Covid19: Will My House Sell Right Now?

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This is the number one question I'm getting from potential Sellers: "Will our house sell right now?" The follow-up question is "How long will it take?"

There's no doubt we're all living and working in a different environment than we were just a few weeks ago. But the truth is, the market is still moving.

 

For example, I've just listed this Bellevue home [pictured right] For Sale, we have a Nolensville home hitting the market today, and a Grassland home on almost 2 acres hitting the market Tuesday.

 

For the Bellevue home, we've already had 4 showings and an offer on the first day. We're expecting multiple offers the 2nd day on market. And that's a realistic expectation.

 

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Why?

There are likely a few major reasons right now. One of them is the same reason Real Estate services are considered an "essential business" in Nashville during this stay-home order -- It's because housing is considered a necessity. People need a place to live.  So the buyers who are out there right now braving Covid19 exposure, touring homes with Realtors (Open Houses are not allowed), are SERIOUS buyers. These are buyers who need to buy - and soon. And in our area, where home buying has become so competitive, many buyers may see this as their best opportunity to strike with less competition.

Speaking of opportunity, there may be some deals out there to be had, including taking advantage of low interest rates. Redfin has recently said "a homeowner with a $2,500 monthly mortgage budget can afford a home that is [approximately] $51,250 more at [current rates] than they could have one year ago." That could be a game-changer for a lot of families! If nothing else, it's incentive to buy.

A third reason may have something to do with there being NOTHING else to do right now than sit on your phone and shop for homes. And are you ready for my next big Real Estate Prediction? I'm thinking in a matter of weeks -- or whenever these quarantines and stay-home orders are lifted -- we will see a mad rush of the remaining buyers crawling out of their holes and pulling the trigger on homes they've been watching every day for weeks, and growing attached to, but holding back from seeing.

Brentwood Lender George Margrave says about previous economic hurdles, "The housing market has traditionally helped boost the U.S. economy and played a significant role in recovery." I'm expecting this Covid19 event will be no different for us here -- hopefully sooner rather than later.

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So What Now?

If you're considering listing your home any time this year, I would do it ASAP. We know the market is still moving right now, and likely will for another few weeks. But we don't know what the economy will look like in 2 months. Or 6 months from now. It seems to be broad expectation that the US economy is going to get worse before it gets better. The big question is when it'll hit rock bottom - and for how long.

Start your decision-making by getting specific input on your home's value and how to compete in this market. Something I want to share with you right now is a look at our market snapshot and Absorption Rate. This helps to get perspective for a projected speed of home sales.

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Absorption Rate (how long your home could sit on market)

This information is most accurate and useful when you're taking more specific factors into consideration, like your home features, square footage, general price range, etc. But let's have fun and paint a broad picture right now.. looking big-picture at the market when it tanked in the last recession, versus a year ago, versus now:

 

March 2009:

• 23 Grassland home sales closed.
• Median Days on Market: 103
• Median Sales Price: $400,000

March 2019:

• 34 Grassland home sales closed.
• Median Days on Market: 10
• Median List Price: $557,500

March 2020:

• 69 Grassland homes on the market.
• Median Days on Market: 44
• Median List Price: $894,000

Fascinating numbers - all of them. But there is a lot more to them than what meets the eye. For example, both the increase in Sales Price and Days on Market this year are likely due to the surge in new construction in our area. Homes under construction are typically listed considerably longer than resales.

But back to Absorption Rate: Last year, when the market was humming, 34 Grassland homes were sold in March. Today, there are 69 homes on the market at this very moment. Using Absorption Rate, it'll take about 2 months to sell all of our inventory that we have on the market right now. You can see our median days on market right now is about 44 which is relatively consistent with our data.

 

Using Absorption Rate based on one of the worst times in our real estate economy in March 2009, it'll take about 3 months to sell your home in a possible worst-case-scenario, which is also consistent with our data.

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What This Means

If you're still with me on this, it basically means that it's totally possible for you to sell your home right now! All you have to do is show a better value for your home than 50% of the other homes on the market with similar features - and it will sell faster. (I'm not talking about just dropping the price - I'm talking about showing value with marketing techniques and other strategies from your agent.)

If you're considering selling your home in an even tighter economy like in March 2009, you'll need to show a better value for your home than 66% of the other homes on the market with similar features in order to sell it faster.

I know a lot of local businesses are getting creative right now for their sales. One is even advertising a roll of toilet paper with food delivery. Maybe home sales is why everyone has been hoarding TP?

Haha - Just sayin'

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Do you know of someone wanting to buy or sell a home? Call, email or text me.  I provide a free consultation to see what your home could sell for – or to get pre-approved to buy. I’m a Grassland area resident, I’m a Platinum Award-winning Williamson County REALTOR® ranking in the top 2% and I specialize in helping my neighbors buy and sell homes!