Balancing Act: Timing Is Everything

I always seem to be a day late and a dollar short, although thankfully my mortgage isn’t resetting anytime soon and there is no chance of foreclosure in my future. But we did wait just a bit too long to sell. We have many friends who were wiser, particularly those closer to retirement age, that were able to sell their homes at the height of the market and buy down into smaller homes, sometime out of the area. They have a pretty little nest egg to keep them comfortable for a long while. Our goal had been to do that next year, but now we have decided to hang on, do some remodeling, and wait for a more stable market. At least that is our decision this week. Another good example of poor timing is our mortgage. Right now mortgage rates are lower than they have been in 6 months, according to some sources. Perfect time to refi. But thanks to corporate layoffs, we only have one income right now, and would not qualify. So we will have to wait, and probably miss that boat, too.

I mention this only because prices have been on a downward spiral and mortgages are low, with no guarantee they will go lower. It may very well be the time when the see-saw is at an even point, not tilted toward low prices on one side, or low mortgage rates on the other. And even better, is that sellers seem to be waking up to the smell of coffee and getting more realistic quicker about price cuts. Yesterday, on the corporate Redfin site, there was a blog post by intrepid leader Glenn Klelman, singing the praises of Jeff Yee, who did an extensive survey on price reductions.

Jeff looked at all the active listings (MLS, REOs, FSBOs) in all the markets that Redfin covers. The good news, according to the post: What he found: 38% of currently active listings have undergone a price reduction at some point since going on the market. But it was the average magnitude of the drop from the original list price that shocked everyone here: 10.7%.

So, low prices, low mortgage rates, realistic sellers—this is a good combo for buyers right now.

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