SELLERS Take Note!

THE STRENGTH OF A SELLER'S MARKET

We’ve touched on the different types of markets in the past. Buyers, sellers and balanced. This is crazy right now! Holy seller’s market Batman! Here are a few indicators that really support this market imbalance.

HOLDING OFFERS: Listing agents are including offer dates on their listing. They are saying that they are happy to take your offer but we’d like to see it at a specific time and date. In a strong sellers’ market, there is a sense of certainty that the property is going to sell. This strategy is designed to move the property quickly and to get the bidding participants pretty excited about owning the home. This is also an indicator that they expect more than one (multiple) offers.

SOLD OVER ASKING: We’re seeing this everywhere. This is showing us that properties are either being bid on (multiple buyers), that they are listed UNDER what the true value is. Perhaps a combination of both.  This is helping to create a firestorm for sellers who are now expecting to sell over asking and for buyers who can expect to have very little chance to win their offer if they go in at asking (let alone below asking).

NO CONDITIONS: Most offers right now are going in firm. No condition of financing, no condition of inspection, no condition of lawyer review etc. This is showing us that the seller has very little time or patience for the buyer to do their due diligence. Why? Because they have several other offers waiting in line. They don’t have to be tied up waiting for events that may revoke the potential sale.

LOW INVENTORY: In most areas we are experiencing very low inventory. With a normal level of buyers competing for fewer and fewer properties, sellers are able to increase the demand and the price for their homes simply because there are more people bidding a smaller number of options. Supply and demand. The power of supply dominates the fury of demand.

The best advice about when to buy or sell is really the same regardless of which side of the equation you are on. Buy when YOU are ready or sell when YOU are ready. Make a move on your timeframe and schedule, not when others tell you that you should. People often talk about waiting until the spring, or let’s see what happens with the neighbours house or any number of other reasons that postpone the process. The reality is that in most cases you will be buying and selling in the same market. This can reduce or even eliminate the gain you see on one end of the transaction. There are ways to "beat" this discrepancy. Location, type of home, interim plan and demand in other areas. 

Thanks for reading. Please call me at any time to discuss anything real estate related. Aww what the heck, call me to talk about anything you like!

I'm a pretty good listener.

Andrew 416-276-5453