Home Selling

If I only had a dollar for every time I've heard this one...

Pricing right is the key to a quick home sale! If you overprice your Connecticut home for sale - waiting around won't fix that problem! Many home-sellers mistakenly believe that if they just hold out long enough someone will just fall in love with the home and pay whatever is asked. The truth is this rarely happens. 

The last two years of single family residential sales in Connecticut tell a very different story...

30,295 single family residences sold in CT in the last two years. You may notice that the majority (34%) sold in under 30 days. You may also notice that of those homes that sold within 30 days sold at almost 98% of their listed price! Every 30 day period thereafter leads…

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), rates are headed to rise by the end of the year- to a predicted 4.4%. After a 4 year boom in refinances due to historically low rates in the 3%'s...the party may be over as rates start to increase by the end of the year. Economists seem agree with MBA's prediction of increasing rates, according to this Yahoo article.

Homebuyers-to-be still sitting on the fence watching the market should take note and consider taking action on their home purchase plans. While recent market reports for central CT towns do not yet suggest that values have increased significantly, rising interest rates could easily outweigh any savings from further drops in prices in many CT towns.

READY TO GET STARTED ON YOUR…

Many CT home sellers, especially those facing a short sale have questions as to how to properly price their home. Most short sellers have a tendency to believe that what their home sells for will impact whether the lender will be less likely to approve their short sale. The common held myth is that the larger the loss - the less likely the lender is to approve the short sale, which is just not the case. 

The truth is the most important number that will sway the lenders decision in a short sale is MARKET VALUE of the property - Market value is the price at which a particular property in its current condition will sell for in todays market. Once a lender is presented with a request for a short sale - the lender will order a valuation of the…

Meriden, CT Market Report - April 2013: The state of the Meriden real estate market today and a look back at the ten year trend. Today in Meriden we have 511 properties on the market listed at an average price of $170,035. So far this year 147 properties have sold at an average sales price average of $128,499 - The lowest average sales price in over 10 years. While sales prices in Meriden have fallen back down to 2003 levels in 2012 and seem to be continuing to fall so far in 2013, there is at least some refreshing news for Meriden homeowners when looking at the ten year trend in real estate sales:

While sales peaked at 1154 residential sales in 2005 and 6 years of declines have followed (except for a slight jump in 2009), 2012 saw a 20%…

April 29 2013, Southington, Connecticut: While the year is not even halfway over yet, so far 2013 seems to be a year of improvement in Southington. Of all residential sold inventory since 2008 (when the MLS required disclosure of potential short sales) sales of short sales as a share of the market peaked in 2011 and has been slowly climbing down since:

The reason for this is unclear as other market reports suggest values in Southington are still on a downward trend. Perhaps news of "recovery" and improving conditions have left many Southington homewoners hesitant to list their home as a short sale, and instead continue to wait for their home's value to improve and get them out of their negative equity. The wait may be a long one.

5. THOROUGHLY PREPARE YOUR HOME TO GO ON MARKET: Don't even think about going on market until all the projects are done! If it needs fixing, fix it. If it needs upgrading, upgrade it. If it needs cleaning - clean it!  Then, and only then put the home on market. A move in ready home that needs nothing is a buyer's dream. Give it to them! 

4. STAGE THE HOME: You live there, but it shouldn't look like you do! Your home should feel like a high end hotel. Depersonalize the home. Remove personal items and family pictures. If you have a lot of stuff - put some of it in storage. Leave only critical items. There should be enough furnishings to give each room purpose and a touch of neutral style....but no more. Everything else should go. Contact a…

Bristol, CT is one of many CT towns that seems to be enjoying an upswing in sales activity on 2013. First quarter sales are up a whopping 50% over their lowest point in 2009:

Unfortunately the same can't be said about sales prices which have continued down every year since 2010:

However a continued increase in demand will eventually pull up sales prices as supply dwindels. There is currently 15 months of inventory on market in Bristol at the current rate of absorption. At that rate, it may take quite some time for inventory to be reduced to a point where values will start to increase.

CONSIDERING SELLING YOUR BRISTOL, CT HOME?

Southington, CT is one of many CT towns that seems to be enjoying a long overdue upswing in sales activity on 2013. First quarter sales are up a whopping 45% over the same period in 2012:

Unfortunately the same can't be said about sales prices which are down 6% from 1st quarter 2012:

However a continued increase in demand will eventually pull up sales prices as supply dwindels. There is currently 10 months of inventory on market in Southington at the current rate of absorbtion. At that rate, it may take quite some time for inventory to be reduced to a point where values will start to increase.

CONSIDERING SELLING YOUR SOUTHINGTON CT HOME?

Should I short sell or file bankruptcy?...I hear this one a lot. There is no right answer. A short sale and bankruptcy are solutions for two different problems, and can not replace each other. 

A short sale is a solution for when you owe more than your home is worth, lack the funds to cover the difference, but need to sell anyway. In a short sale your short sale professional negotiates debt forgiveness on the balance of the loan so that the house can sell. A short sale will do nothing to help you with your other debts.

A bankruptcy is a solution for when you have too much overall debt and can't keep up. A bankruptcy can discharge the mortgage along with your other debt, however - the house is still yours. Unless you want a foreclosure on top of…

Has Connecticut finally hit bottom and is starting to recover? Perhaps...there are some signs that we have hit an upswing in sales recently, and increases in values would reasonably follow. However, even if we have turned the corner here in CT - the massive lost equity since the boom years for purchases and refinances ensure a slow recovery as folks remain underwater in their homes for years to come. Meanwhile - short sales and sales of foreclosed property (REO) continue on. 

So far - first quarter closed short sales in 2013 are up just a tad from first quarter of the prior year (+1%), while REO sales are up 13% in the same time period. It may be too early to tell exactly where we will end up by the end of this year but a look at the past 5 years…