Sales are picking up this month. The real estate market has been
flushed with foreclosed homes which has driven prices down and first
time buyers onto the Long Beach Real Estate market. The sharpest decline in prices in 20
years has been reported by Data Quick, prices fell by 30% in May. While this upturn in the real estate market has not dribbled up to the luxury market, it should follow suit shortly.
Lenders have tightened up on lending
standards, interest rates are lurking around 6.5% and buyers must be
pre-qualified. It's a smart buyer that has a lock in letter and a loan
commitment from their lender to protect themselves.
This puts some
strong buyers on the market right now and they are looking to purchase
the most their money will buy. There are some really great buys
available right now, well priced homes are receiving multiple offers
and investors are out shopping.
This is a great time to be on the market priced to sell.
There are currently 15 homes for sale in Alamitos Beach.
Average Price: $724,920
Average Days on Market: 75
1 home in Alamitos Beach is in escrow accepting back-up offers.
Average Price: $595,900
Average Days on Market: 62
3 homes in Alamitos Beach are currently pending in escrow.
Average Price: $303,966
Average Days on Market: 14
3 homes in Alamitos Beach have Sold (closed escrow) in 2008.
If you are thinking about selling and have a Historic California Heights Home that is not yet on the market, I have a specific, highly qualified "A" credit buyer, with a large down payment, who may be interested in purchasing your home. This is not a solicitation to list your home. This buyer is quite real, as am I. This is not the first time I have reverse prospected a Long Beach home for a buyer looking for something a little extraordinary.
The buyers are a young professional couple, both doctors, who are purchasing their first home with a large inheritance. They have a sizable down payment, FICO scores in the 800 range, are already pre-approved, are ready to purchase and pay market price. All they need is the right home.
They have been in escrow on another home in the California Heights Historic District. Inspections revealed large problems with the home, none of which was the seller willing to remedy in any way. The home was priced at market, which was too high once the actual condition of the home was revealed.
We are seeking a Historic California Heights home in good and solid condition. That doesn't mean it has to be perfect, but several serious structural issues proved to be too much to deal with. The home should be at least 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, Spanish style is preferred, but we are not limited to this style, wood floors, coved ceilings, garage, lot size is not as important as condition. Historic status is a major plus.
No it's not, but now that I have your attention, the market
has changed a bit and there are a few things you really need to know if you are
thinking about selling your Long Beach
homes.
Back in the hot sellers market one of the sales strategies
used was to price a home a little low, take multiple offers, and play them off
of each other to drive the price up. It
worked! That strategy, applied to today's
Long Beach real estate market is working as well.
Pricing your home low will inspire the interest of buyers
and agents and create a quick, steady flow of traffic and multiple offers to
your home.
For instance, if your home, in great condition, comps out at
$500,000 and you listed it at $299,000 you would have the attention of the
entire real estate market. You would have to prepare
yourself for a major onslaught of showings, perhaps as many as 30 to 50 a day. The offers would pour in and bid up. At $500,000, you would sit on the market for
months, probably price reduce a couple of times to about $450k and likely sell
around $440k, if at all. If you choose this road,
you will probably sell at around the same price, without the time delay. It's clean and fast.
An added benefit to creating multiple offers is that you have
a choice. You will not be forced to
accept an offer with weak financing because it is the only offer you have. There will be an assortment of offers for you
to choose from thereby placing you in a stronger position to close escrow
successfully.
Here on our Long Beach Real Estate site I usually write
purely real estate related articles targeted at educating and informing buyers
and sellers of Long Beach Real Estate.
Today I would like to give you a little peek into the business side of
things and explain how they can affect the sale or purchase of your Long Beach homes.
In a recently published post I disclosed the 2008 closed
sales in Long Beach;
674 of them, through 4/30/08. While the
chart shows the sales increasing each month, the sales figures are still very
low. (Includes sales of homes, condos,
lofts, co-ops, Oyos, 2-4 units and 5+ units as recorded on the MLS)
Jan 130
Feb 153
Mar 179
Apr 212
Total: 674
These are difficult times for those of us surviving in the
real estate industry. Going into this
down market there were about 2900 licensed Realtors on record, there are
currently about 1600 licensees active in the Long Beach
area. Every market will support a
certain amount of agents based on the closed sales of that market. Each agent needs a certain amount of closed
sales in order to survive. Lets assume
that 8 to 10 closed sales for the year are required for a Realtor to even
survive this market; 674 closed sales would produce 8 to 10 sales for the year,
for between 200 and 250 Realtors. Those
sales are currently spread across 1600 current licensees, which would equate to
less than ½ of a sale for each Realtor for the first 4 months of 2008.
In the real estate industry we have an 80/20 saying. It states that 20% of the agents do 80% of
the business. 20% of 1600 agents = 320
which would equate to about 2 closed sales for the majority of the 20% still
doing business.
So how are 1600 Realtors surviving a market with sales that
will currently only support 200 to 250?
Some
have other income, or a spouse or significant other with income.
Some
have taken on Part or Full time jobs, while trying to juggle their real
estate.
Some
have anticipated this market and made plans to survive it.
Some
are making enough sales to manage.
What of the 80%? That
is 1280 agents, still active, for the last 4 months. How are they surviving with little or no sales?
Well, they either have spousal support a trust fund or they have accepted
salaried positions. Lets take a look at
that. Real estate is a more than full
time job; it is a commitment which permeates every hour of every day of our
lives. Real estate transactions require
a lot of attention on a daily basis.
Escrow, title, lenders, inspections, appraisers banks and more need to
be attended to, mostly during normal business hours. Buyers need to see
properties around their schedules which often means after work or weekend
showings. Sellers properties often need
tending, flyers run out; keys go missing from a lock box or end up in another
box on the same property. A pipe may
burst on a listing with an out of town owner; anything can happen. How is an agent who has accepted employment
elsewhere, with a set schedule, going to be able to deal with the schedule and
responsibilities of a full time Realtor?
How does that affect the buyer or seller? Has the agent even disclosed to the buyer or
seller that they are not fully available?
Do you know if your agent is available to conduct business, full time on your
behalf?
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