Why You Should Sell Your House Right Now
HOUSES ARE SELLING FASTER THAN EVER!
Currently the statistics reports are showing that as of October 2020, Pierce County is the strongest seller’s market it has been in over 20 years. In pierce county 78% of houses have been selling in 4 days or less for 101% of what they were listed for! All this information might be prompting you to ask, “Yes but how do I know what to list at?!” This is where your real estate agent will come in handy. Not only is it important to have an agent that is local and you can trust, but you need someone who is willing to put in the market research in order to price your house effectively. For example, when a client hires me to list their house, I create a CMA (Competitive Market Analysis, sometimes referred to as a BPO, Broker Price Opinion) that pulls information from different sources to show you recent sales of comparable properties in your area, as well as lots of different market statistics that pertain to your property and location.
PROPERTY VALUES ARE ON THE RISE
They are rising so quickly, that even if you purchased your house a year ago, you are most likely able to sell right now and make a profit! Currently seller’s are having to do the LEAST AMOUNT OF WORK than ever before to get their property sold. Fifteen years ago, a seller would need to put in a lot of work on their house in order to get a reasonable list price and offer. Right now, because of the shortage of listings, and the high amount of buyers in Western Washington (specifically Seattle, Tacoma, Lakewood, Gig Harbor, Fircrest etc.) it is a very strong SELLER’S MARKET! As mentioned before, ask your local real estate broker to provide you with a CMA (Competitive Market Analysis). This is a cheaper option compared to an official appraisal where the agent will present comparables and give you ballpark market value. An appraisal can run up to $1000, whereas a CMA can be from $200-$500 depending on the size of the house etc (or sometimes free!).
AMAZING RATES FOR BUYERS- MEANS MORE BUYER’S FOR YOUR PROPERTY!
Are you wanting a buyer to waive an inspection- they’re out there! Don’t want to do any repairs? Make sure your real estate agent knows and is communicating that to the buyer’s agents! You want to sell your house within days of listing it… It’s possible! Properties that have good marketing and are listed properly will have multiple offers, most likely within a week or less! Obviously there are lots of things that will factor in, but the bottom line is that there are way more buyers than there are seller’s right now, which means that there will most likely be competition for your house.
FIND THE RIGHT AGENT BEFORE YOU LIST
Take time and interview a few agents. Make sure that your agent knows what they’re talking about and is willing to take the time to help answer your questions. Look at previous listings, and make sure the photography and marketing is on point! Be wary of any agent that offer’s you a discount to list with them, usually that will reflect the lack of energy they are going to put into listing your property. Most top broker’s charge a selling percent commission of 6%, 3% of which will go to the buyer’s agent. Often broker’s who charge less, put less time and energy into getting you the best offer’s possible, and marketing your home to the fullest.
**This blog post is based off of market trends in Tacoma, Washington as of October 2020.