Day: November 23, 2020

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Don’t Let Buyer Competition Keep You from Purchasing a Home

Don’t Let Buyer Competition Keep You from Purchasing a Home | Simplifying The Market

This year’s record-low mortgage rates sparked high demand among homebuyers. Current homeowners, however, haven’t put their houses on the market so quickly. This makes finding a home to buy today challenging for many potential buyers. With an obstacle like this, those searching for their dream homes may be pressing pause on their searches as we approach the end of the year, but that could be a big mistake for many hopeful house hunters. Here’s why.

According to the most recent Housing Trends Report from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB):

“The length of time spent searching for a home continues to grow.”

The report indicates that 62% of buyers now spend 3 months or more looking for a home, an increase from 58% one year ago. A primary cause for the delay is the heavy competition today’s buyers face when making an offer on a home. Based on recent data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the average house in today’s market receives 3.4 offers before it’s sold. This means for every buyer who purchases a home, there are on average two or three buyers who have to begin their search all over again.

Compared to this time last year, the NAHB report shows that buyers are having more success finding homes in their price range. However, it also notes the percentage of buyers saying they’re getting outbid when they make an offer has jumped from 15% to 27%. Buyers are indicating that bidding wars are a major obstacle to finding their dream home (See graph below):Don’t Let Buyer Competition Keep You from Purchasing a Home | Simplifying The MarketIf this is a challenge you’re up against in your home search, you’re not alone. Feeling stuck in the process can be frustrating, but if there’s ever been a year to power through, this is the one. NAHB noted:

“Difficulties finding a home to buy will likely lead 20% of active buyers to give up until next year or later. That share is up from 15% a year earlier.”

Experts anticipate home prices will continue to rise into 2021, and the incredibly low interest rates we’ve seen this year are also forecasted to increase as the economy strengthens. Hopeful homebuyers who decide to hold off on their search until there’s less competition run the risk of finding a more expensive housing market when they start looking again. If affordability is a key motivator behind your decision to buy a home, this winter is still the best time to make it happen.

Bottom Line

Bidding wars may be one of the greatest challenges buyers face in today’s housing market, but they shouldn’t be a deal-breaker. Having the right expert on your side throughout the buying process will give you the advantage you need when it comes to finding the right home and making a competitive offer. If you’re ready to buy this winter, let’s connect to discuss how to position yourself for success.

Content previously posted on Keeping Current Matters

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Fall Landscaping Checklist

Photo courtesy of Condé Nast Traveler of Neuschwanstein Castle
Fall Landscaping Checklist
“This is prime time to prep your yard for the next growing season,” says This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook. Cooling temperatures slow aboveground growth, and moister soil encourages strong root development. Removing spent stems, dead branches, and heavy leaf cover protects plants’ overall health. Read on for Roger’s fall checklist.

Aerate the Lawn
If rainfall pools on the grass, it’s time to aerate compressed soil so water and nutrients can reach the roots. A garden fork can do the job on a small yard, but for larger lawns Roger uses a walk-behind aerator that pulls out 2½-to 3-inch-deep soil plugs, which will break down naturally by spring.

Feed Your Grass
Cutting back on fertilizer in late summer prevents perennials from wasting energy on leaf production. “But grass roots keep growing until the ground gets down to around 40 degrees,” says Roger, “so this is a good time to feed them.” Apply a high-phosphorus (12-25-12) mix to lawns in fall to encourage roots, so turf greens up earlier in spring.

Mow a Final Time
Roger trims turf down to 1¼ inches for the last cut of the season. “Disease has a harder time with shorter grass,” Roger says, “and fallen leaves blow across the lawn because they have nothing to latch on to.” Don’t go too low, though: Grass makes most of its food in the upper blade.

Collect Leaves
To make fallen leaves easier to transport, rake them onto a plastic tarp. Roger adds them (along with leaves he’s cleared from the gutters) to a compost bin—a simple chicken-wire pen will do. Flip the leaf pile every week with a garden fork to aerate; the “black gold” that results next year can nourish lawns, flower beds, and shrub borders.
 
Plant New Shrubs
In many parts of the country, planting shrubs in early fall gives the plants a head start at establishing roots in the season’s cool, moist soil. The basics: Dig a hole (twice the diameter and to a depth of 2 inches less than the full height of the root ball); position the shrub in the hole (make sure the top of the root ball remains at, not below, ground level); fill in with soil; water to settle soil; add more soil to top of root ball (don’t pack soil down with foot); mulch.

Trim Dead Limbs
Lifeless branches can succumb to winter snow and winds, endangering you and your home. “For big jobs, call in the pros,” says Roger. But you can protect small ornamental trees from further damage by cutting cracked, loose, and diseased limbs close to (but not flush with) the trunk; leave the wounds exposed to heal.
 
Cut Back Perennials
A little work now results in healthier spring beds: Evict tired annuals, as well as the snails and slugs that feed on them, which breed in fall. Trim spent perennial foliage down to the ground; this sends energy to the roots, for next season. Every three years, divide crowded tuberous plants, like irises and daylilies: More space means more flowers.

Mulch Young Plants
Give new beds a layer of mulch—chopped leaves, weed-free straw, or wood chips—after a light frost, but before the ground freezes. Till decomposed layers of organic mulch into the soil, then apply a fresh 2- to 4-inch layer (more will smother roots) to keep new plantings warm and to control water runoff and soil erosion.
  
Dry Out Drip Systems
Standing water can freeze and crack drip-irrigation tubing. For simple systems, Roger shuts the water off, unscrews the tap-joint adapter, and, using a high-volume, low-pressure setting on his compressor, inserts an air hose where the system normally attaches to the tap. “Blowing the water out avoids having to uproot the entire system.”

From This Old House