Spring Market Brings Low Inventory and Higher Sales

You may have seen reports that housing inventory is low across the country, but it's something we've been experiencing in the D.C. market for several years.

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According to reports, the national inventory of real estate is quite short. Many cities across the country are seeing bidding wars for homes created by buyers who want to buy the very few homes available on the market.

Here in the Washington D.C. market, though, we've had low inventory for several years. We currently have 1,280 properties for sale in the city, which is virtually the same number of properties we had available at this time last year. However, the interesting thing is that the number of sales increased 18% this February compared to last February.

Available inventory is the same, but sales were up 18%.

There are a lot of homebuyers competing for the low number of houses available out there. In fact, 800 properties sold within the city boundaries this February.

As we move out to Montgomery County, we see that inventory has gone down by 15% over this same time last year. This has created a more seller-friendly market than we've had in Montgomery County in many years. Currently, there are 1,800 homes for sale in Montgomery County, and interestingly enough, we've seen an 11% increase in condo sales this February over last February. The increase in single-family home sales was 3% in the same time period.

Hopefully, this gives you a clearer picture of what inventory looks like in the D.C. market. If you have any questions for us or you're looking to buy, sell, or invest in real estate, don't hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We'd be glad to help you.

How to Price Your DC Home to Maximize Your Net

Price is one of the five most important factors when selling your house. Here’s how we help sellers find the right price that will earn them top dollar in our market.

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Choosing the right price for your home is one of the most important decisions you make when you sell it. In fact, it’s one of the five key factors that determines whether your home will sell or not. The other factors include the condition of the home, the market you’re selling in, your motivation, and the quality of the marketing your home receives.

As for pricing your home, you have to think in terms of competition. Since you’re not alone in the market and homebuyers are comparison shoppers, you want to attract buyers with a compelling price for your home. These buyers are shopping online and they’re shopping for value, but how do they determine it? Since they shop by comparison to determine value, they will compare homes online and compare them when they physically come to the home.

They will compare the features, benefits, and price of your home with the features, benefits, and price of similar houses that have recently sold or are currently on the market.

When we help you come up with a price for your home, our job is to anticipate what buyers will be thinking. We need to look at comparable homes and the current competition, but more importantly, we need to look at what actually sold and the price it sold at. Many houses are unique, so we’ll never find an exact match, which makes the task a bit harder. For that reason, we need to add and subtract from the price based on variations from house to house.

Our job is to anticipate what buyers are thinking.

There is almost always a range of prices for which a home sells, and we aim to sell your house at the very top of that range. Our team will take a look at the house to establish that range and even consult other experienced agents to come up with a price range. This information is especially important compared to automated data online, which can be helpful at times, but it can also be extremely misleading at times. You need to take it with a huge grain of salt. Even Zillow says they have errors in their valuation that can be 10% high down to 10% low.

I hope you found this information helpful when considering a price for your home sale. If you have any questions for our team or you’re looking to buy a home in the Washington D.C. area, give us a call or send us an email. We’d love yo help you out.

Tips for Home Sellers in the Spring Market

The spring real estate market will be here before you know it. Here’s what you need to do to prepare if you’re thinking about selling.

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If you’re thinking about selling your home this spring, you’re in luck. We have five tips to share with you today that will help you get your home in tip-top shape by the time you’re ready to list. Here is what you should do:

1. Start way before spring. The spring market begins before spring does. You’re going to enter a very competitive market, so the earlier you prepare, the better. It’s a beauty contest and a price war, so getting ahead of the pack will serve you well.

2. Start talking to Realtors in your area. 95% of all transactions are conducted by sellers who have a listing agent; the listing agent represents them through all the legal minutiae and marketing decisions of the transaction. Get as much information as you can about each Realtor before you determine your best fit.

3. Get your plan well-established. In other words, where are you going to go once your house sells? If you’re purchasing a new home, will that purchase be contingent on the sale of your home? That strategy doesn’t tend to work well in our area so we will need to figure something else out. You should also determine what you want your takeaway to be so you can find out how much you can put down on your new home when the time comes to make an offer on it.

4. Be as informed as possible about the spring market in your area. We have a lot of mini-markets around here. The Georgetown spring market isn’t the same as the Chevy Chase, Spring Valley or Rockville spring markets. They each have different people, different demographics, and different dynamics.

5. Get your house physically ready for the market. Make your home a showcase by cleaning, decluttering, sprucing up your landscaping, and replacing outdated paint or carpet. Remember, it’s a beauty contest out there.

The spring market begins before spring even does.

We hope these tips are helpful to you as you prepare to sell your home this spring. If you have any questions or want any more tips, give us a call or send us an email. We are always glad to help.