I don't know about you, but I love that the days are getting longer and longer. This winter has been long and colder than the past few winters. A lot of the snow birds that live up here in the Northwoods will soon be coming home and we will once again see our small town of Manitowish Waters come to life.
Spring is also a time when many folks decide to list their home for sale. I will admit that the market in 2007 was slow, but if your home was priced where the market was showing it should be, chances are it sold. I would like to think that all the homes on the market currently are priced where the market is calling for them to be priced. Do consumers (Sellers and Buyers) understand that it is not Realtors that make the decision on what price a home should be listed at, but rather the market itself. What that means is by taking the data we have in our MLS on "Solds" and "Actives" and comparing those properties to the one that we are doing a CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) on that will guide the Seller on what price their home should be listed at. I always tell my potential client that I can tell you an amount that you would really like to hear, but will I be doing you justice? No. Will your home sit out there in the market because it's priced too high? Probably.
Right now, there are a lot of homes that have been on the market for a long time. One of the practices that Realtors do is to take the home off the market then re-list it so it shows as a new listing. Is that data important to the buyer? Will they feel the got cheated somehow by not knowing that? I will admit that if my Sellers ask me to do this, I do it.
Buyers need to understand that when they are looking for homes via a website, which, by the way, is approximately 80% before they ever contact a Realtor, there is going to be a lot of data they are not seeing about that home. When a Realtor looks into their MLS about that home they see ALL the information. For instance, DOM (Days On Market) or if it was canceled or expired and put back on the market as a new listings. There are many reasons you should contact a Realtor when you decide to make one of the biggest purchases of your life.
I'm so looking forward to Spring and see our lakes opening up, buds start appearing on the trees. It always seems like a new beginning for me. Sometimes it feels like our spirit sleeps through the winter only to awaken in the spring ready for what life has to bring.
In my last post I talked about staying positive about the market this year and I still feel very strongly that we will see a better market. Just remember, when the weather starts to turn warmer, they will come!
I wish you all a very Happy Easter. Think Spring!!
Happy Is What We Make It
Always has been - Always will be