Three and a half months ago, I wrote Stop Thinking About It. It's Time to Sell Your House. Inventory is Very Very Low in Northern Virginia
I'm not one of those agents who's constantly running around saying "It's a good time to buy. It's a good time to sell," everyday, everywhere, to everyone.
When asked whether it's a good time to buy or to sell, I always answer with the lawyerly answer "It Depends!" It always depends on your personal and financial situation and on your life and goals.
However, if you've been considering selling your home, or you HAVE to move, it's time to repeat the advice in my earlier post.
Inventory of homes on the market is up just slightly from then and mostly due to the seasonal slowdown in home sales during the Winter and the grinding halt of business in early February due to the historic snowfall we had in our region.
Here's the advice I gave before and I'll repeat here.
If you've been thinking about selling your house in Northern Virginia, follow these four important steps:
- Stop what you are doing right now. Seriously. Stop!
- Stop "thinking" about selling your house.
- Tidy up the house.
- Call me to help sell your house. (Call today at 703-626-0715)
Why?
Northern Virginia Housing inventory is at low levels. A "normal" or balanced market means that there is 6 months of inventory of houses on the market. More than 6 months inventory favors buyers who have lots of homes to choose from. Less than 6 months inventory favors sellers who can take advantage of the lack of inventory to entice the buyers to buy their home.
In Northern Virginia, housing inventory is still VERY low.
Consider:
City of Alexandria:
- 519 homes on the market
- 865 sales in last 6 months or 144 Alexandria home sales/month
- Currently ONLY 3.6 Months of housing inventory in Alexandria, VA (compares to 2.4 in early Decembrer 2009)
Arlington County:
- 635 homes on the market
- 1,182 sales in last 6 months or 197 Arlington home sales/month
- Currently ONLY 3.2 Months of housing inventory in Arlington, VA (compares to 2.4 in early December 2009)
Fairfax County:
- 2,611 homes on the market
- 7,271 sales in last 6 months or 1,211 Fairfax County home sales/month
- Currently ONLY 2.15 Months of housing inventory in Fairfax County, VA (compares to 1.77 in early December 2009)
McLean, Virginia (location of my RE/MAX Office):
- 189 homes on the market
- 301 sales in last 6 months or 50.2 McLean home sales/month
- Currently ONLY 3.77 Months of housing inventory in McLean, VA
Okay, review the 4 steps above. I'll have my cell phone in hand all month.
Oh, one more reason to get started now: Buyers have until April 30th to take advantage of the extended homebuyer tax credit. You might be able to take advantage of the move-up tax credit yourself.
It's possible that In Just 50 Days Your Home Will be Worth $8000 Less!
Actually, now we're at T-minus 45!
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