The Honest Broker: Are you having trouble buying a home right now?
BY: Diane Lott, Broker/ Paradise Found Realty
In the last month, I have heard so many stories from buyers about it being virtually impossible to buy a home. Just yesterday, at a doctor’s appointment, I sat next to a man who asked what I did. I proceeded to tell him that I was in real estate. That unleashed a tsunami of information that he and his wife have been “trying to buy a house for the last 7 weeks and haven’t been successful”. He said that he has had a total of 4 contracts on different homes and was outbid on all of them by anywhere from 15,000 to $30,000 over list price every time .”
Why is this a frequent story nowadays? There are several reasons for this to be happening. The most prevalent reasons are supply and demand economics which is being fueled by an influx of new residents to our area and continued low mortgage rates.
SUPPLY AND DEMAND:
Currently, the demand for housing far exceeds the amount of inventory or supply of available houses to buy. This is leading to bidding wars over homes at every price point; affordable to expensive homes. I have had multiple offer situations come in on each of my listings within days of placing them on the market.
Surprisingly, CASH deals have increased, edging out anyone that has mortgage limitations. When sellers are met with several bids, they tend to lean towards the cash deal because it is less likely to fall through due to not meeting financial terms of a contract. With so much cash flowing, sellers are benefiting because buyers are purchasing without the contingency of an appraisal. The demand is there due to the migration of new residents from the Northeast and from counties to our south. These new residents are coming to our area because of remote working conditions, economics (coming from high taxing states to a “no tax” state) and increased quality of life or better living conditions; less crime and congestion.
FINANCIAL:
As mortgage rates are still hovering around 3.0%, depending on the daily market rate, this is the time for new buyers to jump in and buy a home. Mortgage rates are forecasted to begin edging up, making it imperative to make their move now before it potentially gets too expensive to obtain a home.
Stay well…
Diane
Diane Lott, Broker
Owner: Paradise Found Realty
Paradise Found Realty, Inc. of Palm City
website: www.ParadiseFoundRealtyFl.com
Email: diane@paradisefoundrealtyfl.com
Phone: 954-294-5060
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