You may have noticed a trend in these blog posts over the past several weeks. Here they are, in no particular order: how to buy a home with zero down, why a home should be on your shopping list, and why to buy before the new year.
This recent push to buy is not to encourage you to participate mindlessly in the holiday season’s characteristically frantic spending. Rather, Pickett Street wants their clients to know that buying now might be a very mindful, financially smart decision. Buying a home right now is like going shopping at the mall during the quietest, most dead time of the year, when you practically have the whole place to yourself, when stores are eager to move product, and when sales abound.
Over the past six years, Seattle has been a difficult place to buy a home. The Seattle Times reports that in 2017, 92 percent of Seattle homes for sale involved multiple bidders. 79 percent of homes had multiple bidders in the larger stretch between Snohomish and Pierce Counties.
However, over the past several months, the tides have quickly shifted. In November, just 21 percent of Seattle homes had multiple bidders. In the area between Pierce and Snohomish Counties, 25 percent of homes had multiple bidders. Redfin reports that Seattle currently has less bidding wars than any other U.S. city (keep in mind that as of February 2018, Seattle still had the highest number of bidding wars in the U.S.!). Even better—Seattle area home prices have dropped 11.3 percent in the last six months.
This shift from a sellers market to a buyers market offers buyers several advantages. Read on for more information, or get in touch with Pickett Street today to get started at (info@pickettstreet.com or 425-502-53970).
1. Buyers are no longer pressed for time.
Seattle-area homes currently sit on the market for an average of three to four weeks before selling. Compare this time frame to last year, when homes often sold within a week of being listed. The current lack of intense competition allows buyers to avoid panic-based purchases and instead make more thoughtful decisions regarding buying properties.
While we’re on the subject of time, this buyers market means that you will also most likely buy a home much more quickly than you would have last year. Some buyers reported last year that, because other buyers outbid them, it took six months to buy a house.
2. Buyers control the purchasing terms.
During Seattle’s hot market, many buyers found themselves forking over much more money than they expected to spend in order to outbid others. Many homes sold for hundreds of thousands above the listing price.
Now, however, you might find a deal. One buyer in Bellevue was able to talk the seller down to $30,000 off the list price and $7,500 off closing costs. Additionally, more sellers are agreeing fix things like plumbing at their own cost, or to approve a delayed sale contingent on the buyer’s ability to turn around and sell their own home.
You might still have time to buy a home before the holidays! If buying a home sounds like the right decision for you, or even if you’re unsure whether or not it’s the right decision, contact Pickett Street at info@pickettstreet.com or 425-502-53970.