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Now We’re Dealing With A Market Where Buyers Are Becoming Picky Again

A report from the Daily Camera in Colorado. “The Boulder County housing market is slowing down. Single-family home sales fell about 23 percent and new listings grew more than 4. 2 percent. The median sales price for single-family homes in Boulder County dropped 2.7 percent to $535,000 last month from $550,000 in January 2018. The median sales price of townhouses and condos fell more than 8 percent to $365,000 last month from $399,950 in January of 2018.”

“‘It’s the first decrease in median prices in Boulder County in five years,’ said Kelly Moye, former president of the Boulder Area Realtor Association.”

From the Tennessean. “Odors are just one item on the checklists Realtors use when getting a home ready for the market. After living there for years, the owner might not notice the light switch that doesn’t work or the mismatched light bulbs in the chandelier, said January Stephens, a Realtor with Exit Real Estate Solutions.”

“‘Now we’re dealing with a (real estate) market where buyers are becoming picky again. It’s important to have a home staged,’ said Realtor Michelle Patterson. The price of staging a home depends on the amount of work involved, but it’s worth it, said Robin Lyons, a Realtor with Re/Max Choice Properties. ‘The investment is less than the first or second price reduction’ if an unstaged home doesn’t attract offers, she said.”

From the Idaho Statesman. “Last June, Boise real estate agent Phil Mount did a search for a client looking to buy a home in Boise for under $250,000. The pickings were slim: six homes. Last month, Mount did a similar search and found more than 35 homes. That broader selection is good news for buyers. January broke a streak. For the first time in more than four years, the number of existing homes on the market in Ada County exceeded the number during the same month a year earlier.”

“Prices turned buyers’ way too: the Ada County median price of all homes sold in January fell 2 percent to $318,000. For newly built homes, it fell 6.5 percent to $373,786. For existing homes, it rose 0.5 percent to $286,450, still below last fall’s levels.”

“‘We’ve got one month of data that’s different from what we’ve seen in the previous 51 months,’ Mount said. ‘Who knows if that’s a trend. I am hoping this will be a season where we have a little more inventory and more choices for buyers.'”

From Fox 4 in Florida. “The affordable housing crisis was the topic of debate Tuesday at the Collier County Board of Commissioners meeting. Commissioners voted to change a bonus program designed as an incentive to get developers to build more modestly-priced housing units. The median home value in Collier County is $336,000, compared to a $231,000 median for homes throughout Florida.”

“But Commissioner Donna Fiala said she has seen many available rental units vacant during tourist season, and is concerned that developers could over-build the county. ‘If we put all these extra units on the market, and people are already having trouble renting out, is it really the thing to do now?’ she asked.”

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    1. “‘It’s the first decrease in median prices in Boulder County in five years,’ said Kelly Moye, former president of the Boulder Area Realtor Association.”

      Former? You got to use “shift” or “slowdown”….the wrong words can scare the buyers. Hence Kelly is no longer the President lol

    2. Today, from a Boise Realtor – “Run for the Idaho Exits? I don’t think that’s going to happen 🙂 I think people are still running towards Idaho…
      Hope you are doing well.”

  2. ‘It’s the first decrease in median prices in Boulder County in five years’

    It’s always amusing how these people react when a bubble first pops. Like it was unimaginable.

    ‘We’ve got one month of data that’s different from what we’ve seen in the previous 51 months…Who knows if that’s a trend. I am hoping this will be a season where we have a little more inventory and more choices for buyers’

    Oh yeah, the UHS are really pulling for the poor buyers. Notice how in Australia and Canada, where they were also feeling the pain of buyers, now they are begging the government to pour on the stimulus gravy.

  3. “The investment is less than the first or second price reduction’ if an unstaged home doesn’t attract offers, she said.”

    And this is why they take overpriced listings. They blame the seller for not staging, then get a referral fee when staging is agreed to, then a commission when they convince the seller to drop the price because “they didn’t stage it soon enough.”

    1. It’s worse than that. The agents are the ones that are overpricing the house to begin with to “win” the listing. There are more agents than there are listings so in order to compete agents are putting housing on the market at inflated prices just to put the sale sign with their name on it in the front yard. Total scumbags.

      Overpricing the house is a total disaster for the seller because the first price reduction is a major sign of weakness and the buyer can kill the seller at the negotiating table. if there is no offer in 14 days, the agent should be immediately fired and the listing should be removed and relisted at the correct price 60-90 days later.

      1. Speaking with a realtor friend of mine, he says the vast majority of sellers have no wiggle room nor do they want to put in a nickel of maintenance (paint, carpet – simple things) to improve their chances of selling the house. They don’t want to spend $400 on basic stuff, why would they spend $400 on “staging”? They start with a very high price and when he explains there is no way the house can go for that much the sellers eventually go with a noob UHS who “buys the listing”.

        Then the price drops, then 6 months later they go back to him with their tail between their legs.

          1. This is not true. Only 3% of homeowners are currently underwater. We were sitting on 30% of home price appreciation in under 6 years when we put our house on the market. The agents convinced us that our home should list for 5% more than what I thought was true market value. We would up selling for 3% less than what I wanted to list at. We still went under contract within 20 days and sold for a nice profit but I am absolutely certain the agents swindled us by pricing too high.

        2. We sold our rowhome in DC last year and my observation was that there are a ton of new real estate agents in the market, and even seasoned professionals are pricing homes 10% above market to win listings. Intuitively, an agent would want to UNDERPRICE a home to make it sell as fast as possible. But in reality, the competition for listings has gotten so fierce across the country, agents have to overvalue the house to win the listing.

          They then pull the bait and switch and recommend a 3% reduction after 2-3 weeks because there is no traction. The charade lasts for months before the sharks smell blood and wind up getting the house for 4-5% below true market value.

          A house can NEVER be underpriced. If it is priced below market value, there should be a bidding war and the price will get bid up to or ABOVE market within the first two weeks. If you have not sold within two weeks, you have been swindled by your agent and you will likely have to sell for below market value.

          1. agents have to overvalue the house to win the listing

            Do they line up in your living room and bid on your listing auction fashion?

          2. “wind up getting the house for 4-5% below true market value.” ummmmm….. Market value is what someone is willing to pay.

      3. “…Total scumbags….”

        Will REIC Realtors *ever* run out of excuses?

        These people are addicted to a gluttony of fakery.

  4. ‘Now we’re dealing with a (real estate) market where buyers are becoming picky again…The price of staging a home depends on the amount of work involved, but it’s worth it…The investment is less than the first or second price reduction’ if an unstaged home doesn’t attract offers’

    Boy, hasn’t that changed from selling with multiple offers over asking, what, 6 or 8 months ago? Funny how all these oh so hot markets went to the dogs so fast and about the same time! How could those solid fundamentals we heard so much about, deteriorate, simultaneously, all over the country? And why doesn’t the media ask the people who went on and on about the solid fundamentals, why they were full of crap and people are now up sh*t creek?

  6. Things are still going fast in Ann Arbor it seems to me. I don’t get the dynamic exactly but I’m trying to understand it. Realtors are sometimes actually shocked that shacks near downtown that had increased 50 to 100 percent since 5 years ago are selling and crappy cheap properties are sometimes selling for cash. It’s driving up prices in the surrounding areas too because people can’t afford to buy here and rents are really outrageous because it’s the effect of a university induced 1000 dollars a bedroom minimum packing the coeds into mini luxury high rises for even more than that. Taxes are high as well so people get ‘more for their money’ in neighboring towns. We keep making ‘best of’ lists thanks to our bevy of high end ‘place making ‘ marketing teams despite a silly high COL for the area, roads from hell, bad public transportation that somehow still gets touted As good, overpriced underground bars and restaurants, and TOXIC drinking water currently with even more toxins in a plume under the city heading toward the river from which we get our drinking water. It really kept well under wraps and is gross— my own family all have elevated liver enzymes which I really feel could be due to the toxins which cause this among other health problems. The realtors really don’t seem informed about it, or are perhaps willfully ignorant.

      1. Gov. Newsom Puts Brakes On California’s High-Speed Rail Plan
        CBS San Francisco-16 hours ago
        … a path to get from Sacramento to San Diego, let alone from San Francisco to … decisions that are coming due” on clean water, housing and homelessness.

        How are we gonna get rid of airplanes?

        1. The governor instead wants to build a high speed rail system from Bakersfield to Merced because everyone in California needs to travel from Bakersfield to Merced.

          2. (snip number 1)

            “‘Let’s level about the high-speed rail,’ Newsom said. ‘Let’s be real, the current project as planned would cost too much and, respectfully, take too long. Right now, there simply isn’t a path to get from Sacramento to San Diego, let alone from San Francisco to L.A. I wish there were.'”

            (got that? okay, here’s snip number 2)

            “By afternoon, however, Newsom’s office said that he is fully committed to building a high-speed rail line between Los Angeles and San Francisco, despite his comments during his State of the State speech.”

          3. The only high-speed rail that is needed is an Eastern Corridor route with 4 stops: DC, Philly, NY, Boston. Even Acela stops too many times.

        2. Pointed out on Twitter this morning:

          2.24 mil passenger trips between SFO and LAX
          Average cost of $112 each
          Total cost $250 mil a year
          For the price of the CA High Speed Rail you could pay for all those flights for 4000 years.

          And of course this doesn’t include other metro airports like OAK, SJC, SNA, BUR, LGB, ONT, etc

          1. Seems like most people knew the high-speed train was an expensive joke. Land right issues ? When do we get less gov and less spending?

      1. I am going to look into water systems for sure! I just can’t believe earthy crunchy Ann Arbor has pretended this is okay to subject people to. The city has actual meetings about climate change action and says it will fine you for idling your engine waiting for your kid at school but lets ya drink poisoned water

        1. There are commercial reverse osmosis vending machines in my town where I buy for 25 cents a gallon. Spend about 1.50 a week on my drinking water. Don’t see how buying a home purifier can beat that expense.

        2. We are on municipal water, but we live in an agricultural area, so I don’t trust our water supply especially in tough economic times. Our “hint” was the coffee maker would plug up after 6 to 8 months of use. With an RO system, the replacement coffee maker has lasted for years.

  7. “‘…Now we’re dealing with a (real estate) market where buyers are becoming picky again. It’s important to have a home staged,’ said Realtor Michelle Patterson…”

    Blah, Blah, Blah. More cosmetic fakery from the REIC.

    What really counts is construction quality.

    Wonder how many Realtors have actually know how to swing a hammer or what a 16-penny nail is. Not many, I will wager.

    I am constantly amazed how poorly some homes are constructed with respect to material quality and “workmanship” (using term loosely).

    Even here in Irvine (Orange County).

    2. That’s why they’re staging… to distract buyers from poor construction quality. Area rugs are great at hiding flaws in the flooring.

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