YES! Long has been the theory that Spring is the best and "ripest" month to sell a home. So not the case with our current market in Santa Barbara right now and really, most of California real estate. If you remember Micro Economics 101 from college, you can identify the theory at play here....Supply and Demand.
Representing buyers at almost every price point from Carpinteria to Goleta, I find myself turning over every rock in my networking, trying to find out about neighbors wanting to sell their homes and reassuring my clients that homes will be arriving shortly. In this journey, one glaring realization has presented itself... sellers would like to sell but need to find a suitable replacement property first, in order to even consider selling!
To that point, most people that move from out of the area do whatever it takes to never leave Santa Barbara. Same goes for those that grew up here and try to leave but always seem to make their way back. Simply stated, there is NO better place to live and own a home than Santa Barbara, California. Therefore, it needs to "make sense" for the majority of Santa Barbara home owners to sell unless they are ready to sell to move into assisted living facilities and retirement communities, here in Santa Barbara of course!
So, with that said, what does winter look like for selling my home? It looks wonderful. Real and motivated buyers are out in the market ready to write offers. It's a small pond but what we do know is that the "lookie loos" are no longer out there but will be back in the spring time.
So now is the time to sell based on these 3 factors:
1. Less Inventory to Compete with
2. High Demand with Serious Buyers
3. Interest Rates still below 5%
Once rates start to creep up, buyers will have less buying power. As well, after tomorrow, January 10, 2014, loans will have new classifications as QM, Temporary QM or Non-OM as part of the Dodd-Frank Act. What is this? QM stands for "Qualified Mortgage" and in a nutshell, the biggest part of this affecting home buyers is reflected in the new requirements for Debt-to-income ratios which will require a maximum of 43% for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA loans.
For more information about these changes taking affect 1/10/14:
http//www.newsobserver.com/2014/01/08/3516769/real-deals-new-mortgage-rules.html
To speak with a lender about your selling and buying options, please contact Austin Lampson @ OnQ Financial
(she is the most knowledgeable lender I know)
http://austinlampson.onqsantabarbara.com/
Considering selling and want to know the market value of your home or if I may have a Buyer for it, contact me:
http://www.mysbhomesearch.com/
I look forward to hearing from you!
Tiffany
Comments(0)