Columbia SC home sellers are joining the rest of Americans saying now is a good time to sell a home than at any time in the past three years, a rise in confidence that could lead to more inventory of homes for sale and, eventually, smaller home price gains.
"Sentiment toward selling a home appears to be catching up with the strengthening housing market," says Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae.
More Columbia SC Home Inventory
U.S. home prices jumped 12.1% in April year-over-year, marking the 14th consecutive month of gains. The supply of homes for sale in April was up 4% to 10% from January, when adjusted for seasonal patterns. More inventory will mean price increases will slow down.
Tight inventories of Columbia SC homes for sale have been a big driver of price increases. Now, higher prices are finally drawing people into the market. In addition, rising interest rates are causing some to get off of the fence before rates go even higher.
In many areas, during the first week of June, there were fewer new listings on the market than at any time in the previous 13 years.
For Columbia SC home sellers, one in four homeowners with a mortgage owed more on their homes than the homes were worth in the first quarter, and that is starting to change.
Even two months ago, it was definitely a seller's market. Now, buyers can be a little more picky unless they are shopping for lower priced homes and competing with investors for those lower priced properties.
Columbia SC home sellers need to be aware of the changing tides, and make sure their home shines in comparison to others on the market. We may have just witnessed one of the shortest "Sellers Markets" in recent history. Stand by for more news as it relates to the markets, as we'll always keep you up to date on changing trends right here on our website.
When looking for a Columbia SC home, it’s important to see beyond paint colors and decor that may not be your taste and, instead, focus on the floor plan, structural design and other physical elements of the house. Replacing carpets or changing light fixtures are typically simple and affordable changes you can make once you move in. But if certain areas of the residence require repairs, like the foundation or the roof, purchasing a property could become costly.
Don’t let the fear of having to pay for repairs deter you from buying a Columbia SC home, though. In some cases, Columbia SC home sellers may be willing to pay for repairs if it will help them close the deal and sell their property. Here’s how to ask:
Reasonable Requests for Columbia SC Home Buyers to Make
There are certain types of fixes that are generally OK to ask Columbia SC home sellers to take care of before you, as a buyer, agree to purchase the home. Getting a home inspection is a must. Once this is complete and specific parts of the home have been identified by an inspector as needing essential upgrades (electrical wiring, for instance), you can approach the sellers to see if they would be willing to pay for the repairs.
Conversely, it is not acceptable for home buyers to make non-essential requests for fixes in a home for sale. This might include asking the seller to paint the house simply because you prefer a different color, or making other aesthetic alterations.
Timely Requests
In addition to making appropriate repair requests, it is also important for home buyers to petition fixes in a timely fashion. Making requests days before closing may halt a home sale altogether, as the sellers may not be willing to alter their agreement at the last second. This means you will want to ask the sellers to upgrade certain parts of their home early on in the negotiating process.
In certain circumstances, Columbia SC home sellers may be willing to pay for home repairs after the sale is complete. To ensure the sellers follow through on their intent to do so, you might want to hire a lawyer to draw up a contract stating the seller’s intention to make the fixes within a predetermined period.
Decide What You Can Live With
There is a chance your Columbia SC home sellers may be unwilling to pay for repairs. You should determine how willing you would be to accept the home as-is, without repairs paid for by the sellers. If the majority of the home is in quality shape (make sure the defects won’t impact your ability to get insurance on the property) and you like most features, you just might want to worry about making fixes after the sale goes through.
The key to approaching Columbia SC home sellers about repairs? Communication. For more home buyer tips, check out our other Columbia SC Homebuyer Tips under Columbia SC Real Estate Categories to your right.
Columbia SC home sellers are all looking for an edge on the market. After all, it is summertime and the prime selling season, right?
It may be time to do a reality check about the state of your Columbia SC home and make necessary changes to get it sold.
Columbia SC Home Sellers Need To Be Critical
Now that summer is here, make sure you’ve washed all the windows. Remove any heavy drapes that may be obscuring a good view and replace them with something lighter.
Be sure to spruce up the landscaping. Add some flowering ornamentals, trim the shrubbery.
Consider having someone who doesn’t live in your home come in and give you a brutally honest opinion, as if they were a prospective home buyer.
You could have something simple turning off would-be home buyers, like an odor. When you live in a home, sometimes you don’t smell an odor you’ve gotten used to, but an outsider (like a prospective home buyer) may smell it right off the bat. It could be something as simple as the odor coming from your vacuum cleaner bag, or the trash can in the kitchen.
Columbia SC Home Sellers May Need Stagers
Home stagers are usually brought in before a home is ever listed for sale, but they may also be able to help with a home that isn’t getting much interest. There are different levels of home staging services available, from simple verbal consultation and suggestions, to complete staging services where rooms are rearranged.
If a home stager makes significant changes, ask your listing agent to take new pictures of your home, since the bulk of home buyers start their search on the Internet these days.
Columbia SC home sellers need to keep one important thing in mind. Even though the market is recovering, the recovery is not going to return home prices to where they were during the boom years for quite some time. If nothing else works and you’re desperate to sell, you may need to lower the price.
Price recovery is not going to be V-shaped. It’s going to be more of a straight line, and Columbia SC home sellers need to keep this in mind when pricing their home to sell quickly.