Brett Wood

Spring has finally arrived in most of the country and not a day too soon in my opinion. Now is the time to go outside and spruce up the planting beds, remove leaves left over from the winter and deep clean your home.

If your home is on the market or you are about to put the home on the market here are a few tips that will help you sell your home quickly.

Home - Exterior

1. Remove all yard waste from planting beds, yard, fence lines etc.
2. Mulch planting beds and landscaping
3. Spread fertilizer, pre-emergent on lawn
4. Mow
5. Spread dirt and grass seed in baron patches of yard
6. Trim drive way and walk ways with weed eater or edge trimmer
7. Repair any dry rot or damaged wood on outside of home
8. Touch up paint repaired areas and areas that paint is thining
9. Clean gutters
10. Trim trees and shrubs
11. Power Wash deck and stain and seal if needed
12. Power Wash concrete
13. Clean exterior face of windows

February 2011 Market Update Gradual improvement in the housing market continues at a steady pace without government support.

Six months after two consecutive years of tax incentives for buyers; starting in July 2008 with a $7,500 repayable first-time buyer tax credit, extending to a $8,000 nonrepayable first-time buyer tax credit in January 2009, and ending in June 2010 with the expanded credit to repeat buyers; the market has shown remarkable improvement from the initial drop this past July. With mortgage rates remaining near historic lows and home prices having generally stabilized, economists are expecting further strength in 2011.

Consumers are showing some signs that they’re feeling better: a significant boost in the food and services industry implies they are eating out more, vacations are back on the rise as spending on travel and tourism increased 8% in the third quarter, and household net worth has risen notably thanks to a strong stock market even as they continue to shrink their debt. As the economy improves, current stimulus efforts by the government and the Federal Reserve Board are expected to gradually wind down, which typically means rising interest rates. Meanwhile, buyers continue to benefit from historically favorable buying conditions and sellers enjoy increased stability in the market.

Home Sales in millions The uptrend in existing home sales activity continued through December, increasing by a substantial 12.3% from a month ago. This marks the fifth monthly increase in the past six months and indicates a recovery that’s gaining a firmer footing. While home sales remained 2.9% below the level seen last year, the market’s upward momentum, despite the absence of the tax credit, is a welcoming sign.

Home Price in thousands
Home prices softened in December: median home prices edged down slightly to $168,800, 1% below the year-ago level. Contributing to this is a larger share of distressed homes sales which accounted for 36% of sales in December. This is compared to 33% in November 2010 and 32% in December 2009. Prices continue to hold steady and mortgage rates remain historically low, offering favorable buying opportunities.

Inventory- Month's Supply in months The surge in home sales and a shrinking inventory pared down the month’s supply to 8.1 months. This is down 1.4 months from November but remains 0.9 months above last year at this time. While still at a relatively high level historically, months of inventory has declined steadily from its peak of 12.5 months in July and is now back to pre-tax credit expiration levels.
Source: National Association of Realtors - December housing data released Janurary 20.

Interest Rates Mortgage rates are inching up but remain historically low. This trend continues to support home buying, as it translates to significant savings for buyers. As overall economic recovery remains on track, rates are expected to rise to keep inflation in check.

Type Rate
30 year fixed 4.81%
15 year fixed 4.08%
5/1-year ARM 3.69%
30 year average for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage 8.9%
Source: Freddie Mac, Rates as of Feb 7 .

My Kansas City Market report is ready, you can view it from here.

Kansas City Market Report

The Buyers are starting to come out of the woodwork in Johnson County KS!!

In the last week I have had three leads just pop up out of no where, well not really no where but unexpectedly!!

One was a referral that I am handing off to an agent in MO, she is an old friend and really had no clue that she was even interested in getting into the market.

One was a referral from friends of ours and the third was someone I have been in conversation with for about 6 months.

Why am I telling you this, well simple fact is this, as I am looking for homes to show these buyers more and more of the homes are changing status to pending or sold!! Smells a lot like a sellers market is coming to me!!

Couple this with the fact that the inventory in Johnson County (absorption rate) is taking less months to sell (currently around 7.5 months), which is down from December of 2010 and January of 2011. Once we get to 6 months of inventory we will swing from a buyers market to what is called a balanced market and from there I expect to be in a seller's market by mid 2011 in Johnson County KS.

Why am I telling you all of this, well as I mentioned in my previous posts I know not only from number but from being active in the market that we are defiantly in the 4th quarter of the buyers market we have had in the last couple of years. Sure there are still a ton of bank owned, short sale and foreclosed homes in the market and great prices remain on them for those who are strong enough to go through the short sale, reo and foreclosure process.

Make no mistake about it, full price offers are now hitting the table, it won't be long before prices start heading back up from the market bottom bounce and the great deals you can get today will not be around in a few short months.

Bottom line is this, if you are on the fence of should I buy a home or not, now is the time to say yes or say no because saying yes later will cost you money!

As alwasy I am available to help with any real estate decisions that you are trying to make, and if you are not in my market I can find your great agents in any market in the US and Canada to help you with your real estate needs.

I am never too busy for any of your referrals!!