Although my blog is still new and I have not heard a response from anyone to date, I really look forward to hearing from a fellow blogger someday soon that is interested in discussing things about real estate, homes sales, the mortgage market etc. I want to know whether you or maybe someone is interested in looking at real estate over the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend. Not necessarily looking at homes with me (although that would be just fine) but with anyone in general. Why, you might ask? I want to find out what motivates buyers, home shoppers and “lookie loos” to go out and look when they do. I compare notes all of the time other agents and I have kept records from the last several years concerning when the greatest activity occurs. Sometimes these things are predictable and sometimes they are not. That’s why it would be interesting to hear from some of you who are not agents or raw data on a spreadsheet, but simply potential home buyers. Are you trying to find a home before the holidays? It seems every year that everyone wants to be in a new home before Christmas and then after New Year’s Day the market cools until about the first week of March. These and other patterns are relatively predicable but are not always exact and the impact is not always the same. In other words, there may be a peak in home sales in March but it could be weak in comparison from the previous year, etc. If you’re in sales (commissioned sales) as I am, you might understand that it can be useful from a planning standpoint to spend your marketing dollar in conjunction with certain cycles. Also, it is useful information in which to establish target goals etc. Another item of interest is why are certain areas more attractive to people than others. For instance, why do certain people love The Resort and dislike Lake Country Estates and visa versa. I had some customers not too long ago that looked at some water front homes in The Resort and favored Lake Country Estates. I asked the reason why they felt this way and they thought the Resort was too “up and coming”. They wanted something more established and relaxed but equally well to do. Neither of these positions is right or wrong. It just goes to show you how different people can be in their views about where they want to live. I’ve had other people who want to live in The Resort because it’s newer and has all of the amenities they expect in a new home. Living as we do in a Home & Garden TV world, it is no wonder people tend toward one direction and not another. That is, some people like the remodel bring it up to modern premium condition kind of home and others just want a home that is move in ready because it is newly built that way. The thing that I’ve come to realize that people don’t want is a home that is in sub par condition. A seller will be unlikely to get a premium price unless there home is in the best possible condition. There are too many homes on the market from which people have to choose and as result, they will be less likely to buy unless there are proportionate concessions from the seller to the buyer. Remember, buyers will always over estimate what it will take to bring a property up to premium condition. For this reason, I think a seller is in most cases probably better off making any renovations or repairs to their property using a professional contractor prior to listing their home for sale. For what it’s worth, that's all for now!  

 

Regards,

 

Bernie