My phone is already ringing off the hook with potential sellers.
Today I want to talk about market timing. In a nutshell, if you think you’re late, you are. What I’m finding and the main message I want to impart today is that the news is always lagging. By the time you read about how high the rates are and how bad the market is, it’s not. There’s always a lag, for good or bad, between what’s actually being said in the news and what’s happening in reality. Here’s what’s happening in Portland, Oregon.
It felt like the ball dropped on New Year’s Eve, and my phone started ringing. Every single person in January who made a resolution to buy or sell this year needed to contact their real estate professional to come up with a strategy or a plan.
If you’re a seller and you want to sell this spring, being that it’s February, now—it is spring. What I mean by that is, by the time we meet, set the price, tell you everything you need to do to prepare your home for top dollar, and schedule photos and everything else; it’s already a March listing or a late February listing.
In our market, we have spring break. The schools are on spring break in the last week of March. We want to beat that by a lot. We want to be on the market by March 15th, or we’re looking at an April listing that’s in line with when everyone else is listing their house. So what I would say is, if you think you have time because you don’t want to move till the spring or summer—Let’s have that conversation now. Let’s come up with our plan to prepare your home for top dollar. Let’s also work through what might need to be done. I’m very big on pricing homes for what they are, but if you need paint, a quick repair, or something adjusted, contractors aren’t sitting around with no jobs waiting for your phone call. We have to work them in as well.
The best thing to do is sit down with me, your trusted advisor, and let’s come up with a game plan and a calendar of what needs to happen. I don’t want to cause alarm. If you call me later, we’ll still make it work. I had a dear client call this week. We talked on Tuesday, and we’re having their house on the market on Friday, so we know how to get things done quickly. But, the more time we have to plan, the better the outcome will be, and the more likely you will achieve your results. For any questions on planning, or to come up with your game plan as a seller or a buyer, give me a shout. I’m here for questions, big or small.
