Bucks County real estate is changing. We have been ingrained to believe that spring is always the best time to put a home on the market. While many buyers do come out looking as the weather gets warmer, there are very good reasons to list in the fall instead of waiting.
People Looking Now Are Serious Buyers
In the fall and winter, only serious buyers will be in the marketplace. You will not have to prep and show your home to mere “tire-kickers” who are only browsing. In areas like Yardley, Newtown and Washington Crossing, for instance, many potential buyers are relocation transferees who tend to move now, before the end of the year. They may be working in Philadelphia, New York or the Rt. 1 Princeton corridor, and they need to buy now.
There Is Far Less Competition
Inventory of real estate in Bucks County (the number of homes for sale) has already shrunk almost 22% this August versus August 2011. The number of listings usually also shrinks noticeably in the fall months so buyer’s choices will be limited. In the spring you will compete with all the other sellers who are waiting to list their homes all at the same time.
The Whole Process Will Be Faster and Easier
One of the biggest frustrations for both buyers and sellers this year has been delays in getting to closing. With record low mortgage rates, banks have been processing a huge volume of purchase and refinance loans, often beyond the capacity of their underwriting departments. Both will slow into the fall, making the process much easier and quicker for both buyers and sellers.
This Could Be the Best Opportunity in Your Lifetime to Move-Up
If you want to move up to a larger, more expensive home, this is the time. Now that prices have corrected, you will get a larger cut on a more expensive home in both percentage and actual dollars than the cut in price you will take on the lower priced home you will sell. Also, prices are projected to rise over 15% from now to 2016. If you are moving up to a more expensive home, it will end up costing you more in actual dollars (in both down payment and mortgage payment) if you wait. You can also lock-in record low interest rates right now (currently about 3.5% for 30 years fixed). It is highly unlikely rates will remain at these levels for very long, let alone 30 years!
It’s Time to Finally Get Where You Want to Be
Look at why you decided to sell in the first place and decide whether it’s worth waiting for a certain price that may take months, or even years, to realize. Ask yourself if you are truly being realistic in your price. If not, then ask yourself if money is more important than being with your family. Is money more important than your health or having the freedom to go on with your life in the way you really would like?
Only you can answer those questions. You have the power to take back control of the situation by pricing your home to guarantee it sells. Marketing it in the fall and winter can give you that much more of an edge so you and your family can move on and start living the life you really want.
-Kim Tokar
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