There’s so much being said about the state of the real estate market. What to believe? Although ‘humming right along’ might be an overstatement of the quantity of properties for sale and the number of buyers out there, it’s still a fine time to buy or sell in Central Mass. People want to move, and people have to move, for a wide variety of reasons.
Buyers and sellers right now are making moves more likely for lifestyle reasons, rather than trying to capture the market when it’s most advantageous for them. Of course, there are people who simply decide ‘now is the right time’ or ‘now isn’t the right time’, but there are plenty of people whose personal circumstances decide that now is the time.
Who am I talking with now? A few that come to mind: Moving out of the area – – I’m working with a couple who have always dreamed of living closer to the ocean, and found exactly what they were looking for, so now became the time to list their property.
There’s another local family I’ve had several transactions with over the years. An opportunity came up for one of the spouses to work fully remote, so they watched where other co-workers relocated to, and chose a state to move to that aligns with some of their ‘forever home’ criteria. I’m talking with another family who got their kids all through school, and now want to live a bit more off the grid, in another state.
I frequently work with my clients moving further away in MA than I choose to work, or who are moving to other states. We talk about their wants and needs, then I research and interview realtors in the area they are looking for, and then I work collaboratively with that agent to make sure the process goes smoothly. If you ever need a realtor in any other part of the country, I’m happy to do that research – – I have a great resource database and am always able to recommend a few top rated realtors in the identified area.
Sometimes people ask me for a market analysis for properties that will never sell – – I’m working on a few of those, where it’s an estate or one sibling is considering buying the others out of a family property.
New construction – – Land continues to be at a premium, but for houses that are under construction or planned to be started, there have still been plenty of buyers. Buyers are looking for ways to creatively lower their payments, and we’ve found that some builders are generally tolerant to rate buy-downs in certain situations. Not sure what a rate buy-down is? There are a lot of scenarios, and I’m happy to connect you with my favorite lenders to see how it might work in your specific situation.
Rentals – – there are not enough rentals! I know several people who need temporary to midterm housing, and would be thrilled to be able to rent a room from a homeowner. Of course, this is outside of what I can do with my real estate license, but there are always a few people who have a need for this type of thing. I’m glad my daughter and her boyfriend are moving in with us next week, and our middle son and family will be visiting for an extended stay, or else I’d have a bunch of clients and other random people living with me.
A bit of good news for home owners/home sellers in Massachusetts who have failed Title 5 septic inspections. Don’t miss my story about the expanded septic credit that was part of a new state tax package that was rolled out in the past few weeks.