There are an additional 1,121 homes pending sale or under contract and almost 300 homes have sold in Gwinnett County for month of January 2015. This is winter people supposedly the worse time ever to sell or buy a home, clearly not so in this community.
So if are markets are already full steam ahead what will happen when spring time is here? Personally I believe it will be awesome as long as we have inventory. We need our builders to produce more than what they have been providing in the past 2 years. I understand that there has been a fear of growing too fast and what if 2007 happens again mentality. Our economy is growing and growing better and stronger. We have a lot of positive things happening with the movie industry and Mercedes Benz alone. Our public schools rank extremely high and are the driving force for neighborhood revitalization and community growth. Our comps in many neighborhoods have reached levels of where homeowners are ready to list and sell their homes. They are no longer at risk of having to bring money to the table to get out from under their loan. Money is cheap right now for buyers. Interest rates are still extremely low and in some cases better than we have ever seen. The confidence about our economics throughout the country is strong and that encourages people to buy and sell real estate, which is also considered to be an economic indicator of how good or bad things really are for us.
If you are considering listing your home in March/April like everyone else is thinking, I suggest you get a head start and list in February. As you can see above there are already 3,000 homes in various price ranges looking for a buyer. Once spring hits you could possible see those numbers of active homes doubling if not tripling and that will be your competition if you wait too long. As far as buying a home you need to get your pre-approval now and start looking. The home prices continue to climb and in some cases by a lot, which is not good for a buyer. The more a neighborhood increases over the next few months the less home you will be able to afford. If you have strong Realtors in the area and working a geographic farm they are working to raise the comps with each and every sale. They do this to help the sellers, community and neighborhoods, which is what you want as a seller (maybe not so much as a buyer). There are many neighborhoods I was selling in this past spring/summer where the average home price was $135k and now the comps have been pushed up, because of supply and demand to the low $200k. When you are talking about 6 months to a year that’s a fast climb and one that is great for the seller for their equity, however not so good for the buyer.
What I have noticed with a lot of buyers is that they think since we have more inventories coming on the market in the spring time that they will wait. That is all well and good except how much will change in pricing before you decide to pull that trigger and what will it cost you in the long run? With you sellers, I know what you are thinking…….if I wait a little longer I will get more for my house. The truth is if you wait a little longer you could be up against a lot more competition and better homes than yours. Do you have upgrades in your kitchen, bathrooms, hvac and roof? Buyers are smarter these days and recognize if you have a home on its last legs they aren’t paying top dollar for it. A bathroom remodel is $10,000. A kitchen you are looking at $25-40k. HVAC another $6k and a roof is an easy $10k. There are pros and cons with every home and pros and cons to each time to list a home or buy a home. It is all supply and demand. RIGHT NOW THERE IS A DEMAND AND NO SUPPLY! THAT’S GOOD! When you do list your home remember it is PRICING, LOCATION & CONDITION. When a Realtor puts a home on the market it really comes down to pricing. The market will not give you what you want unless it is truly there. No one will overpay unless there is value. So before the markets get fast in the next few months consider calling a Realtor TODAY and list or buy a home in FEBRUARY!
To reach Rodney Camren please call (404) 375-1496 or email rodney@starteamatlanta.com.
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