Ok, a show of hands please. How many normal, standard homeowners (homeowners with equity) out there are under the impression that the real estate market stinks, there are no buyers for your regular, good looking home, and that your best bet is to just sit tight and wait for all the bank repos and short sales to get out of the way?
Well, we don’t blame you for thinking that way because the media, in all it’s varied forms, has done a terrific job at making everyone think that the only path to a home sale today is to give your home away because of all the repos and short sales that surround you. The only problem with this line of thinking is that it is entirely wrong. Not only is there a place for a standard seller in today’s market, one could make the case that these homes are selling at a premium. Standard sellers unite…we desperately need you.
Are you aware that standard sales account for 36% of all closings in the Riverside area as of today? That there have been over 1200 actual homes close this year that were standard sales? That there is a shortage of good quality homes for sale, and that our market has buyers who want nice homes? That not all buyers are investors looking for beat-up properties to spend tens of thousands of dollars fixing up?
From a Realtor point of view, understand that we have many buyers who do not have the time nor inclination to re-hab the home they wish to purchase. These buyers are normal people with normal lives…and while a few fix-ups are OK, they do not want to rebuild the home as a family project. On the contrary, they want to move into their home and be comfortable using it from day one. They have jobs, soccer, teenagers, and life to live, and do not want to spend the next 2 years working like crazy on the weekends to simply make the home “nice.”
And what do these buyers have to choose from when they go house hunting?
Mostly garbage. If 36% of the closings are standard sales, then the remaining 64% are either bank repos or short sales…and both of those choices stink for our above described buyer.
Think about it. Most bank repos are in some form of disrepair, due to either the former owner taking their anger out on the home, or from months of vacancy and neglect. Either way, most bank repos are somewhere high on the disaster scale, and most of the banks refuse to do any work on the home…they will simply sell the home “as-is” and let the new buyer put in the time and money to repair the home.
And short sales? They have issues as well. Sure, they may be in better shape since in most cases, the homeowner is still occupying the home, but even here, there are problems. One, the owner may have stopped fixing or caring for the home since every dollar invested in the home is a dollar they are not going to get back. So yes, these homes are better than repos, but sometimes, not much. Secondly, every buyer knows that entering into an escrow on a short sale has the definite possibility of a 30-90 day process just to find out if the bank will accept your offer….30-90 days of frustration and wasted time if the bank, as they often do, reject your offer. After a while, our buyer described above simply takes a pass and skips short sales altogether as a possible purchase.
That leaves standard sellers as the cream of the crop. With you, real estate life gets good again. First, the home is usually in far better shape than either repos or short sales. Also, the seller is a real, live human being…capable of actual conversation with a normal time frame for decisions. You have no idea how refreshing it is to not have to rely totally on email for answers, or to be put on endless hold only to have the call dropped after 20 minutes of waiting.
You Mr. & Mrs. Standard Seller are the rare breed of normalcy on a real estate market devoid of same. Your house looks nice, you are there to answer our questions, and most importantly for you, there are buyers out there who really want what you are selling. In fact, they will pay a premium to work with you. What a novel concept!
So…the next time the media tells you there is no place in our bizzaro world of real estate for a normal seller, simply smile and call a Realtor…because once the real estate professional stops hyperventilating at having a real seller on the phone, things only get better from there.
Standard sellers…your real estate market awaits.
As always, thanks for reading and let us know if there is any issue you would like to see addressed in our blog.
Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: | Bank Repo, Foreclosre, Real Estate, Short Sale, standard sales, Standard Sellers
