Buy In The Market You Are In

Real estate markets change because of many things, and can go from a Buyer's market to a Seller's market, and vice versa, fairly quickly. Buyers and Sellers should pay close attention to the market they are in, especially if they are in a niche market, so they can take the correct action to achieve their goals. Agents that actively work in the market every day will see trends and can help you adapt to changing markets.

 

If the market becomes a strong Seller's market and you are a Buyer, you must understand that you have much competition. We are in that type of market today in Northern Nevada. A year ago Buyers could name their terms. Today they must stand out. After we told a Buyer recently that she should act quickly if she wanted the home we just saw and she responded with, "They have to give us time to think about it!", we knew she wasn't going to get the home she wanted... and she didn't. The same party would wait three or four days to go look at a new listing after we called her about it. Before we could look it would be sold. Months of this saw many homes come on the market and get sold, none to that couple that wanted to buy like it was 2009.

 

Many things change the market including inventory supply, price change momentum, interest rates, changes in the local and national economies, etc. As the market impact items change so do the nature of the offers. One market might see Sellers making concessions to sell, i.e.- paying a percentage of the sales price towards the Buyer's recurring and nonrecurring closing costs, or Buyers paying more than list price and submitting a sympathy letter with their offer to sway the Seller towards their offer. Those are the extremes, but there are many levels of each market in between. It is important to work within the level of the market you are in.

 

Reading articles about national trends may not help you in your situation. Detroit real estate is different than Silicone Valley which is different than Northern Nevada. Within Northern Nevada there are neighborhoods and communities each with its own characteristics. Each community is a submarket and must be considered as such when you are positioning yourself to make an offer. New listings in some areas and price points will have multiple offers within hours. Other nearby areas can have homes on the market for weeks or months without a showing. It is important that you recognize what is going on in the neighborhood that you want to live in.

Keeping focused on your niche market will help you stay contemporary and competitive. A neighborhood with troubles, i.e.- problem water system, can be an ideal time to be a knowledgeable Buyer. The more knowledge you get on the issue that is stigmatizing the neighborhood the better you can structure an offer that will give you a competitive edge and help the Seller at the same time. Solving problems is how the real money is made in real estate. If you like a neighborhood don't let stereotype comments about the area stop you from studying it in depth to understand what caused the history and what potential the future holds.

 

Our Advice: It doesn't matter what your friend at work, your cousin, or anybody else did in their real estate transaction. Their circumstances were specific to their situation, as is yours. Don't try to make your transaction match or better what somebody else did without confirming that the specifics of your position will allow for it. If you are competing with somebody outside of the transaction for an ego victory more than you are the party across the proverbial table from you it is unlikely that you will achieve the most out of your transaction.

 

Keep flexible as you work through the process. The market changes and so must you.

 

Buy In The Market You Are In

 

Lisa Wetzel & Jim Valentine

1320 US Highway 395 N.

Gardnerville, Nevada 89410

775.781.5472 - Cell

775.783.6854 - Direct

775.552.8585 - Fax

 carsonvalleyland@hotmail.com

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www.carsonvalleyland.com