What Does It Mean to Be Offer-Ready?

What does it take to be ready to act in this market? Michelle from New American Funding is here to discuss.

Today, I’m here with Michelle Piccinini from New American Funding to talk about market inventory. How can you be offer-ready in this market?

According to Michelle, being offer-ready refers to the low amount of inventory we’re seeing in the market. Houses are going fast, and multiple offers are more and more common. 

If you’re offer-ready, it means that you’re pre-approved, you have a letter in hand, and you’re ready to go. When you’re offer-ready, you're prepared to take immediate action when the right home comes on the market. Because of the multiple offers we’ve seen, many of those offers are coming in over asking price.

"When you’re offer-ready, if that perfect home becomes available on the market, you’ll be ready to write an offer on it right away."

On the lending side of things, we’ve seen many appraisals come in low. Yes, you got into contract, you won, and it is your home, but now you still have the financing contingency. When the appraisal is done, properties are increasing in values, but we aren’t seeing homes closing at a fast enough rate to justify the value. From a lending perspective, we just want to make sure that you’re prepared.

If there’s a situation in which a home comes in $10,000 under what you’ve agreed to offer, we now have a situation on our hands: will the seller agree to drop the price? Do we have the money from the buyer to make up that difference, or does the whole thing fall apart?

In this crazy market, it’s wise to work with an experienced agent and lender who can help you navigate situations. That's why we are here.

If you have any questions, please reach out to us. We would love to help you.

A Quick Look at Our Reno/Sparks Real Estate Market

What’s been going on in our local market? It’s time to take a look at our latest market update.

What’s been going on lately in our Reno/Sparks area real estate market? It’s time for another market update.

Last month, there were 439 sales at a median price of $370,000. There are currently 526 homes on the market. This constitutes about 1.25 months’ worth of supply. In other words, if no other homes came on the market it would take 1.25 months for us to run out of listings.

"In today’s hot market, buyers and sellers must be strategic."

This means buyers and sellers must be strategic. Buyers need to be offer-ready. So, if you have plans to purchase a home, make sure you get pre-approved and get in touch with an agent. 

As for sellers, those looking to list need to be careful about pricing. The best way to sell your home is by pricing it correctly from the start. Overpricing your listing would be a costly mistake.

If you have any other questions about our current real estate market, just give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you.

Interest Rates Are on the Rise

Let’s talk about what’s going on with interest rates today.

As always, the subject of interest rates is something that’s on everyone’s minds. So today, we’d like to bring you an update on what’s going on.

There has recently been a steady rise in interest rates. When the government shut down in 2013, we actually saw a positive impact on rates. This is because the market is very, very emotional. After chaos happens, people pull money out of stock and put it into bonds.

However, this hasn’t been the case since our government shut down earlier this year. The stock market is thriving and bonds are essentially in a free fall. This is leading to a steady increase in rates.

"Home inspections can benefit buyers as well as sellers."

The bottom line is that consumers need to be informed. We may not see rates back in the 3% range again. Right now, rates are sitting within the higher end of the 4% range. This is especially true of investment properties. 

For grant-based products, we’re seeing rates between 5% and 6%. We can never be absolutely sure what the future will hold, but it does appear that rates will continue to rise through the first part of 2018. 

If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.