The best time to move may depend on when the home owner purchased their current residence, says Daren Blomquist, vice president of RealtyTrac. Blomquist says that home owners who purchased their home during the sluggish market the last two to three years may find moving up in 2013 may be their prime opportunity.
"Because they bought near the bottom, these home owners should have built up some good equity that can go toward the purchase of a new home, and waiting longer to build more equity likely won’t provide much advantage given that other homes that they might want to move up to will also be appreciating at roughly the same pace," Blomquist told HousingWire.
Home owners who wait much longer to sell their home may miss out.
"If you're selling one house just to move up to another, it does you no good to wait for prices to rise — the price of the move-up home will increase faster than the price of the place you're leaving behind," says Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman.
Plus, mortgage rates are expected to come off the 3.5 percent range and reach 4.4 percent in the next year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. That will increase the costs of financing your next home.
Source: “The Time to Sell Is a Waiting Game for Some,” HousingWire (March 21, 2013)
Source: “The Time to Sell Is a Waiting Game for Some,” HousingWire (March 21, 2013)
How House Hunters View Your Listing Researcher Michael Seiler tracked the eye movements of 45 people viewing 10 online real estate listings with six photos in August 2011, determining that 95 percent of participants viewed the first photo—an exterior property shot—for just 20 seconds. The study is relevant because knowing how house-hunters view a listing online can help agents fine-tune their marketing approach.
Founder and director of Old Dominion University's Institute for Behavioral and Experimental Real Estate, Seiler says participants moved their eyes in a "Z" pattern from the upper left corner and after reaching the bottom right corner, they scanned up the right column of the screen.
After viewing the home's exterior photo, 76 percent looked at the property description; but 41.5 percent did not bother to ever read the agent's remarks. Researchers also cautioned practitioners against using all capital letters, overhyped adjectives, and brand names in property descriptions.
Seiler determined that overall, participants devoted 60 percent of their time to photos, 20 percent to property descriptions, and 20 percent to the agent's comments; and he found that their interest diminished after clicking through numerous properties.
"You have to grab people's attention within two seconds," Seiler remarked. "Do it the way a billboard does." Some agents ensure the photos, property descriptions, and remarks can be seen without scrolling; while others limit their remarks to only a few paragraphs and focus more on the lifestyle and neighborhood than appliances and other features.
Source: "20 Seconds for Love at First Sight," Wall Street Journal (March 22, 2013)
Source: "20 Seconds for Love at First Sight," Wall Street Journal (March 22, 2013)