Real Estate Market

July Market Update – Greater Lake Wylie Area

August 17, 2021 by lkw_df Leave a Comment

Typically the start of the new school year signals a slow down in the real estate market for the year as most families don’t want to uproot their family for a move during the school year. What we are seeing in the Charlotte area is that homes are still being listed and sold at a great pace with an increase in sales year-to-date of 12.4%. New listings for the region are up 6% year-to-date as well, with average prices soaring 18% and homes selling 50% faster than last year in just 20 days on average.

When you look at the Greater Lake Wylie area, you see that the trend is similar. Sales have increased from last year by 13.9% with just over a thousand homes sold in the area. New listings are up 18% year-to-date though monthly, we are showing new listings down just over 15% to 157 new listings in July. Due to the small sample size, percentage differences can seem quite large, or there really could be a dip going forward. We will keep an eye on these numbers to be sure.

Average price in the Lake Wylie area was up to just over $550,000 for the month and yearly up just over $485,000. These increases are great for sellers, but can put a pinch on buyers, especially when they are up against an all cash offer. Homes are selling for 102.2% of list price so we are still seeing above list price sales and multiple offer situations. Homes are going under contract in an average of 17 days and some are even going under contract within 2-3 days after being listed.

All of these numbers come from the Canopy Realtor Association based on the Multiple Listing Service data. If you are thinking about buying or selling a home in the Lake Wylie area, give us a call at 803-831-8588. You can view all current listings and create custom searches on our website here.

Student Debt Can Be A Hurdle to Homeownership

August 5, 2021 by lkw_df Leave a Comment

If you are like many of us, you have student loan debt that piled up over the course of your education. This made it easier to find the kind of job you wanted once you graduated, but now that you are thinking about buying a home, it has made things more difficult.

You are locked into monthly payments for the student loan debt which can increase your debt-to-income ratio which lenders use to determine how much money they are willing to lend you on a home purchase. This can mean that you qualify for a smaller loan, or you may not qualify at all.

Student loan debt can also affect your credit score which can affect the mortgage interest rate that you qualify for, making it even harder for you to get the home you want. A higher interest rate can dramatically affect the monthly payment on a home. For instance, if you have the same $200,000 home at 3% interest and 5% interest, your payment can change by over $230 per month.

Finally, having student loan debt can make it much harder to save up for a down payment on that first home. Lenders traditionally want you to have 20% of the purchase price. There are many programs where you can have a smaller down payment, but they can be tricky to qualify for, and most still want you to have at least 5% down. On a $200,000 home, that is $10,000 cash up front.

What we are seeing right now, with the competitive real estate market, is many people sitting on the sidelines. This has created opportunity for investment firms who are buying up residential real estate and turning it into rental properties. They have deep pockets and can pay all cash for properties, edging out many individual buyers. Being a renter can have advantages, especially if there are pricey repairs that don’t have to be paid by you, but the American dream is to have your own home with no-one to answer to except maybe a lender.

If you want to see if buying a first home in the Lake Wylie area is right for you, give us a call at 803-831-8588 and we can put together a plan for you and your family. You can view current listings and create custom searches on our website here.

If You’re Not a Seasoned Buyer, Beware

July 20, 2021 by lkw_df Leave a Comment

There has been a trend recently to eliminate provisions in a standard real estate contract to make a more attractive offer. This can be a good idea if you have deep pockets, or if you know what to look for in a home. For first time buyers, or even seasoned buyers it can be a costly mistake. Provisions in contracts are put there for your protection and they should only be taken out if you are sure of being able to take on the risk. Let’s look at the most common contract provisions and what they do for you.

Financing – Most buyers are going to need a loan in order to purchase a home. This provision makes sure that the buyer can get out of the contract if they can’t get a loan. This can be important if there is an abrupt change of employment or another factor that makes it impossible to secure financing. This is not necessary if you have an all cash offer.
Inspection – this one could cost a buyer a lot of money if waived. This gives the buyer the right to bring in an inspector to look for defects in the home before purchase. There is typically another round of negotiations after inspection to resolve any large issues like HVAC or roof. In this competitive market, many people are waiving this, but big ticket repairs could cost you a lot of money after closing.
Sale of Existing Home – this contingency allows you to get out of a contract if the sale of your existing home falls through. This is a risk to the seller of the home as the deal can fall through, but many people are waiving this provision right now to make a stronger offer. It can be risky to omit, but if you have a well qualified buyer for your home, it can be one of the least risky of the provisions to leave out.
Closing Costs – In a buyers market, the seller may be willing to pay for closing costs for the buyer, but in today’s market, some buyers may be willing to pay their own closing costs or pay for some of the closing costs for the seller as an added incentive.
Closing Date – the closing date is typically around 30-60 days after the contract date so that a buyer has time to line up financing. With an all cash offer, this can be as little as a week out. Quick timing can be attractive to buyers and sellers, though some sellers may want to lease the property back after closing so they have time to find their next home.

These are the most common conditions of a home sale. Omitting any of them from a contract can hurt the buyer or the seller. In this market where you want to stand out, it is important to know the level of risk you are willing to take on to win a multiple offer situation. Give us a call at 803-831-8588 and we can put together a winning plan. You can view current listings and create custom searches on our website here.

June Market Report – Greater Lake Wylie Area

July 16, 2021 by lkw_df Leave a Comment

The big story this month in the real estate market is that new listings are up again this month. We still don’t have enough homes on the market to keep up with current demand however as the supply of homes is just under 3,500 homes, a 0.7 month supply. These homes are selling for over list price with the average home selling for 102% of list price. On a $400,000 home, about the average sale price in June, that is $8,000 over list price.

When you look at the numbers for Lake Wylie, you see that new listings are up 48.5% from last June. There are now 121 homes for sale representing a 0.8 month supply. Homes are selling quickly with the average home spending 15 days on the market before it is under contract.

This is 75% faster than last year at this time. This means that buyers and sellers have to be ready for a quick moving transaction.

The average time it takes to go from listing a home to the closing table was down on average to just 82 days. This is down 30% from last June. New construction homes typically skew the number higher as they can be listed while they are still in process of being built, but all cash offers can lower this number as they can close in as little time as a week.

Homes are selling for more money, with the average sale price coming in at just under $520,000. This is up 23.1% from last June.

Buyers are paying on average 102.3% of list price for homes right now. For a $520,000 home, that’s a $11,960 premium.

There seems to be no end to the seller’s market that has persisted for years. This means that sellers have the upper hand in negotiations and will until the supply is higher than the demand. With many people still relocating to the area, it seems that the trend could continue for some time to come.

All of these numbers come from the monthly report from the Canopy Realtor Association. Their monthly report uses numbers from the Canopy Multiple Listing Service. For the Charlotte Region, they use data from 12 counties in North Carolina and 4 counties in South Carolina.

For more information on the Lake Wylie area, especially buying and selling homes, neighborhood information, and much more, call us at 803-831-8588. You can view current listings and create custom searches on our website here.

What is an “All Cash Offer”?

July 5, 2021 by lkw_df Leave a Comment

With the market going the way it has been, you keep hearing about homes selling the day they list with an all cash offer for above list price. The trend has been all cash offers winning bidding wars on listings with multiple offer situations. But, what is an all cash offer anyway? Does it mean lugging a suitcase full of bills to closing? Nope. It just means that the buyer can purchase the home without having to arrange a mortgage.

All cash offers are on the rise, with an increase from 15% to 25% of all home purchases over the last year. They are attractive to sellers because they don’t have to worry about a deal falling apart because the buyer can’t secure their funding. They can also get you to the closing table more quickly because you don’t have to wait for a loan package to be put together.

For buyers, they are attractive because they make a stronger offer. This can be especially helpful for buyers who really love a property and want to make sure that they win a bidding war.

Does that mean that all buyers who have all cash offers have to provide all of the cash at closing? Nope, a lot of those buyers will end up mortgaging the property, or mortgaging other assets to pay for the property. There have been a lot of people who have had windfall events like an inheritance, cryptocurrency sale, or other event leaving them with cash as a powerful bargaining chip.

What an all cash offer typically means is that a home contract can have fewer contingencies. Without a mortgage company involved there is no mortgage contingency. An appraisal may not be needed either though it is required for lender financing.

All is not lost if you can’t make an all cash offer. You can still make an attractive offer with tools such as personalized letters, removing contingencies, or offering above list price. Another strong tool right now is leasing the property back to the seller so they have a few months to find their next home.

For more information on buying or selling a home in the Lake Wylie area, call us at 803-831-8588. You can view current listings and create custom searches on our website here.

May Market Report: Greater Lake Wylie Area

June 15, 2021 by lkw_df Leave a Comment

The May numbers have been published by the Canopy Realtor Association and they look very similar to previous months. There is still a severe lack of supply of homes, with high demand driving prices higher and we are still seeing homes sell for more than list price. There are new homes coming on the market, but so far supply has not caught up with demand.

In the Charlotte area as a whole, there are now just 3,104 homes for sale, representing a 0.6 month supply of homes. They are selling for an average of almost $395,000, up 27.4% from last year at this time. Sellers are receiving on average 101.6% of the list price for their homes. Homes are selling quickly with the average home going under contract in 16 days, down 55.6% from last year.

When you look at the numbers for the greater Lake Wylie area, you see that we are following the same trend. There are 130 homes on the market right now representing a 0.8 month supply of homes. The average sale price rose 36.2% from last May to just over $515,000. Sellers are typically getting 101.8% of the list price for their homes. Homes are receiving a contract after an average of 18 days on the market.

When you look ahead based on this report, you can see that there are more new listings than last year at this time, 34.6% more, but we still have not recovered from a slow spring. We may see more people listing homes over the summer so they can get settled in new schools before the next school year starts. If we get more supply, it could finally be more than the demand and we could see prices start to stabilize. Until then, expect multiple offer situations and offers above list price to continue.

Give us a call at 803-831-8588 to learn more about buying or selling a home in the Lake Wylie area. You can view current listings and create custom searches on our website here.

How to Handle a Multiple Offer Situation

June 1, 2021 by lkw_df Leave a Comment

If you are thinking about buying a house in the next few months, chances are you will find yourself in a multiple offer situation. The Charlotte region is one of the hottest markets in the country right now with buyers outnumbering sellers. This puts extra stress on homebuyers as they have to figure out ways to stand out from the crowd. Here are a few tips for handling multiple offers.

As a seller, multiple offers are really easy. Just sit back and let offers pour in and pick the best of the lot. As a buyer, they can be nerve wracking exercises with plenty of disappointment. This is probably keeping many more risk averse people out of the housing market. For those people with high risk tolerance, they can still be challenging because it is hard to know how much to offer and what terms will entice a seller to pick your offer out of the crowd.

One of the best things you can do is to make an aggressive offer. This may seem like obvious, but you don’t know what the other offers are and if you really want the home, you need to be willing to pay for it. This can take the form of an offer over list price, or more earnest money to take the home off the market, or both if you deem it necessary.

Another way to stand out is to take most of all contingencies out of the contract. This can mean not asking the seller to make any repairs, being willing to pay the difference if the home does not appraise for the contract price, and taking off loan conditions to name a few. It also means not making your offer contingent on selling your home first.

Another way to stand out is to offer to let the seller stay in the home for nominal or no rent for a few months so they can find their next home. This can be really attractive for a seller who will turn right around and become a buyer.

Personalized letters that are thoughtfully crafted can sway a seller to accept your offer. If you have a good story why their home should become your home, you can sway a seller away from a potentially more attractive offer. There is no guarantee that this will work, but it is definitely worth a try.

If you are a buyer about to enter the market in the Lake Wylie area, call us at 803-831-8588 to talk over your options and what you can do to prepare to make an offer on a home. You can view current listings and create custom searches on our website here.

April Market Report: Greater Lake Wylie Area

May 13, 2021 by lkw_df Leave a Comment

It appears that the trends that have persisted over the past year are still holding strong in the Charlotte Region. Prices are rising and supply is still not enough to meet demand even though new listings are up. This could be an indication that the market is in the first stages of correction as many more people are starting to be comfortable listing their homes.

Canopy Realtor Association reports each month on numbers based on listings in the Canopy Multiple Listing Service. According to the report, the supply of homes is at just 3,018 or just a 0.6 month supply of homes. Last April the supply was at 9,099 or a 2.1 month supply. A balanced market between buyers and sellers is typically considered to be a 4-6 month supply. This is despite 5,711 new listings, up 32.5% from last year.

When you look just at the Greater Lake Wylie area, you see just 109 listings, representing a 0.7 month supply of homes. These homes are selling for 19.4% more than the same time last year. This is an increase of, on average almost $75,000 in just one year. While this is great news for sellers, buyers are feeling the pinch. Buyers are having to bring more money to get the same home and are facing steep competition. Many homes are seeing multiple offer situations and the average home is now selling for 102.4% of the list price.

Hopefully once inventory comes in line with demand we will begin to see prices stabilize. Until then, buyers will need to be resilient as they may have to put in offers on multiple homes before they win the bidding war. Sellers are not immune to difficulty, as they are often having trouble once they become buyers. We are seeing a lot of sellers ask to lease back their home for a few months while they find their next home. We can help you with all of these issues.

For more information on buying or selling a home in the Lake Wylie area call us at 803-831-8588. You can view current listings and create custom searches on our website here.