Lochwood Market Update – November 2021

Happy Thanksgiving, neighbor! It’s November 2021, so it’s time for another Lochwood Market Update!

We’re gearing up for family, fun, food and football at our house. I hope you also enjoy the holiday with your friends and family. Before we know it, it will be 2022!

October home sales have been tallied and here’s where we ended up. There were seven sales in all, and four of the seven sales closed at 100 percent or more of the original list price. Five of the sales were in Lochwood Meadows and two were in Lochwood Estates (between Jupiter and Sunland). The number of sales that closed in October 2021 was in line with the number of sales from October 2020. Inventory (homes for sale) and the number of days a home was on the market before going under contract both increased slightly.

Pending sales (homes under contract but not closed yet) look to be down significantly. This is a number that I look to in order to determine if the pace of sales is being maintained, accelerating for cooling. It’s important to remember that one month of lower sales does not indicate a trend. Truthfully, I anticipate that pending sales will increase in November based on what is currently under contract. I am anticipating a strong closing for 2021.

Last month, I asked what real estate questions you have for me, and one of you responded wanting to know what sellers need to do to get their home ready for the market. The answer is that it depends, but generally speaking, these are the top three to-dos that I recommend to all of my listing clients (sellers):

Deep clean, declutter and deodorize

I used to work with an agent who said, “Robyn, if I can smell it, I can’t sell it.” That made me giggle a little bit, but there is some truth to it. When a prospective buyer enters your home for the first time, one of the first senses that will be activated is their sense of smell. Pleasant or even neutral odors are always best. A cotton ball that’s been saturated with spearmint oil in the HVAC vents is a quick and easy way to address unpleasant odors. A deep clean is always a must. People “eat with their eyes” so you want to make sure the house is as clean as possible. Decluttering is also imperative. Sellers need to be sure that prospective buyers can see themselves living in the home. In order to do that, a lot of personal items and even some decor needs to be minimized.

Meet with my stager for a consultation

I almost always want the opinion of a home from an unbiased third party, and a good stager is worth their weight in gold because they bring a fresh perspective and only focus on making the house visually appealing to as many buyers as possible. My stager will go room-by-room and make a list of items that need to stay, what needs to go, and possible what they can bring in. Again, the goal is to make the house as visually appealing as possible because all prospective buyers are going to look at the photos online before scheduling a showing at your house.

Also, statistics from the National Association of Realtors show that homes that are staged sell faster and at a higher price than homes that are not staged.

Price your home correctly to appeal to the highest number of buyers

It is a fact that homes that are overpriced sit on the market. Buyers will wait for a seller to get realistic in their list price before making an offer, and the longer a house sits on the market, the more buyers get the feeling that something is wrong with it, or that the seller is just unrealistic in their expectation of sale price.

I’ve heard more than one seller say that they want to price high so that they have room to negotiate. The truth is that if you price your home correctly, which is in line with the existing comparable sales, the seller will likely receive multiple offers, which enables the seller to dictate most of the terms of the contract. Additionally, when a seller receives multiple offers, they get to work with the buyer who they think is the most financially qualified and able to close on the sale.

Every home that I list gets its own custom preparation and marketing plan, but generally speaking, these are the top three to-dos that I recommend to all sellers in all phases of the market cycle. I hope you find the information helpful.

2021 tax rates were recently released, and the state legislature has an amendment on the agenda for May pertaining to property taxes. I will have more information about that next month.

In the meantime, if there are any real estate related questions that you have, please let me know. And, have a happy Thanksgiving.

Be well,