You thought you were buying a house. But then you weren’t. Instead you’ve been…waiting. And waiting. Mortgage interest rates jumped up in the 2nd half of last year. Exhausted by a market that was super-competitive, home prices that had vaulted upwards and interest rates that were shrinking your buying power, you were among a chunk of buyers who decided to step out of the market. I get it. It was no […]
Do you know why she is about to win this race? BECAUSE SHE KEPT RUNNING! Do you know who is NOT going to win this race? All the folks who decided to stop running, sit down in the stands and just watch. Of course you know I’m not really talking about this runner, I’m talking about HOMEBUYERS. Because that’s what I do. I talk about real estate. And this runner […]
We’re metaphor-ing here today folks. See all those lightbulbs, and one standing out shining brightly?? In today’s super competitive real estate market, when sellers are looking at 7, 16, 21 offers (on the first day), you want to be the shiny bulb in that pack of offers. You want to be the one that sellers can’t help noticing and loving. It’s not easy, and quite honestly it’s getting harder each […]
Yesterday. I loved yesterday. The morning started with a closing…as my clients, a recently-married young couple, closed on the purchase of their first home. There are few things sweeter than buyers receiving their first set of keys! Closings involving First Time Buyers bubble like champagne. A few hours later I met with another couple, clients who had purchased their first home 5 years ago. Walking in their front door, I […]
Do you know where these people are going? I’m willing to guess. I think they just heard about a house coming available in the neighborhood in which they want to live, and they are heading that way. Are they crazy for running? No, they’ve just come to understand that house hunting right now is kind of like being ready to do a hundred yard dash…at any moment on any day. The […]
Do you see the house down the street with the For Sale sign in front of it? Yeah, neither do I. I wish I did. But it is not there. In many of the neighborhoods and communities in which my buyer clients would like to purchase homes, there are very few homes on the market. Very. Few. Homes. Sometimes none. An example….A few weeks ago a colleague thought I was […]
Can you tell what is going on in this photo? It’s “Bobbing for Donuts.” (You know, like bobbing for apples, turned upside down, with no chance of drowning.) This game was one of the many events that took place at a recent neighborhood Block Party…to the delight of all. To the best of my knowledge, no families actually moved to this neighborhood because their wish list stipulated “4 bedrooms, 2.5 […]
HGTV has had a big impact on buyer expectations as they search for a home (can you say: stainless steel/granite, stainless steel/granite, stainless steel/granite??). But it hadn’t occurred to me until recently that HGTV real estate shows had also impacted buyers’ beliefs about how many houses they should see before making an offer. On TV, buyers seem to see 3 houses and then select one. Recently a young client, after […]
Yes, you heard me right: I’m glad their car broke down. My own clients. I’m glad their car broke down. Malice in my heart? General meanness of spirit? Nope. I’m grateful that their car broke down because it saved them from making a mistake. This was a young couple that was just beginning their home search process, but suddenly stopped short because their car broke down and was going to […]
It happened several years ago. A buyer made an offer on a home my client was selling, and gave us a strong pre-approval letter from a large local bank. All the better, we discovered the buyer was an employee of that bank…so we did a little happy dance expecting they were treating his loan process with extra special care since he was part of their team. Fast forward to 23 […]
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