The bidding wars in the Raleigh, North Carolina real estate market have been
insane lately, but it appears things may finally possibly be making a change.
Hello everyone. Chris Morton, real estate broker with EXP Realty in Raleigh, North Carolina. And
as we said, the real estate market in Raleigh, North Carolina over the last couple years has been
absolutely insane. People have been having to bid over a hundred thousand over the asking
price to win their home. Sometimes even writing offers on homes that they don't ever get to see.
The beginning homes are selling within hours, if not days, it's just been insane.
Buyers have been having to do fifty to a hundred thousand in non-refundable due diligence money.
And everybody's just really worn out chasing homes, what few homes there are out there.
But it appears that some of this is finally changing that we are finally coming into possibly
a little bit more of a balance market. Don't get me wrong, the real estate market in Raleigh,
North Carolina is still insane. It's still busy. Homes are still selling very aggressively and very
quickly. And sellers are still getting many, many offers well above asking price. However,
instead of the average home getting twenty offers, we're now seeing homes get five or six offers,
and some aren't getting any offers over that first weekend. That isn't to say that all homes
are getting five or six offers or no offers. There still are some really amazing homes out there that
people are fighting over that are getting bids a hundred thousand over asking price with twenty,
thirty offers, but those kind of homes, those amazing homes are getting fewer and fewer.
This is all primarily caused by one, the higher interest rates that we're seeing right now. Two,
buyers that are just frustrated, throwing their hands up and deciding to rent for a while. And
three, the investors that have been shell shocked by the higher interest rates themselves, deciding
to set on the sidelines for a while and not compete with all of the regular buyers out there.
So if you're a buyer, here's what you need to know.
Yes, we get it. You're really burnt out right now. You've seen eighty-seven, eighty-eight homes.
You've lost count at this point. You've put in offers on twenty or twenty-one of them,
and haven't been successful a single time. You're frustrated, you're burnout, you're worn out, but
now you may have an opportunity to win the home of your dreams without a whole lot of competition. So
here's a strategy for you go after homes that have been sitting on the market as active for
at least five days. Now I'm not talking about the homes that have been in the coming soon phase for
five days. I mean, homes that have been active, available to be seen, to be gone into and looked
over. They've been available for five days and no one's made any offers on them. If you go after
those homes, it's likely that you're going to have less or no competition on them and be able
to buy one without a lot of stress and likely without having to go way, way over asking price.
Now, I am not gonna say these homes are going to be a steal that you're going to buy a $500,000
house for $400,000. That's not going to happen but you may be able to buy that $500,000 house for
$500,000 instead of five $ 550,000, $600,000. Bottom line, a lot of buyers are sitting on the
sidelines or they're being very, very picky currently in what they're looking at, which means
all of these homes that are older, five days on the market, that's crazy that that's old, are just
sitting there without a lot of competition. You may be able to swoop in and not have to be very
aggressive and might have a seller who's willing to work with you. But that is not to say that
you shouldn't go after those great homes that the other buyers are going after that the picky buyers
are going after, not saying don't go after those homes. I'm just saying that the homes that have
been sitting a while, you may have a little less competition on. And yes, I know that some of these
older homes are going to need some cosmetic work. Don't let that scare you. Don’t let that
run you off. Don't be afraid of improvements that you're going to need to make on them. For example,
a good paint crew can paint an entire home, in two days. You can get flooring replaced,
in three or four days, and your countertops can be replaced out with granite or quartz within one
day. And here's a little tip for you. Use the time between going under contract and the home becoming
yours and you go to the attorney and go to that closing. Use that time in the middle to interview
vendors and get estimates on what it's going to cost to get the stuff done.
Let them come in and do their measurements and all of that sort of thing. So that on the day
that you close and you get the keys on that property, they can get started on their work.
And very likely you can be moved into your new home that's got all the modern touches you want.
That you put your personal stamp on. You can move into that home within say seven to ten days,
which is really, really great. You get a home that you don't have to compete a heck of a lot on
it. It's your home because it's got your paint colors, you're flooring, all that sort of thing.
And again, did I mention you didn't have to compete all that much on it.
And by the way, let's talk a little about new construction. There's some good news there as
well. So we've had a good number of builder representatives, email us lately with their
current inventory. Letting us know that they've got availability for homes that can be bought
pretty quickly. They're not seeing the number of visitors coming into their model homes. Again,
they still may be busy, but they're not as busy as they were even just a couple of weeks or a few
months ago. So a lot of these builders have done away with the lotteries and the bidding processes
and the waiting period to see how many bids they get in. They've done away with that on some of
their homes or all of their homes, which means you and your buyer agent are able to go into those
neighborhoods, check out what inventory they have, make an offer on what you really, really like.
If you find something you really, really like, you don't have to compete with anybody else. You pay
the asking price. The builder is offered and you've got your home without a lot of stress.
And for all of our sellers out there, here's what you need to know. Please know,
you're going to leave a lot of money on the table if you do not have your home looking in tip top
shape. We always say a home should look like a model home. Meaning whenever you go to those
new construction neighborhoods and they have the model set up, that's the quality that your
home needs to look. Now, I know you may have a split level instead of a modern contemporary,
that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying the floors need to look good. The paint needs to look good.
It needs to be decluttered, all that sort of thing. So if your home doesn't look like that
there is potential you could be leaving money on the table because the current buyers out there
right now, as we said are much pickier. Because we've been in such a hot seller's market lately,
the sellers are out there, they think they can just throw their home on the market
and that millions and millions of buyers are gonna swoop in and make offers. And you're going to make
a half a million dollars over your asking price. And unfortunately, that's just not happening right
now. Yes, for the really, really great looking homes, they are getting multiple offers and
they've been very aggressive offers. But for the average to below average homes, they're getting
few to no offers and it's usually because of the cosmetic issues that we've talked about earlier.
And here's a tip for you sellers out there. We always recommend you get a pre-inspection.
Pre-inspection meaning you have an inspector, come in,
check your house over just like you were buying it and they will give you a report of things
that are wrong with your house. At that point, before any buyers have even seen your house,
you can decide what you're going to fix and what you're not going to fix.
If your home is in tip top shape and looks really, really good, there's a lot of buyers out there who
are willing to overlook the things that you're not willing to fix, especially if they know about them
in advance, because you've provided them with that inspection report. They're willing to overlook
those and buy your house and buy it for a good price. Buy it confidently. Knowing what they're
getting themselves into. The problem people run into when they sell a house is buyers are coming
in and they're only able to look at the cosmetic stuff. If your house is cluttered, if your
doors don't lock properly, their suspicion is well, if these things are wrong, what's going on
in the crawl space? What's going on in the attic? What am I getting myself into by making an offer
on this house? It's not that they don't like your paint colors per se, it just that it looks
like there's maybe deferred maintenance and it freaks buyers out. So know that's what's going on.
So with all this being said, should you even buy a home right now? Again, back to what we always say,
you should always buy a home when it's right for you and you should sell a home when it's right for
you. Don't try to time the market. You're never going to win that. Buy when you need to buy. Sell,
when you need to buy, and you're going to be happier long term. So we must stress again. This
lawl that we're seeing right now may be temporary buyers may get their footing about them. They may
get used to the higher interest rates and jump back in the buyer pool. And we may start seeing
every single home or most every single home, flying off the market in a matter of hours
with a hundred thousand dollars offer over asking price offers and all that sort of thing that may
happen. We don't know. So if you're ready to buy, we recommend you jump in now and possibly
get yourself a good deal. And if you're thinking about selling your home, we don't know where the
market's headed from here. It may get worse for you as a seller. If you're ready to sell now is
the time to go sell your home and get it in tip top shape, so you can get the most money possible
for your current home. If you're considering buying or selling a home right now, my team,
and I would love to be your agents of choice. You can email us at hello@mortonbradbury.com
or click on the link in the description below will be happy to help you out like, and subscribe to
this video if you haven't already done. So, and we'll see you on the next one. Take care. Bye.