Leigh Anne Monk: Mark, people ask us, no matter where we are, "Is now the right time to sell?" How do you answer that?
Mark Wozniak: Well there’s absolutely no universal answer for that question but it is a great question and the reality is that it is going to be somewhat dependent on the individual homeowner’s circumstances because as we all know, life happens. People change jobs, their financial situation changes, kids come along, divorces happens. There are so many reasons why regardless of what is going on with housing prices or the market that now is the time to sell.
Leigh Anne Monk: But then I get the question and again I think you do too. They say, "I am just going to wait it out. I am just going to wait it out for a year."
Mark Wozniak: Well, first off let’s remember if someone wants to wait it out it is usually because prices have gone down.
Leigh Anne Monk: Correct.
Mark Wozniak: And if prices go down when you’re selling your home they have also gone down most likely on any subsequent home that you may want to purchase and unfortunately most people prefer to avoid the pain of selling their home at a lower price without realizing that the home they are going to move in to - they are going to get a much better price now. So you’ve really got to look at the full equation. Understand why that even in a depressed market it could be the right time to sell.
Leigh Anne Monk: Exactly and the nice point there is if you are actually moving up and you are buying a more expensive home the depth of how much money that home is dropped by could be greater so you in effect could have a nice net positive number which is on the end -- amazing! You don’t think about that.
Mark Wozniak: You could be making out better in a down market if that’s your situation.
Leigh Anne Monk: Exactly.
Mark Wozniak: Now of course another reason that people think, "Maybe I should wait," is that prices have come down so much since their highs in 2004/2005. "I am just going to wait until they come back to those prices and then sell." And I’ll tell you part of our job is to really keep abreast of the economy to listen to what the economists are saying and the experts in the real estate field and here’s the reality of the situation. If it even happens in our lifetime it’s going to be a long time before inflation adjusted dollars that prices are ever going to come back to the values that we saw earlier. So if you are waiting for that to occur it’s really not going to be a one or two year phenomenon. There is nothing right now that would indicate it’s going to be. That’s going to be a very long term climb back to those levels.
Leigh Anne Monk: Right and that does make a lot of sense but I also hear because I think enough people know enough about real estate to hear the term "spring market" and that’s the time to sell because the flowers are out and everything looks really nice. How do you respond to that? Is it always best to wait and sell in the spring market?
Mark Wozniak: No - it can be - so let me explain. First of in the spring its true there are more buyers out but other sellers know that a well and there’s a lot more inventory for them to look at so you are going to be competing against a lot more homes to try to get that pool of buyers. The opposite of that is that let’s say in the winter months and usually there are fewer buyers. Those are actually the most motivated buyers because they’re the ones out there in the winter weather and over the holidays out looking for homes.
And there is going to be a lot less inventory out there and that can actually be a perfect time to have a motivated buyer come by and buy your home. So the bottom line is whenever you are selling your home whatever your circumstances are there’s always going to be buyer’s out there but don’t just think that in the spring market where there is more buyers that that doesn’t necessarily make it the best time to sell.
Leigh Anne Monk: You know another point there is that especially here in Virginia so many people are relocating here because of the government jobs and because of the corporate jobs that are available and they relocate all the times of the year. Your companies don’t all say, "Let’s move to Washington DC in the spring." We have people move at all times so with that influx of relocation buyer’s coming in it really does help to have your house on the market sometimes in the off season because you’ll have those relocation clients. They will have to buy quickly too - another advantage.
Mark Wozniak: That’s right now there’s also another thing to consider in waiting until the spring is which is perhaps because of your home, where is it situated what it looks onto that is does make sense to wait until there is foliage back on the trees to perhaps block any views that might turn away some buyers or perhaps you have some very special trees or some type of gardening that really makes your home pop in the spring time. That would be one reason to wait.
Again the opposite of that is true I’ve seen many homes where in the winter and the fall when the leaves are off the trees that they have beautiful views of things you don’t see in the spring time. So it’s really another thing to take into consideration. Again there is no universal answer here and it’s really why it makes sense to consult with a real estate expert in term is now the right time.
Leigh Anne Monk: Sure, sure. And I think the bottom line really, Mark, is that people look at the economy and that’s is a very important external factor to see if it is the right time to sell but the bottom line it comes down to "Is this the personal best time for you to sell?" Are the needs of you, your family, your job situation, and your personal circumstances dictating that and we’re here to help you when that time is right to sell?
Mark Wozniak: Yeah and speaking of the economy I often hear people say, "I’m not sure about the economy right now maybe the economy will change more favorably in the future." Here is what we do know right now. We know what the circumstances are right now. And that is always a much better place to be than trying to predict something that might happen one month, three months, six months into the future.
Leigh Anne Monk: We don’t have a crystal ball. We’d love to be able to but we don’t.
Mark Wozniak: But no one does and even if we did what we can’t say is there going to be some national even some international event that can changes markets overnight. We’ve certainly seen that happen. We’ve seen what’s happen in the financial and banking sectors that have changed things unpredictably. So we really can’t predict we’ve always had safety in the current situation of knowing what things are like right now. So it’s always best to try and work within the framework that we know. Take the most advantage of it and try to sell your home in the best manner possible.
Leigh Anne Monk: Right so the bottom line is once you’ve made that decision when you’ve said you’ve factored all the factors that we just talked about today whether it be your own personal circumstances, the economy or a combination thereof, it is best to take all those factors once you determine that it is the best time for you personally to sell. Your next step is really to determine the best realtor to use and to hire and we cover that in our next segment.