Friday, April 19, 2024
Jerry Allen
GRANBURY ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS
As president of the Granbury Association of Realtors, Jerry Allen writes a monthly column for the organization. The GAR provides services and resources to the Realtors of Hood and Somervell counties.
Howdy folks!
You can feel that chill in the air in the mornings, a welcome change from the blazing heat of the last few months of the Texas Summer! Along with that change, the excitement of the kids (or perhaps that is just leftovers from the sugar rush from all that Halloween Candy!) for the upcoming holidays fills us all with the anticipation of the great holidays to come for Thanksgiving and Christmas and on to the New Year. Can you believe it? We’re already there…..almost.
Typically, the market would be doing a seasonal slowdown in a normal year (I think 2019 might have been the last one of those we have had lately) about this time, but, as we have already shared with one another, this is anything but normal or typical.
There are a few more houses available to choose from, and some of the buyers who have been frustrated by being unable to compete for a home are finding themselves in a little bit more tenable situation. And, with interest rates looking like a climb is inevitable, the motivation to get out and find that house before the end of the year is higher than ever.
Couple that with overpriced homes because “my neighbor got XX over asking in just 10 days.” and the fact that their home is still on the market, those folks are having price reductions to try and catch the buyer market before it goes into hibernation for a bit. You are probably seeing a few more Open Houses lately, too. It might be a good time to grab that house at a bargain price as sellers are wanting to avoid next year’s property taxes if possible.
And buyers might want to take advantage of possible tax savings by jumping from being a renter to becoming a homeowner. Sometimes it makes sense, depending on the individual situation. Sometimes not. Talk to your Realtor and get with a lender to see if you are a viable buyer in the market.
Bearing in mind that the normal closing time might be a little shorter than it has been over the late summer, when appraisers had to make an appointment with themselves to remember to eat in between appraisals (aka, they were busy) and you could easily be in your next home before Christmas, maybe even by Thanksgiving!
I personally hate moving. I haven’t done it in over 20 years and, Lord willing, my next move will be to a small apartment six feet under!!
So, in a nutshell, when you remove the abundance of cash buyers (who have pretty much already gotten their house by now) and add in the seasonal slowing of the market, and you suddenly have a market that has changed (somewhat) in favor of the buyer.
True, there is still a shortage of inventory of pre-owned homes, but there are a lot of new construction homes listed now that are waiting for a buyer to take advantage of. Every day those are unoccupied it is costing the builder dollars. So, you as a buyer, don’t have to likely offer way over asking price in order to get your offer accepted. Yay! There are still multiple offers going on, but not 10 or 15 on each house. So, don’t buy into all the hoopla.
What is a home worth? The bottom line is “Whatever you are willing to pay.”
I am still getting FHA and VA offers accepted by sellers, when, during the “heat” of the summer market, no one even looked at a financed offer. If you are one of those frustrated buyers who missed out on several deals because you just didn’t have the extra cash to add to the financing, now might be your time.
You can revisit the inventory of available homes with your Realtor. It changes daily, you know. Go to www.granburyrealtors.com, the Granbury Association of Realtors website, and choose from among the Realtors there to guide you through the process.
Blessings always.
jerryallen@kw.com | 817-578-4110
