several other things.

The market has begun to change this year in the way of there being less buyers compared to 2021. Why are there less buyers? The interest rates last year were hovering around 3% and have increased considerably over the last 12 months to a current rate, as of today, of nearly 5.5%! Consequently, many buyers are being priced out of the market because property values have yet to reflect this shift. While the market remains hot, the contrast from last year is evident to some of us in the amount of offers received on a given property. Where we may have received as many as 18-20 offers on a home last year, we’re more likely to see 1-3. Days on market has also increased which, too, is indicative of softening demand.