The housing market is red-hot in northern Michigan – and COVID gets some of the credit for that. It’s going to be another hot summer, and we’re not just talking about the temperatures. The price of homes keeps going up too.
“There’s a lot of times you’ll see a house for $20-30,000 more than what the list price is. And that’s not uncommon to see.” Aaron Kendall with Keller Williams says it’s a good time to be a realtor – and a good time to be a seller. “It’s definitely a sellers’ market. We only have a month, maybe two months of inventory on hand right now. Whenever you have that the sellers are definitely in the driver’s seat when it comes to negotiating on a house deal.”
But those negotiations have to be quick. “Houses are not lasting very long. You put them up, they’re gone by the weekend, if they even stay that long. There’s some houses that go before they even hit the market,” Kendall says.
“Almost every home on the market has multiple offers on it. They’re selling faster than ever… at a record high.” Crystal Gober with Traverse Real Estate says buyers have to get creative with offers – like waiving inspections or appraisals in hopes that an offer is accepted. “This is very unusual. I’ve been in the business seven years, my partner for 15. What we’ve seen over the past six months to a year is like nothing that we’ve ever seen before.”
The coronavirus pandemic and work-from-home restrictions are pointing people to northern Michigan. Gober says, “We’re seeing a lot of people from the bigger cities move to this area. They’re wanting to be in the more rural areas and have some space to spread out since the pandemic.”
Kendall adds, “I think a lot of it is a lot of people coming in from out of town. And I’d say that’s largely due to COVID. People have figured out that they don’t have to live in the town they work in anymore. All they need is an internet connection. And you can work from anywhere. So we see a lot of people coming in from out of state that can enjoy that opportunity.”
Holly Hack with Exit Realty Paramount is seeing the same trend. “I’m also seeing a ton of people come back home. And I think a lot of that is attributed to the fact that they can now work from home. So they can choose where they want to be and they can maintain the income levels they’ve had.”
It’s about “location, location, location”, but it’s also about price, strategy, and timing. Hack says a pro can help you navigate and negotiate. “What I do think though is happening is so many sellers want to sell over price. At some point the buyer’s market is going to go, ‘I don’t want to pay that much.’”
A hot real estate market usually means good things for sellers, but realtors know it can also bring challenges for buyers. Kendall says, “A lot of times the thing that you do run into as well, is when you do find a house, you’re competing with 10-15, maybe 20 other people for the same house.” Hack adds, “I think it is a difficult time for buyers. Although I think a lot of it comes down to being pre-approved. Being ready to go, really listening to your agent when they say, ‘hey this is on the market today, we need to walk in and be ready to write.’ And be competitive.”
Gober sees the hot market continuing. “There’s so many buyers built up that haven’t found a home yet. Interest rates are still low. I think this is going to go on for a while.” Hack agrees. “Right now I think a huge kicker of it is interest rates being so low. So it allows people to buy in levels they wouldn’t have been able to historically.”
Kendall adds, “Things are really different this year. I don’t expect things will slow down any time soon. So I think it will stay solid and very heavy interest with looking at houses through the summer.”
It may not last forever, but Hack says it’s hard to predict how soon things will change. “In the last few weeks we have seen a little bit of softening though. About a month ago it was insane. You put something on – and it’s still crazy, don’t get me wrong. But we’re seeing so much more inventory come on.”
So if you’re in the market – don’t wait. Because when one door opens – another one closes.
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