Smooth Sale-ing: 3 tips for a smoother sale

Buyers tend to think property sitting on the market more than 30 days means there is a problem with the property.

Sellers tend to think property sitting on the market longer than 14 days without an offer is a problem.

Did you know that most property that sits on the market is because there was a buyer that backed out of escrow previously? Currently about 1 in 3 sales fall out of escrow. Loan funding and inspection contingencies are often the culprits. 

Here are 3 tips to smoother sale:

1) Buyers can be liars - just because buyers claim they can afford or want the property “as is” doesn’t mean it’s fact - and beware of the buyer letters!!Deals really are like dating. Make sure you figure out who your buyer is before you go into escrow with them. Buyers can sometimes drag out escrows for what feels like a million years - and when a property sits on the market, especially after the strong seller’s market we had last year, buyers and sellers are conditioned to think property should be selling in 5 minutes when really that is not the case. 

2) Depersonalize your home - whether it’s you move out or you completely refresh and depersonalize, more than ever, buyers want move in, fresh paint ready because affordability is an issue and buyers tend not to have have time or bandwidth to do the work. As much as you love your stuff, buyers want to see themselves in the home and not you.

3) Contingency killers - A residential homebuyer can pull out of escrow during an inspection period in California for literally almost any reason. Funding for loans is becoming harder than ever for many buyers. Loan and inspection contingencies are there to protect the buyer. Buyers can rightfully pull out of the deal within the agreed upon contingency periods. Buyers strengthen their deals by removing contingencies. It’s always best to consider offers with less contingencies - but remember that even when an offer is clear of contingencies, buyers still have room to pull out of the deal in a few scenarios.

Buyers Beware

If you’re buying to flip, the market will dip. If you’re buying to live, then put the cash to give. This isn’t going to be 2008. Expect a 10-20% price adjustment.

Listing agents tend to agree on the same thing no matter who we speak to: even with price adjustments, properties are sitting on the market longer than six months ago when listings were getting 40 offers.

Buyers should be aware of thinking you can predict the market. Just when you think the market is predictable, it proves to be unpredictable. That’s a good thing to always remember.

Prices for homes over the last year have appreciated on average 20%. Mortgage payments have increase by a much as 50% compared to a year ago. With limited cash buyers, financed offers are not able to meet today’s market prices making it unaffordable for today’s buyers.

We expect property values to decline 10% or more in the Greater Los Angeles Area. If you’re looking buy and hold, here’s our valuable advice for you:

There are less offers going in. If you’re buying to hold on to the property for at least 5 years, buy now. If there is a price adjustment, do not wait. Interest rates are going up before they go down.

Work with an agent that has sold in the area you want to buy. You’d be surprised how important agent relationships are in this business. We keep closing deals because agents trust that we are bringing solid buyers.

Ashman+Rubel Group covers listings and buyers across Los Angeles. We have also analyzed our own varied listings across the city and have expert knowledge of the real estate market

If you’re looking buy or sell, give us a call:)

- William Ashman

When is the housing market going to crash?

When is the housing market going to crash? Said everyone. Let us check our crystal ball.

The reality is there is no one single way to figure out if housing market values will adjust but we can definitely pay attention to some historical data key points that have helped us in the past to determine where the housing market is within our economic cycle. Housing starts is a great way to determine that.

Housing starts refers the amount of new single family homes being built in the US. The rate of housing starts is a great way to monitor when housing market values will likely be affected. Decline in demand because of external factors like trade and pandemics affect the affordability of materials and labor supply.

Experts generally agree that once you start noticing a decline in housing starts over a period of 3 months, we are likely to enter into a recession within 13 months from the beginning of the decline in housing starts. So where are we right now with housing starts?

According to the US Census Bureau, 1,769,000 new housing starts were counted in February 2022, a 6.8 percent increase from January. Therefore, to all the eager home buyers out there, more homes are being built and from this perspective, there is still no sign of property values declining yet.

It’s more than ever the best time to sell property for more than you expected. Reach out and we’ll show you how.