TSKellyAnna

Ursula and John

Anna has been an outstanding real estate agent, very professional, proactive, extremely quick in responding all our queries, and most of all a lovely human being. She and her “dream team” made possible what was for us a project in the future. If you are looking for a trustworthy and dynamic real estate agent please call Anna. You will be amazed by her work ethics and how quick she gets things done. Thank you! We were very lucky that fate decided to cross our paths.

A good home buyer’s agent can make your home search fun!

Are you running from open house to open house, not really getting to see the details of the home because you are trying to squeeze so many into the tiny time frame that seems to be “open house time”? Although open houses can be a great way to see what is out there you are probably missing a lot of houses and you aren’t really getting to see everything the house has to offer. A 5 minute run through is just not enough!

Having a buyer’s agent represent you will not only help you to see the houses you’re interested in at a much more relaxed pace. You will also now have professional guidance helping you to see important details that you might not know to look for. You will have someone that is also searching for your perfect dream home and letting you know when that home might be on the market. You will have someone to walk you through all of the steps of home buying and get you through all of the intimidating paperwork. You will also have access to some great tools to do your own searches!

Many buyers try to bypass having representation because they assume that will add to the cost of their home. But, did you know that it very rarely costs you anything to have your representative by your side? Almost always, the buyer’s agent is paid by the seller’s agent, they are paying a portion of the seller’s agent commission to the buyer’s agent. Even with FSBO’s (For Sale By Owner) the seller is almost always willing to pay the buyer’s agent commission. The only time you would have to pay is if we found a house that you loved that did not pay that commission, again very rare. If that were to happen, your agent would make you aware of that before seeing the house so that you would go to the showing with that knowledge.

A good buyer’s agent does much more than just show you houses. We help you research the property and guide you on your own research helping you with useful links that can get you important information. We help you to decide on your offer amount based on Comprehensive Market Analysis we create to help be sure you do not over pay. We walk you through all of the paperwork and we help to keep track of important dates so you don’t miss any steps through the process.

Buying a home is one of the biggest purchases of your life. Having a buyer’s agent represent you can help to make this process fun and exciting instead of stressful and overwhelming.

Call me today if you would like to set up a free consultation and start searching for your dream home now! 978-590-6611

Winning the bidding war in a Seller’s Market

It can be like living in the wild west when you are trying to buy a home in a seller’s market. But many people do not actually know what that means.

The way we measure the market in real estate is inventory (homes for sale) vs sales (buyers actually buying a home). If there are 10 homes purchased in a given area in 1 month and there are 30 homes for sale in that same area, that would mean we have a 3 month supply of homes in that area. 10 sales per month for 3 months. In the real estate industry we would call that a 3, which is a seller’s market. Anywhere between a 5 – 7 is considered a neutral market, meaning we have a 5 – 7 month supply of homes for sale based on the amount of buyers buying in a month.

In Billerica, MA we have had a crazy market lately with a very large demand and a very low supply. On average we have been a 1.3… this is a very competitive seller’s market. Many homes are selling above the value of the home because buyers are becoming desperate to get their offer accepted. I have seen many situations where my buyers are competing against 20 or more other offers.

So, in a Market this competitive, how do you get your offer on the top?

Try to look at your offer from the seller’s perspective. What would they want? So many buyers will always try to get “a deal” they will offer $30,000 below the ask price, even in this crazy market. If it were a buyer’s market or the home was simply over priced, that might be possible but usually the price is very close to what it will sell for. In a competitive market, this may kill your offer before you begin. Almost always, a seller thinks their home is worth more than it is. A buyer thinks the home is worth less than it is.

Terms! There is more to an offer than just the price. Terms are also very important. When a seller accepts an offer that is filled with contingencies, that seller is risking the possibility of the offer falling apart, this would mean that after removing their home from the market for possibly several weeks, their home will have to go back on the market, now tainted with every buyer wondering what was wrong with the house?, why did it go back on the market? Sometimes a seller will accept a slightly lower offer that has better terms. Maybe a quicker closing, a larger down payment, waiving the inspection, or in this market when many homes are selling for more than their value, waiving the appraisal contingency.

Tap into emotions. Both selling and buying is a very personal and emotional part of someone’s life. Often, this house you are buying was the seller’s home for many years and they have a lot of special memories in that home. If you are impressed by the way they have cared for the home or special touches they have added, take the time to write a nice letter to the seller saying so. Tap in to their emotions. A person selling the home they have loved for many years might be happier handing over the keys to someone they think will love and appreciate their home just as much as they do.

Here are some housing stats in Billerica, MA as of today (October 12, 2016)

Call, text or email me today to set up a meeting to create your home buying strategy! I look forward to hearing from you!

Anna Shelbaer, Realtor
978-590-6611
anna@annasre.com