Business & Tech
Start of School Means Changes in Real Estate Market
Buyers and sellers are affected in different ways.
School started last week in Gwinnett County. As many of you know, this is much earlier than school starts up north, and it is the earliest school has ever started in Gwinnett County. What does this mean for buyers and sellers?
For sellers, the market will probably slow down some. If a seller had a house on the market all summer and it did not sell, I would recommend revisiting your price.
Is it time to give up? Absolutely not. There are still plenty of buyers running around looking for deals. There are also many folks from the North whose summer is still in full swing. If they sell their house there, they will still be looking to get a home as soon as possible. Make sure your price is right and your house is in great condition and you still have a chance at a summer sale.
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As for buyers, the inventory is a little lower now than in the spring and a lot of the good deals have been taken. That being said, we are still in a very strong buyers market. Foreclosures and short sales and aggressive homeowners continue to offer great deals on homes that are discounted 30-35 percent from their value several years ago. Interest rates are still low, hovering around 4.5 percent. This means that as a buyer you can qualify for a larger sales price than ever before. I set all my buyers up on a that sends a notice out when a hot deal hits the market.
So for those of you who think the real estate market came to a halt when the kids got on the school bus, think again. I am anticipating the market to continue to be strong through the rest of what is officially summer and even into the months of fall. Buyers and sellers should be as educated as possible so they can make good buying and selling decisions. A local realtor can always provide historical sales data in any desired area.
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Good luck and good buying and selling.
About this column: Scott Lacy is a real estate agent with Keller Williams. He is also the author of Suwanee Real Estate Notebook, a real estate column with news and advice about the housing market. You may reach him at 770-722-5129 or scottlacy@kw.com. You can also visit his web site, www.homesinhamiltonmill.com.
