Labor day is upon us, summer is at an end.      We hope that you had a wonderful summer.  Traditionally there has been a slow down in the market after a busy spring market.  We often go into the fall with renewed market activity.   So how does this year compare? Are we seeing a bubble?  Or a buyers market?              So what is happening.  Compared to 2020 and 2021, Dane county home sales are down 20%, they have been down all year.  However Prices in July are up 12.3% from the same time last year.                 This is not a sign of market weakness, rather a lack of good inventory.  The number of new listings is down 25% in July, and 9% for the year.  In Dane county there is 1 months of inventory, and in Madison more like 15 days.  Homes are selling on average in 8 days on market.        As you likely know, interest rates have increased significantly.  Rates are in the 5-6% range, which is twice as high as earlier in the year, and this is dampening affordability.  Remember, this is still historically below average.               How is this affecting sales?    Certainly, there are some buyers who have pulled back and competition is not quite so intense however here are some stats for Madison in the last 2 months i.e. since July 1st.   Inventory is still 15 days (6 months is a normal market).  The average days on market is 13 days (the average for the year was 8 days) and the average sale price was 8,000 above listing price.  All of these stats, indicate we are still super competitive.  Now we do know that some homes are sticking and subject to a price reduction. Generally, these are home owners who are looking to take advantage of the market and are too aggressive, and just a bit late for the spring market.     In conclusion....     The market is still excellent for selling.  We are coming into a new fall market.  At the same time, it is a great time to buy.   This season is traditionally lower buyer competition, and Yes rates are higher, but supply of buyers is so strong that there will be continued pressure on sales.  Prices will still continue to rise, albeit at lower rates.   

Preparing your home for sale requires time and effort.  The amount of preparation depends on many things, including: Time in your home How it has been maintained Repairs carried out Updates How rough the home had been used, and of course the size of the home  However, home preparation for sale can be a pretty large project.Preparation sets your home up to enable RealEstateGuy to present it in the best light to get the absolute best money when you sell.  Unless you want to wholesale your home, (and get 70-80% of its worth, you need to prepare it.Our number one recommendation, is to start early.  Allow 6 months.  For example, if you are wanting to sell in April, we suggest starting in September and take the winter to work on it.  Some of Real Estate Guy’s best results have come when our clients work with us and spend up to 6 months preparing. How can this be achieved?   Well as part of our follow up, we identify when a homeowner needs to be selling, and we counsel them on the value of the home stage.  We will often do an in house, or a video consult and help make a plan.  As mentioned, we often suggest taking a whole winter, which in Wisconsin is long and free of all the summer distractions, to concentrate on the chores.  Taking time takes the mad panic out of the process,  enables planning including scheduling contractors to be hired and projects to be done on a logical order, it enables sorting out personal possessions so they can be disposed of, trashed or packed for the move.  This leads to much less stress than a week long intense dash to the listing time. This is not a blog about staging details, however, here are the basics: Repairs: fix what is broken Replace: what is worn or malfunctioning Update: replace older items with more modern an example would be light fittings or faucets Organizing: sorting and paring.  Pare down your personal belongings Renewing: Things like carpet and paint Cleaning: The whole house needs the best clean it ever has Buyers want to see clean Staging: the final touches, arranging furniture, ornaments, rugs, lighting As you can see Staging is just the final step of the home preparation process.  From the start, Real Estate Guy will meet with you and help you make a plan, help you decide what projects should be completed and which ones to nix.  Which ones will give you the best bang for the buck. Then once the bulk of the work is done, we will come back and help with the final preparation.   Please remember the cost of skipping preparaton can be 20-30% of the sale price.  Is that enough to get you to make a plan?   Would it be worth spending $2-3,000 to get this return?   Not selling this year? It is never too soon to start the process.  Just get and keep everything fixed and serviceable.  Don’t accumulate and keep your home updated.