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Is it a good time to buy or sell or neither. Seems that agents are saying it's rates will be going up next year, so best to buy now (and sell if that's how you're going to pay for your new place.)
I think that it all depends on where you currently live and where you're planning on moving to. Of course agents are going to tell you now is the best time to buy and sell. They're in the business of selling homes. They're going to make a commission when you sell your home and a commission when you buy another. That is if the sales are going through a realtor and not a FSBO (for sale by owner).
If it's a seller's market where you are now and a buyer's market where you plan on moving to you're gonna' make out pretty good. The opposite is true the other way around. But you also have to take into consideration that certain areas of the country are cheaper than others. If you're moving from an area where housing is expensive you'll get a lot more for your money when you move to an area where housing is considerably cheaper.
As for us and when taking into consideration all of our moving expenses we broke even, but we did however get a much nicer home in a much nicer neighborhood than we had back in New York. If our home in New York were located about 20 miles south of where we lived we probably could have gotten double of what we got. As they say location, location, location. However you can only afford what you can afford and at least we were able to own our own home, sell and get a better home in Arizona.
In most cases you are better off using a realtor. But you've just gotta' find the right one. We had a really good one when we sold our home back in New York. Our home was sold within 3 months. Our realtor out here was not so great. She was pushing us to sign a contract before we closed on our home back in New York. Our realtor in New York told us nothing doing, if for any reason the deal fell through we would be stuck owning two homes.
At least for us our old home was paid off and we'd be buying our home here outright without going through a bank. That enabled us to negotiate a better deal.
As for the inventory in Prescott? I can't help you there, we haven't kept up with the market as we have no intentions of moving. I don't know? A lot of people think of their homes as a bank, and they get all worked up when they find out how much their home has gained in value. However when they decide to sell they often find that the home they plan on buying too has gained in value and in the end it really doesn't make much of a difference anyway as to the kind of home they end up getting. Unless of course they don't mind taking out another mortgage and getting into more debt. Not a good idea in my opinion.
Even though we already have a lot, I check the inventory every once in a while. Depending on your price range, I think the inventory is very good. House are still selling even though they say the bubble is going to pop in 2019. However, rates will most likely keep going up from what I hear. The question is will that bubble be a "collapse" or just a correction.
I have never understood the "Is it a good time to buy or sell?" question. Unless you are a real estate investor, it does not make that much difference. Your primary residence is not an investment. If you sell high, you will likely buy high. If you sell low, you will likely buy low. It is either time to move or not. I think that in that vast majority of sales, the decision to move is not based on the quality of the market, but is based on personal desires, job relocation, or health factors. I guess if you are moving from another state, then the amount of inventory can be a factor. If you are moving to a location with low inventory, then your choice of homes will be more limited.
As for Prescott, we have transitioned into a more balanced market. Demand has slowed down, but inventory is still low. We have started to see some price reductions on properties that were over-priced and were trying to push prices up. Rising prices are generally not happening now. Prices have stabilized. I do not see prices dropping dramatically, because the inventory is still low. However, I do not see prices rising dramatically either, because demand is also low. Barring some major economic turmoil, I suspect that 2019 prices will likely remain level. That's my two cents. I do not have a crystal ball though.
By the way Ex New Yorker, you could have made an offer contingent on the closing of your other house. Then if your other house did not close, your Prescott deal would also fall through and you would not be stuck with two houses. However, that is a personal choice. We would certainly never pressure a buyer into writing an offer.
In most cases you are better off using a realtor. But you've just gotta' find the right one.
Good luck with that! We went through four agents, one after another, until we closed on a home. But I still don't know anything about "finding the right one." You can interview each agent but in my experience they'll say anything.
As far as I can tell, there is no such animal as a true buyer's agent in the Phoenix metro. Maybe there is in Prescott.
Good luck with that! We went through four agents, one after another, until we closed on a home. But I still don't know anything about "finding the right one." You can interview each agent but in my experience they'll say anything.
As far as I can tell, there is no such animal as a true buyer's agent in the Phoenix metro. Maybe there is in Prescott.
I agree with you there, and indeed they will say anything. It just so happened we did find the right one in New York, and thought we had the right one in Prescott. When we came out here looking at homes she was great, but when our home was finally in contract all she did was pester us to no end. She even had my wife in tears.
We interviewed a bunch of them in New York, but took the advise of one of our neighbors who was very happy with the one they used. Unfortunately there's good and bad with every profession, many times finding the right person or company is just a matter of luck. At first we tried selling our house on our own but that turned out to be an exercise in futility. Not that it can't work out, and for some as it has. After two years we gave up and went with a realtor and within 3 months our home was sold and at a price we were happy with.
I consider myself pretty lucky as I rarely have to depend on others to do what I can do for myself when it comes to doing repairs to our home and vehicles. Any time when I've had to hire a contractor it's been a royal pain in the ass. Finding the right one too is a matter of luck.
Last edited by Ex New Yorker; 12-15-2018 at 12:53 PM..
I have never understood the "Is it a good time to buy or sell?" question. Unless you are a real estate investor, it does not make that much difference. Your primary residence is not an investment. If you sell high, you will likely buy high. If you sell low, you will likely buy low. It is either time to move or not. I think that in that vast majority of sales, the decision to move is not based on the quality of the market, but is based on personal desires, job relocation, or health factors. I guess if you are moving from another state, then the amount of inventory can be a factor. If you are moving to a location with low inventory, then your choice of homes will be more limited.
As for Prescott, we have transitioned into a more balanced market. Demand has slowed down, but inventory is still low. We have started to see some price reductions on properties that were over-priced and were trying to push prices up. Rising prices are generally not happening now. Prices have stabilized. I do not see prices dropping dramatically, because the inventory is still low. However, I do not see prices rising dramatically either, because demand is also low. Barring some major economic turmoil, I suspect that 2019 prices will likely remain level. That's my two cents. I do not have a crystal ball though.
By the way Ex New Yorker, you could have made an offer contingent on the closing of your other house. Then if your other house did not close, your Prescott deal would also fall through and you would not be stuck with two houses. However, that is a personal choice. We would certainly never pressure a buyer into writing an offer.
I take your word for that as I'm no real estate expert, I can only speak from our own personal experience. Our real estate agent out here was pressuring us into signing a contract before we closed on our home in New York. We ended up taking the advise of our agent in New York and did not sign a contract until after our closing. I don't know if that's the same thing as a contingent offer or not? We pretty much left it up to the realtors to battle it out. However we got caught in the cross fire. One things for sure I have no intention of ever selling our home again. Not that I would ever want to as there's no place better than Arizona to live especially in this area.
Great post by the way, some really good information! I wish we could have had you as our realtor. But in the end it all worked out well for us as we couldn't be any happier where we are.
Last edited by Ex New Yorker; 12-15-2018 at 12:57 PM..
The last home I bought a few years ago the agent wanted me to sign an exclusive representative form that gave him the right to a commission even if I did not buy from him.
And he would not show me a house I wanted to look at without signing the form.
I told him where he could go and he would earn or not earn his money based on performance.
I don't know if this practice is all over or not but I had not heard of it.
The last home I bought a few years ago the agent wanted me to sign an exclusive representative form that gave him the right to a commission even if I did not buy from him.
And he would not show me a house I wanted to look at without signing the form.
I told him where he could go and he would earn or not earn his money based on performance.
I don't know if this practice is all over or not but I had not heard of it.
There are a handful of companies and agents that have buyers sign an exclusive representation form. I figure that these folks are typically hard sell agents or low-quality agents who are trying to lock you in as a buyer. That said, there are also buyers who show no loyalty to a good agent who invests a lot of time and gas searching and driving them around to various properties. It can be very frustrating to have a buyer call you up and say, "Thank you for all of your work, but we happened to drive by a house that we liked, called the list agent, and wrote an offer on that house."
That said, we do not have our buyers sign an exclusive representation form. If a buyer respects us and wants to work with us, then great. If they do not, then we certainly do not want them to be locked into a bad relationship. The only time we have someone sign that form is if they have previously worked with another agent and have had a bad experience with that agent. We do not want the other agent coming after us or them for a commission. (Of course they must not have signed an exclusive representation with that agent, or that agent must first release them from the agreement before we will work with them.)
I take your word for that as I'm no real estate expert, I can only speak from our own personal experience. Our real estate agent out here was pressuring us into signing a contract before we closed on our home in New York. We ended up taking the advise of our agent in New York and did not sign a contract until after our closing. I don't know if that's the same thing as a contingent offer or not? We pretty much left it up to the realtors to battle it out. However we got caught in the cross fire. One things for sure I have no intention of ever selling our home again. Not that I would ever want to as there's no place better than Arizona to live especially in this area.
Great post by the way, some really good information! I wish we could have had you as our realtor. But in the end it all worked out well for us as we couldn't be any happier where we are.
Thanks! I'm glad it worked out for you High pressure agents drive us nuts. The last thing you need in a major decision is someone breathing down you neck telling you to sign something. We often tell people to sleep on it to make sure that they are making the best decision.
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