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Anthony Lamacchia: Hello, my realtor friends. It is that time of year, the best time of year to list a home is upon us. Inventory is at its lowest. The amount of homes for sale is at its lowest. Anthony Lamacchia here with Crush it in Real Estate. I want to talk to you guys as I drive up north with my kids to ski. Notice I’m not taking my eyes off the road.
I wanted to talk to you guys about how it’s very important at this time of year to be communicating with your sellers and getting them to understand why they are better off listing now than listing in March or April when there’s more competition.
No, this is the time of year that sellers will say things like, “Well, I want to wait until my flowers are in the garden. I want to wait until I have my spring clean up of my house so my lawn is nice and green.” Those are all valid points, but you have to show them inventory, show them– Use that on Market Snapshot in MLS, if you’re in Massachusetts. If you’re not, use whatever report you can to show them how many homes are on the market right now. In most areas of Massachusetts, the amount of homes for sale right now at any given town is less than a year ago, but even around the country, the inventory is considerably lower.
Then, use the report to show them how many homes are on now compared to, say, March of last year or April of last year, so that they can see the difference, okay? There is many towns that have one, or two, or three single-family homes for sale right now. That’s why we’ve run into these multiple offer situations, which when you’re the seller, it’s fantastic. That’s why I said, “You’ve got to make sure to communicate that to your seller.” You can’t just do it verbally. I always talk to you guys about that. Sellers and consumers as a whole are skeptical. You have to show them data, you have to show them proof as to why now is a better time to sell.
Now we come up with all these fancy reports. You know what I’ll do when I arrive at the ski mountain in an hour and a half, I’ll put the link to the blogs/ report we’ve put out last year showing why and how listing in the winter gets you more money. We’re actually updating it right now. We’re putting it out publicly, I think the week after next or not this week, next week, because that will help you guys see the data and see how the inventory flows. I know many of you know this, but it’s a good tool to use to show the sellers, and the same thing holds true with the on Market Snapshot, that also works really well.
The other thing that you can do is use a total sold market statistics report and the MLS, and show people how, “Look, if you look at the winter, these sold prices of the homes are lower.” Stay with me, but if you look at April, May, June, July, they’re considerably higher. Why is that? Because they go under contract in February, March. Remember the longest timeline for closings every single year is in the spring, because a lot of people push it off until their kids are out of school. If you show them the report and say, “Look, the average sale price is higher May, June, July.” You just have to help them understand that those contracts were accepted February, March, April.
That’s why my personal favorite month is February. I mentioned that in a video that I did, talking to sellers on our own company page last week, which I suppose I could post the YouTube link for you guys, but you should do the same thing. Do a video and explain it, but use those reports. If you go to each and bring yourselves and explain this, maybe you can convince half of them, because truth be told, it is better for the seller. They will get more money, but when you have multiple offers, you also rule the roost. You all know that. The negotiation is easier, the buyers are much less apt to cause trouble at home inspection because they know there’s a sense of competition.
Get on top of your sellers and explain it to them. Don’t be so quick to just say, “Okay, great. We’ll list it in the spring.” Well, you list it in the spring when everybody– Look at at MLS, look at the amount of homes that get listed the first two weeks of March. Do you want to be in with all of those or do you want to get a head start? That’s what I should have said at the beginning of this video, because that head start is what makes people considerably more money. Homes legitimately sell for 5% to 10% more over the next 90 days than they do May, June, July when there’s way more competition.
Every single year, buyers get a head start. I said this in December, when that clock ticks to midnight and the new year comes in, buyers go into gear very quick. That’s why you’re seeing this many buyers and this many sellers, and as you get to spring it evens up. We have another report on that too. I guess I could post that in the comments as well. I hope that makes sense my friends. I’m heading north to ski for the day with my kids. Guys, you want to say hi?
Kid: Hi.
Anthony: Maybe say hi. Boys, you want to say hi?
All: Hi.
Anthony: All right, have a good day everyone. Take care.