Upcoming Free (& non-promotional) Home Buyer Classes:
Tuesday, July 31st , from 5pm-8pm (ish)
Marshall Community Center, conference room
1009 E. McLoughlin Blvd, Vancouver WA (kitty corner from Clark College)
Saturday, August 18th, from 9am-12pm (ish)
Marshall Community Center, conference room
1009 E. McLoughlin Blvd, Vancouver WA (kitty corner from Clark College)
Monday, August 20, from 5pm-8pm (ish)
Marshall Community Center, conference room
1009 E. McLoughlin Blvd, Vancouver WA (kitty corner from Clark College)
Saturday, August 25th, from 11am-2pm (ish)
Vancouver YMCA, conference room
11324 NE 51st Circle, Vancouver WA (SR 500 & Gher Road/112th Ave)
If these class dates and/or times don’t work for you, please let us know. We understand that you have lives, and families, and work. We will work something out that works better with your schedule. Just let us know….
….we also have home seller classes available too…link on left on website
Remember…with reservation…we will throw in lunch, or dinner! 😀
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Happy Sunday!
Oh my goodness… have I mentioned lately how in love I am with my air conditioner??? Right now it is my favorite thing in my house… however, it is supposed to start cooling down though (thankfully), and just in time for the Clark County Fair! The fair runs from Friday, August 3 through Sunday, August 12th. Chris Berg and I will be at the Clark County Fair again this year… because we are crazy. Please, stop by and say, “hi!” to us… it is the one thing that keeps up sane while we are there. It’s a long 10 days and we will be there EVERY day. I will be at the booth (inside the cool big exhibit hall, second booth to the right of the main doors) from 10am-4pm, and Chris will be there from 4pm-10pm…. EVERY DAY. So, please… stop by… talk to us… help us preserve what little sanity we have left…. AND … tell us you saw/read this post AND we have something pretty cool for you. Why? Because I went a little crazy on the promotional items, and I need to get them out of my garage so I can park in there again before the weather starts to turn. Help a gal out…
So this week let’s talk a bit about the market… I’ve have a few people ask me if the market is starting to ‘turn’… and my answer is a mixed bag. First things first….it’s HOT, and weather has a LOT to do with real estate, which is kind of weird, but there is a reasoning behind it. The BEST months of the year to be a buyer is always going to be the winter months of November, December, and January. There are couple of reasons for this …. weather (cold, crappy, rainy, and sometimes snowy), and the holidays…. not many folks want to be out looking or selling during the holidays. Because of these reasons, home typically ‘sit’ on the market for a bit longer. This is good for buyers because it gives people time to think before jumping on a home and making an offer, and because the market is a bit ‘softer’ during these months, there are less multiple offer situations and more sellers are willing to pay some closing costs. The down side of these months is that there aren’t usually as many homes for sale on the market….this is an upside for the seller. The second BEST months of the year to be a buyer are JULY and AUGUST… why? because again….it’s HOT, and surprisingly the hotter it is the less people are out looking at homes. People want to go the lakes, rivers, and beaches when it is hot….they don’t want to go look at homes. Also, there is less buyer competition during these months because of the childcare costs, and vacations. One of the pluses about the summer months over the winter months is that there is usually a lot more homes for sale during these months. The craziest time of year to be a buyer is always during February through June as this is usually the busiest time as people have tax refunds to use for down payments (if you don’t have one though there are programs to help with this), and closing costs. February and June can go either way….depending on the year, but during this time there tends to be less homes on the market and a LOT more buyer competition so more multiple offers, homes sell for more than listing price, and sellers are less likely to pay any closing costs.
So what if you have a home to sell, and need to buy one too? The summer and winter months are your best friend too. The spring might be easier to sell, but as a buyer you will have a more difficult time with that ‘sell my home first’ contingency (more about this next blog). The summer and winter months will give you a more solid buyer, and availability to purchase your new home with being contingent on the sale of your current home.
Does this explain the price drops you are seeing? Yes… the market is always on steroids during the spring, and when people list during the summer they see this, but as the home sits on the market for a bit longer, the price drops start happening. For buyers this is good…. multiple offers are difficult for everyone, and many buyers need some closing costs assistance. If you are a buyer…. go look at homes when it is hot as hades out there… it is a good thing!
Does this mean that prices will keep coming down? Not that we see, but we (as an industry) don’t think prices will continue to rise as they have been doing. Real estate tends to run on a 10 year cycle, and yes, we are nearing (or are at) the top of the cycle again. Interest rates are going up, and we don’t see those going down anytime soon. As interest rates go up, home prices will get ‘softer’. Remember that you are pre-approved for a monthly home payment (not a purchase price). The monthly home payment is directly related to interest rates….so as rates go up, a buyer is pre-approved for less. I’m talking to my buyers right now, and reminding them that the home they purchase is really a 7-10 year home.
We see many more homeowners following the interest rates, and seeing home prices start to soften, so we are seeing more home inventory hitting the market….again… this is a good thing as it will ease up the low supply/high demand that caused home prices to skyrocket.
Please remember a couple of things….I might have been called a witch a time or two, but my powers of seeing the future are not very good. My magic wand is a hit and miss, and that silly 8 ball lies to me quite frequently. All we can do is listen to the economists, watch and follow the trends, and rely of past economic predictions.
Good news is that YES, due to higher inventory and lower demand and this infernal heat, we ARE seeing price drops.
So what about the market? Well, the market is seeing some changes as well….with the higher interest rates folks aren’t getting pre-approved for as much as they were getting pre-approved for. Those homeowners in the higher price ranges are on the market for longer and reducing prices to find buyers. It starts in the higher price ranges first and gradually starts moving down…..but the lower price ranges will always have the most buyers looking.
Is there a crash coming? Not that anyone sees….no… What the economists are talking about is a ‘market correction’ where rising interest rates control the skyrocketing home prices.
Now for those of you who love this heat…. I am too pale, and my hair is too frizzy for this kind of madness…. 🙂
I hope that explains this a bit, but if you have any questions, or comments please call or email me anytime! I am here to help…
Your agent is NOT a salesperson, and should not be acting like one. Real Estate is not really about houses, it is about relationships. Your agent, and your lender work for YOU. You drive the bus…we are merely GPS to help you get to your goals. Like the classes, this weekly blog email is to help you with your home adventure. The goal is to be informative and non-promotional. 🙂 We are, however, hoping you will call and want us to help with your adventure.
If you have any questions about this, or something you have heard…or if you would like me to help you with your home adventure, please call, email, text, or facebook me anytime. I am, as always, happy to help!
Thank you again for your business and your referrals!! …and thank you for referring these classes to your friends, family, and co-workers.
. ..disclaimer…if you have already purchased a home, or would no longer like to receive these emails, please let me know and I will be happy to remove you from any further mailings…
Upcoming Topics: Contingencies, Rentback, and Pre-Possession (oh my!),
Buyers Due Diligence, &….
What happens after an offer is made?
Last Week: Why do deals fall through?
Have a great day, and I will talk to you soon,
;-D
Tracie DeMars
Real Estate broker
Re/Max – Van Mall
360/ 903-3504 cell
360/ 882-3600 fax
www.traciedemars.com
traciedemars@aol.com
“Interested in free and non promotional home education classes? Go to www.freehomebuyerclasses.com for local upcoming home buyer and home SELLER classes, or facebook: Tracie DeMars Real Estate for my home buyer education blog.”
“Listen to the mustn’ts, child. Listen to the don’ts. Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me… Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.”
– Shel Silverstein, American poet, cartoonist and composer, (1930 – 1999).
