Spring Real Estate Market Madness

It’s been a hell of a winter.

Sub-zero wind chill. Single digit temps. Lots of snow. Snow days.

It hasn’t really been conducive for people to do a lot of buying and selling  of homes. Sure. There has been some. There is always something going on. It just hasn’t been like most of 2013 when homes have been flying off the shelf and prices have been climbing.

In Spring, A Young Man’s Heart Turns To…

No, not love. Houses!

Mortgage rates have been really low. They continue to stay low. There is no reason to think that they will pop up significantly in the very near future. Some say they’re headed to 5% but 5% is still low and I, personally, have my doubts that mortgage rates are headed up.  But, hey, I’ve been known to be wrong.

Here are some reasons people will be out buying houses:

1. Daylight Savings Time - Can you believe it? DST, as it is known, is going to happen on March 9th. That’s not too far away and it means that the evening time when people like to look at houses (after work) they will have more light. Yay!

2. Warmer weather - I am so ready for warmer weather. So is everyone I talk to. Warmer weather means people will be out of their house or apartment and into yours to look around.  Get ready.

3. Blooming flowers, green grass - All the leaves will start to come out. The crocuses and other flowers will start to bloom. Everything will start to look nice and pretty.  Make sure you clean the yard up. Get rid of all the dead branches and stuff that’s been buried under the snow.  Put some mulch down. People like nice curb appeal.

4. Smaller Housing Inventory - Unless I miss my guess (and I’ve been known to be wrong), housing inventory will not be appreciably higher than last year. People who are thinking of selling their houses are still thinking about it. Lots of people like to “time the real estate market”. You know, wait for prices to reach a certain point. That means people who do put their homes on the market will get lots of visibility and lots of home buyers looking.

There’s a lot more reasons people will be out looking for houses. Pent up demand. Cabin fever. You get the idea.

So, if you’ve been thinking that maybe now is the time to move to Florida or North Carolina or some place warm so you don’t have to put up with this winter ever again, now might be the time to prepare your house for sale.

via:http://mdsuburbanhomes.com/2014/02/26/spring-real-estate-market-madness/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheMdSuburbsOfDC+%28The+MD+Suburbs+of+DC%29#.UxGJAOOSwpk