JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT THE HOME SELLING/BUYING FRENZY HAD ENDED……

We all thought it wouldn’t last! After all Houston’s real estate market has not seen this kind of activity since 2006 (per HAR). Home prices continue to rise and inventory continues to shrink creating the best opportunity in years for home owners to sell with a maximum return on their investment. As a REALTOR specializing in Houston’s Inner Loop neighborhoods I commonly see listings receive multiple offers and many times before the pictures are even uploaded onto the MLS site.

With all of this surge in activity, bidding wars and limited inventory the temptation for many sellers is to take the marketing/preparation of their home for granted. This is a HUGE mistake! The work must still be done.

Sellers should always understand that location is paramount. If you live in an area that’s in demand there will always be buyers. However, in order to secure the highest sale price in the least amount of time with the potential for multiple offers I would like to suggest the following:

1. Do Not Overprice Your Home! In the past if a home was on the market for 2 to 3 weeks it was not a big deal. Now with many homes going under contract in the first 24 to 48 hours those 2-3 weeks will look like eternity to a buyer.

2. Open Houses can still be an effective tool, don’t forget the basics. Effective, quality marketing could secure multiple offers and potentially over the listed price.

3. Make sure the REALTOR you choose is familiar with using the internet and social networks to create an on-line interest in your home. According to recent studies an est. 80% of all home buyers previewed the home they purchased on the internet.

4. Clean the interior, remove all clutter and have the home professionally cleaned. Buyers will be less likely to want to compete with other buyers if your home feels dirty and not well maintained.

5. Create a reason for the buyer to get out of the car with appealing curb appeal and exterior. Buyers know there is limited inventory and that they may be paying over the list price so they are going to be picky.

Provided by Har.com Blog

With record home prices and lots of job growth, it’s no surprise that Houston again placed on a national list of improving metro regions for residential real estate.

The Bayou City was one of 255 U.S. metropolitan areas included on the July National Association of Home Builders/First American Improving Markets Index.

The group tracks housing markets that are showing signs of improving economic health across three sectors: job growth, house-price appreciation and single-family permit growth. It includes regions that have shown improvements for six months since their respective troughs.

July represented the sixth straight month in which at least 70 percent of U.S. metro areas qualified for the improving market index, the group reported. The number was down slightly from 263 metros on the list in June, but more than triple the number of regions on the list a year ago.

Here’s how Houston stacked up against other metropolitan areas on the list.

Houston home prices shot up 11.9 percent since the low point in August 2011, based on house price appreciation figures from Freddie Mac. Only 39 metro areas on the improving markets list had higher gains. Phoenix was up the most with a 35 percent gain since its low in June 2011.

Houston added 11.3 percent more jobs since its low point at end of 2009, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Only 15 metropolitan areas on the list of improving areas showed higher job growth rates since their respective troughs:

1. Midland, TX    09/30/09    30.4%
2. Odessa, TX    08/31/09    29.5%
3. Columbus, IN    07/31/09    22.1%
4. Elkhart, IN    06/30/09    21.4%
5. Cleveland, TN    11/30/10    15.5%
6. Provo, UT    12/31/09    15.1%
7. Holland, MI    06/30/09    15.0%
8. Nashville, TN    09/30/09    13.5%
9. Bismarck, ND    12/31/07    13.2%
10. Austin, TX    09/30/09    12.7%
11. Winchester, VA    10/31/09    12.6%
12. Grand Rapids, MI    07/31/09    11.5%
13. San Luis Obispo, CA    07/31/09    11.5%
14. Longview, TX    10/31/09    11.5%
15. Fargo, ND    04/30/09    11.4%
16. Houston, TX    12/31/09    11.3%

For house permits, Houston’s growth rate was similar to San Antonio, San Diego and Goldsboro, N.C., according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

New to the U.S. list this month are Cumberland, Md.; Saginaw, Mich.; Farmington and Las Cruces, N.M.; Kingston, N.Y.; and Olympia, Wash. Only one Texas city, Sherman, was among the 14 metro areas that dropped off the July list.

Provided by Chron.com

Chron.com’s Prime Property asked readers last month to vote on whether it was it was a good time to sell a house. The results were close, with 52 percent of folks saying it was not a good time because prices would continue to rise. (That may help explain why our inventory is so incredibly low.)

The poll was based on a survey from Fannie Mae that revealed more Americans thought it was a good time to sell. Today, Fannie released results from a new survey that shows more Americans expect mortgage rates and home prices to climb, potentially spurring home shoppers to act.

The share of respondents who said mortgage rates will go up during the next 12 months jumped 11 percentage points to 57 percent, the highest level in the survey’s three-year history. Those who think home prices will go up in the next year also hit a survey high of 57 percent.

Local experts say the recent spike in mortgage rates isn’t going to do much to move the dial on Houston’s already hot, inventory-constrained market. But clearly the rate hike is having an impact on many consumers.

Provided by Chron.com

What do you think?