Check out the August Real Estate Market with Ashley Corbett
I have to start this off by saying that I feel so, so fortunate, so lucky to get to do what I do. My whole team loves what we do. We are in real estate in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. We’ve been in business for almost 10 years now, and we just have the best clients.
Our clients are doing really well in this challenging market. We’re able to help people sell their homes, obviously for great terms, get into their next homes. Our clients are still successfully investing in this challenging market. And I’d also like to update you on exactly what that looks like and exactly what is going on in the market.
So you may have heard that inventory is at an all-time low or that there’s no inventory. And all that really means is that there just are not a lot of homes for sale. And so I want to give you some data and some facts to back that up and really illustrate the current situation for you.
Now we’re in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and the last 30 days, 478 homes have sold. Now that being said, there have only been on average about 460 homes available on a daily basis.
So if only 460 homes are available each day and 478 have sold in the past 30 days, you can see that the real estate is really just flying off the market as quickly as it’s coming on the market.
Now, these are challenging times. This market is by no means ideal for anyone. Now unless you are a seller that can sell your home and does not need to find your next home, then you’re doing great. And as a seller, you may also be able to find your next home, put that under agreement or buy it, and then sell your home.
But there are also many sellers that have to sell their current home or at least have that home under agreement before they’re able financially to purchase the next home. And so those sellers are having a very challenging time.
And so we’re seeing a few things that are really working.
We’re seeing a lot of rent backs where the buyer is saying, we’ll give you one or two months to live in the property after we purchase it after settlement so that you have comfort in knowing that you have time to find your next house.
We are also seeing suitable housing contingencies. So a buyer may say at the request of the seller that they’ll give them two or three months to go and find their next property. So they actually go under agreement, they write the contract, they agree to terms, and then the seller has three months to go secure the next property. Now what happens if they don’t and they can’t find or secure that next property? Both parties can mutually agree to wait, to continue to wait, or they can terminate that contract and the sellers can move forward and secure a new contract.
You may be in the market, you may be looking for a home, you may know someone that is looking for a home. We are seeing homes fly off the market again within a day or two. Just a few months ago, most sellers were leaving the doors open for four or five days to really allow as many buyers as possible to come through. They were collecting upwards of 25 offers sometimes. And of course that’s still happening, we’re still seeing that on some properties.
We’re also seeing some sellers decide to accept the first offer or to set a rather fast deadline so that they don’t risk losing that first offer that comes in. And so some seller behavior is starting to change here and there.
As a buyer, it’s great to get in as soon as possible to see the house so that maybe you can be one of those first offers. It can be challenging for your schedule, but if you can do it, it’s the best thing to do. Get out there as soon as you can, put together an offer when you can.
Now if for some reason the home is sitting on the market more than seven days or 14 days, then you’ve got the opportunity there to negotiate and you’re less likely to be competing against other buyers. But we’re still seeing a lot of competing offer situations.
We’re so grateful to do what we do and we are honored to be able to walk you through the biggest financial assets that you have in your life. And so just wanted to share that news with you.
As always, we’re moving forward. We’re helping clients accomplish their goals and the real estate market is great. It’s always a great time to buy. We really believe in the power of real estate and the power of owning real estate, either as an investment or as your primary home.
Home values have not decreased. Just keeping you in the loop and I’ll talk to you guys soon.
-Ashley
