It's that time of year- the busy season in residential real estate! The National Association of Realtors (NAR) states that 60% of all buyers move during March through June. This year in particular, buyers have a lot of incentives to take advantage of. High inventory levels, low interest rates, lower prices, builder incentives. It's plain to see that buyers are really in the driver's seat right now. There are currently about 9,300 resale properties on the market in the Tucson area, not to mention new construction choices. So if you are thinking of purchasing a home, there is no time like the present! The best thing you can do to help yourself have a positive and smooth real estate transaction is to hire a professional buyer's representative. There are many reasons to call a professional Realtor when considering your Tucson home purchase. One of the main reasons you need a buyer's agent is that you will have an expert set of eyes working on your behalf. Negotiation, coordination of properties that meet your search criteria, property showings, and assistance with selection of affilated companies (i.e. insurance, title, and mortgage). It is never more important to have representation than in a buyer's market. There are just too many choices of properties for sale for a buyer to be able to narrow down the search on their own. Additionally, your agent will help you negotiate the best price and terms for your new home, as well as recommend cost saving alternatives for repairs, insurance providers, and mortgage lenders. NAR recently published results of a satisfaction survey. The results were that the majority of home buyers and sellers who worked with a professional Realtor in their home purchase or sale were overall very satisified with the results.
Some of my home sellers were recently asking me, just who are the buyers right now? We currently have a lot of visitors in town for the gem & mineral show. Starting next week more visitors will arrive for the golf tournament at Dove Mountain. Many people who visit Tucson decide that they really like it here, and they want to purchase a home. Second home buyers account for about 20% of the Tucson marketplace, and our economy is quite dependent on our winter visitors. There are currently plenty of condos, townhomes, and homes in gated communities available for sale in all areas of Tucson. So if you are considering purchasing a second home in Tucson- sellers are ready to roll out the red carpet for you. There is a significant increase in traffic and pending contracts in the last week or so. Yet, some buyers think that trying to 'wait out the market' until asking prices go down is an effective strategy to follow, and they'll just low ball enough sellers until they find one that accepts their offer. The caveat with this strategy is that it is possible that you may lose your window of opportunity because someone else will not be waiting, and will buy that home that you have been eyeing. The lesson here is that if you are a serious buyer, once you find a home that you want (assuming that it is priced fairly for the market), then there is no time like the present to submit your offer, and a reasonable offer at that. Overall, the second home market remains strong due to retiring baby boomers flocking to Arizona. Because of our temperate climate, reasonable real estate prices, and accesibility to cultural events and amenities, Tucson is positioned to become one of the most desirable locations for migration of retiring baby bomers (purchasing both second homes and retirement homes) in the nation. Because of this factor, our market has the potential to remain strong despite declining economic indicators, and declining markets elsewhere. What this means is that your investment in Tucson real estate is probably a lot more safe than other previously speculative markets.
Back to the types of buyers in the market right now, there are also many buyers considering a 'move up' purchase because of lower interest rates. Rather than refinancing a smaller home and staying put, many homeowners are realizing that they can trade up to a larger home that has additional amenities they desire, and actually end up with a comparable mortgage payment because the interest rates have come down so much from a few months ago. The current 30 year fixed rate mortgage is running about 5.875%. If you're thinking of moving to a bigger home, and you want to take advantage of lower interest rates- it can be done, even in this buyer's market. Once again, it's very important that you have a professional Realtor on your team, as there are a lot of additional factors to consider when both selling your existing home and purchasing a new one. The majority of these homeowners have what is called 'frozen equity,' meaning that they need the equity from their existing home to purchase their new home. This can be tricky if you don't know what you're doing. All the more reason you need a professional Realtor to assist you with your sale and purchase. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have about second home purchases, move up purchases, and/or the Tucson real estate market in general. Please don't hesitate to contact me. Thank you & enjoy all of the great events going on about town!
Written by Sarah Ley,
BSBA, ABR, CRS, CNHSA
Tucson Realtor with
Long Realty Company
(520) 404-0544
sley@longrealty.com
http://www.sarahley.longrealty.com/
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