Stop Thinking Like an Investor When It Comes Time to Buy or Sell


If you’re thinking of buying or selling, act like it. Don’t think like an investor if you aren’t one.

When it comes to the market, I’ve got one simple piece of advice: Stop thinking like an investor, especially if you aren’t one.

Before I explain what I mean by this, I’d like to first cover a few important points about our current market.

1. Demand is down. More homes are available, which means buyers feel less pressure to get out there and make a purchase on a home they may not love.

2. Fewer homes are selling. As a result of our increased inventory, sellers are faced with higher competition. Pending and closed sales are down between 30% and 35%, which, obviously, has had a major impact on market conditions in general.

3. Homes are taking longer to sell. The homes that are moving off the market are taking 50 to 100 days longer to do so.
 
4. Prices are flattening out. With demand down, prices have dropped in turn. Our shift toward a buyer’s market has become increasingly clear through this and other factors.
 
5. Interest rates are volatile. Nobody has a crystal ball, but all signs indicate that rates will continue rising through the end of this year.

With these conditions in mind, let’s circle back to my first point. Buyers and sellers need to adjust their mindset in light of our current circumstances. Thinking like an investor is no longer the right way to navigate the market.

Think about why you’re buying or selling and put that reason first.

Buyers who ask about a home’s resale value are a prime example of what I mean when I refer to people who are thinking like investors. Rather than thinking about the property they’re buying in terms of how well it will suit their wants and needs, too many buyers are focusing on what they think they can earn from it down the line.

Our team has encountered buyers who, because of this mindset, turned down a home they loved simply because it wouldn’t have made a lucrative rental property for them in the future. This would be valid if they were buying it as a rental to begin with, but they weren’t. This home was going to be their primary residence. The idea of renting it out was purely speculative.

Many sellers, too, have fallen victim to this mindset. They may want to list their home and have many good reasons to do so, but choose to hold onto it instead because they want to wait for a better market. In short, my point is this: Think about why you’re buying or selling and put that reason first. Don’t derail your goals because you got caught up thinking like an investor.

If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Labels:
Location: Irvine, CA, USA

Your Home Didn’t Sell: Was It Price, Exposure, or Both?


If your home didn’t sell, it was probably an issue with price or exposure. Here’s why.

If you’ve had to take your home off the market after it went without selling, why didn’t it sell? Even if you were highly motivated to sell your home, hired an agent, and did everything correctly, it may not have sold for a couple of reasons: price and exposure.
 
Did you price your home too high? What was the pricing strategy you used with your agent? Was there a lot of competition on the market? How is the rest of the market doing in regard to inventory, recent and pending sales, active listings, etc.? These are all things you want to look at when you consider price as a factor in your unsuccessful sale. In the last few years, you could overprice your home and the market would catch up to it. This isn’t the case anymore—price is crucial when you list your property.

If buyers aren’t excited by the home online or in person, they won’t want to buy it.

Exposure is broken up into two parts: marketing and showing. While marketing is done to get the word out to buyers, home showings give these buyers a look at what they’d be getting, so a showing needs to give a good impression. Do the photos and videos look great? Has the home been well staged? Did a designer come through to spruce up the property? You can do everything to get the word out, but if buyers aren’t excited by the home online or in person, they won’t want to buy it at top dollar.

To get your home sold successfully next time, your first step is to interview different agents and see what they can do for you. How will they price your home? How will they prepare it to show its best? How will they broadcast it to all the right people? The agent you choose can make the difference between selling your home or going through the entire process again.

If you have any questions or would like more information, feel free to reach out to us. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
Labels:
Location: Irvine, CA, USA

Buyers: Are You Ready to Go?


Before you can buy a home, there are a few things you need to do.

Many buyers come to an open house and tell us they’re ready to buy, but we often find this isn’t the case. They haven’t begun the selling process on their home, they haven’t spoken to a lender yet, and they have no idea what they’re qualified for. So, when they say they’re “ready to go,” they’re anything but.

I expect this to happen with the average buyer, but there are professional agents doing this! They’ll show our listing, we’ll call to get feedback, and they’ll tell us their buyer is interested but isn’t in a position to submit an offer—they haven’t spoken to a lender yet.

There’s a lot a buyer needs to do before they’re truly ready to go.

The way I was taught was to work with ready, willing, and motivated buyers who know what they want, have spoken to a lender, know what they qualify for, and are in a position to submit an offer. This market is unpredictable, so great homes are sold fast. If one buyer falls in love with a home, it’s very likely that another buyer has the same feelings.

There’s a lot a buyer needs to account for before they’re truly ready to go. My advice for preparing? Connect with a lender, connect with a good real estate agent, and understand your options. What we say on our team is that just because we’re meeting, it doesn’t mean you have to buy. If you meet with us and our lender, you’re meeting first and foremost to learn. But it’ll put you in a position of certainty and give you the power to confidently submit an offer on the home you love.

If you’d like to meet and learn more about what you need to be ready to go, reach out to us. We look forward to helping you soon.
Labels:
Location: Irvine, CA, USA

If You Fail to Plan, You Plan to Fail


Selling your home without a plan is a good way to set yourself up for a disaster. Avoid this by setting a goal and taking the steps to reach it.

Most sellers underestimate how long it’ll take to sell their home and how quickly they can transition into a new home.

I had a client who wanted to list their home in spring in order to move into a new home that’ll be completed in the middle of the year. As these things take time to happen, I suggested we get together now to reverse engineer the process and figure out what needs to be done. In our meeting, we talked about home preparation, pre-marketing and marketing, the negotiation period, closing, and the transition into their new home.

The last thing you want to do is be rushing around to get your home listed.

One thing we took into consideration is that there are several wildcards—the days in escrow can vary greatly, and price range and market conditions can also make a huge difference in a home sale. One homeowner could think the entire process will take 30 to 45 days, but it could actually take 75 to 100 days to finally sell. Another may think their home is ready to go, but we may take a look and decide it’s best if a designer comes to spruce things up.

Whether you’re planning on selling tomorrow or in two years, I want to meet with you now to determine the best course of action for you to take. By finding out your goals, we can work backward to figure out ways to accomplish them. The last thing you want to do is be rushing around to get your home listed—the process is stressful enough as it is already! So let’s sit down and implement the strategy that works best for you.

If you’d like to set up a consultation, have any questions, or need more information, reach out to me. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Labels:
Location: Irvine, CA, USA
Subscribe to: Posts ( Atom )