If
you are like so many other people inside and outside North Carolina, you are
currently under a “Stay at Home” order.
Many are able to work from home.
Some find that difficult. If you
were considering a home purchase or a home sale before the coronavirus crisis,
you can make good use of your downtime by researching and familiarizing
yourself with the real estate market online.
It’s relatively easy to do. Take
advantage of the free resources available on my web site: Eric J. Dorer Real Estate. At the top of
the home page is a search bar that enables you to customize a search of all
homes in the entire Charlotte area MLS system—everything from single family
homes to condos and townhouses… from recent sales to foreclosures and other
distress sales. And it is all free.
If
you are a potential buyer, you may have noted that we have been experiencing an
extreme sellers’ market in the last couple of years in the Charlotte area—a
market characterized by low inventory and multiple offers on homes that are
decent values. This can be very
frustrating to someone who is serious about finding a home because prices tend
to be promptly bid up above the listing price.
One way to avoid getting caught up in a bidding war and overpaying for a
home is to know your market. Have a solid idea of what a home is worth and
set a ceiling above which you will not bid on a property. This is something most people are really not
competent to establish without the help of a broker and all the resources
available to that broker. But the more
familiar you are with your market—and subdivisions within that market—and more
prepared you will be to understand the analysis your broker provides for you
for a home on which you may be interested in making an offer.
The
same is true for a seller. This has been
a great market in which to sell a home.
You may not realize just how good a market it is until you search recent
comparable sales to the home you may want to sell. Use the downtime you may be enduring
currently to do some homework on this issue.
Timing
can be everything, as the saying goes; and as the world grinds to a stop in the
next several weeks, showings and offers on properties that are currently on the
market will probably also slow significantly.
If you are a buyer who has been frustrated by market conditions in the
last year or so, you might even consider making an offer on a home during this
period. There will probably less competition for the next several weeks. Showings are still permitted, with
limitations and restrictions. Further,
the standard NC Bar approved Offer to Purchase and Contract provides for a “due
diligence period” during which a buyer may withdraw from the contract for any
reason or no reason at all. If the buyer
withdraws during this due diligence period, he or she is entitled to the full
refund of any earnest money deposit made with the contract. A non-refundable due diligence fee is
customarily paid to the seller to compensate for this due diligence period, but
if a buyer has not been able to view or adequately inspect the property prior
to making an offer due to the “social distancing” called for to address the cononavirus
crisis, it may not be unreasonable to ask the seller to waive the due diligence
fee.
Many
people are finding it very difficult to deal with the social distancing and stay
at home recommendations brought on by the current health crisis. A smart, creative buyer might be able to use
this time to navigate around some of the challenges and obstacles experienced
in the extreme sellers’ market we have seen in the Charlotte metro area in the
last year or so. If nothing else, both
buyers and sellers can certainly use the free time they want to fill by
researching and familiarizing themselves with the market—a smart investment of
time as you consider the purchase or sale of what is probably your largest
single investment. If you would like
help with this, just let me know. I will
be happy to set up an automated for you in the MLS system, based on the
specific search criteria you provide.
Stay safe.
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