Blog Archives - Page 11 of 21 - Des Moines House Selling Specialists

Client or Friend?

Busy season has hit! Right now everyone seems to be thinking about buying and selling in real estate. I really love having people that I work with that expect me to help and to tell them the truth.

I have had people asking me for Market Analyses of their homes, since many people just got a larger property tax bill. I just love having people call me wanting to ask a lot of questions. Questions about the market. Questions about their house. Questions about what is going on in the world. I am truly proud to have clients that are friends and sometimes simply want to talk.

I will admit that it is wonderful meeting people face to face for the first time who already trust me because I have been having conversations with them and working for them for free for years.

Thank you all for trusting me and leaning on me. I truly love helping and adding value. Let me know what I can do for you.

The Market:

Interest rates keep going down, and that is definitely driving up demand. The market has been very interesting. As of April 10th, 2019 we are currently at 2,239 houses Pending under contract. There are only 3,356 houses active on the market. That means that 40% of the market is under contract. This is actually low in comparison to the last few years.

What does this mean for buyers? You finally have a little bit more control. There is more inventory than there has been in years past and you have more to choose from, and in some instances, more time to make your choices. That on top of low interest rates means that it is a great time to buy.

What does that mean for sellers? It depends. the market is still incredibly tight in resale properties below $300,000. If that is what you are selling then you are still in a strong Seller’s Market. If you are resale above $300,000 or in new construction than there is higher than normal inventory. Frankly though, that doesn’t seem to be slowing the market down that much.

I love doing what I do. I love looking at the market, and I love building relationships with the people that I get to help. Let me know how I can help you. Call me today. You can reach me at 515.639.0047 or RyanLynch@KW.com. I am good at what I do, and I want to help you.

~Ryan Lynch

Which is More Important?

I recently had a conversation with a flipper/rehabber. They wanted to make a low ball offer on a listing of mine. They were working to sweeten the deal for me by asking me to represent them in the transaction as well. That way, I would get both sides of the deal.

The part of this that I think speaks volumes about why people work with me is that I had the thought that I am more concerned about having a happy client, than I am about getting paid.

As I am supposed to, I presented the offer. As I expected my seller said no thanks. That was it.

I am not going to pressure my clients into doing something that they don’t want. My goal is not to sell your house. My goal is that you like what I did for you so much that you want me to help you buy and sell houses for the next 30 years.

For the market part of my post, I am going to focus on interest rates:

According to Freddie Mac, interest rates nationwide just hit the lowest rate they have been at in the last 12 months. When you look at the numbers that they are reporting, (4.35% on a 30 year fixed) you will see that we are even lower than that in many banks in Des Moines and Central Iowa. If you are thinking about buying, the cheapest money in a year is a very good reason to get out and start looking.

~Ryan Lynch

I Really Want to Know!

I like to do what I tell people that I am going to do. I tell all of my clients that, if I have their phone number, they should expect me to check in every few months just to see how everything is going and see if there is anything that I can do to add value to their world.

I love how many people believe me and take the time to update me with what is going on with them, and maybe even see what is going on in my world.

I still have people that don’t seem to understand why I am calling them. I believe that the best thing that I can do is show you that you matter to me, not just as a means to buying and selling homes. I love calling people 3 months and 6 months after they have bought a house to check in. Most people believe (correctly) that most realtors are going to forget about you after they help you. I love showing that I really do want to stay connected.

I realize that I am calling during the work day and that you might not have much time. I still love to hear what is going on with you.

Now to the market:

If you are thinking about selling, the numbers say to list now instead of waiting for Spring weather. Here is why I say that:

First, two numbers from January of this year:

There were 11.7% more homes for sale in January 2019 (3,478) vs January 2018 (3,114)

Pending Home Sales for the Month of January was down 18.3% for the month of January 2019 (856) vs January 2018 (1,048)

That means that there is already more competition (larger supply) and less buyers (smaller demand). Historically, the Spring months are the largest competition (supply) of the entire year.

What does that mean to you? It means that if you are waiting to list your house, you are also waiting to have more competition. List now and have fewer houses to compete with instead.

~Ryan Lynch

Has Anyone Seen the Signature?

I thought I would share a word of warning. I got a call from a client that her brother wanted to talk to me and ask me some questions about an issue he was having. He had been working with a realtor for many years. He had recently put one house under contract, decided not to move forward, and then put another house under contract. His realtor had told him that he was out of deal A and good to move forward with deal B.

Turns out he wasn’t and he was now being sued to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars for not completing his contractually obligated duty of buying a house that he no longer wanted to own.

The short and simple lesson here is that absolutely nothing is official until everything is in writing and everyone has signed it. And once you have signed, you better believe that everything is official.

I am not an attorney. I let them deal with any legal issues that come up in the world of real estate. What I do though is make sure that you are covered from every angle that I can think of so that you can make buying and selling decisions with confidence.

There were several ways out for this guy. Make sure you know where you stand 100% when making one of the largest financial transactions of your life.

In market news:

The beginning of 2019 has seen a lot more movement in the market. This is surprising considering we just got a boat load of snow dumped on us in that time. In the first 24 days of 2019 we have already seen 1,141 houses sell or go under contract. Buyers are out and sellers are already listing, or getting ready to list soon.

Mortgage rates have been dancing around, but they have been dancing around the same numbers. According to Bankrate.com, the average 30 year fixed rate right now is 4.62% and that is still very low historically. Plus, this is higher than most banks that I look at specifically in Iowa.

What does all of this mean? The central Iowa market is getting ready to go already. There was a lot of built up demand over the holidays, and now people are moving, literally. If you are thinking about buying or selling, I want to help.

~Ryan Lynch

More than a Call

One of the promises that I make to the people I work with is that I am going to stay in touch. Sometimes when I check in it is a very quick call and as simple as how are you doing. More and more, I am finding that people will engage with me and have a conversation.

I wanted to share two of those conversations.

One just happened. I had a client call me back from me trying to reach him a couple of months ago. He said that he called back because life had been difficult recently and he was making a point of calling back the people that he had missed to let them know that it wasn’t them. We got into a conversation about what was going on. It turns out that something that I have been thinking about for a long time was a part of his issue. We ended up recommending books to each other. We will now have an entirely different conversation whenever we talk in the future because we both have the same obscure interest.

The other call happened yesterday. In our conversation, my friend stopped and told me that he has had conversations with his wife that if anything were ever to happen to him, she needed to call me because he knows that I will help her.

Two amazing conversations to have when all that I am really supposed to be doing is looking for business. I believe that looking for people to connect with will make my life better, make their life better, and in the end will get me business as well.

I know that I have people that wonder why I am calling them STILL? I love helping people. Sometimes that help makes me money. Every time that help makes me happy.

On to the market:

I have had a lot of people asking me about “the market”, because they are hearing about a slow down, or are wondering if they have missed the boat. 2018 was slower than 2017. In fact, in 2018 the Des Moines Area Association of Realtors (DMAAR) sold 328 less houses than in 2017.

Now for some perspective: 2017 was a record breaking year after four record breaking years in a row. Every one of those years was the highest sales year ever for DMAAR. Things have slowed down a bit, and we are still among the top sales years in recorded history in the DMAAR area. Also, interest rates have seen a dip recently, with some locations being below 4% again. There are still a ton of buyers out there and we are dramatically low on inventory for sellers.

If you are thinking about buying or selling we are in a great position for both. In my weekly reports to my clients I am seeing inventory levels at the lowest I have seen them since listing the specific property. Interest rates are still historically low and have been going down recently. Call me and I can help you get what you want.

~Ryan Lynch

What Makes Me a Great Realtor?

Last week I got to do something that makes me both happy and sad that I am in this business: I told a potential client what I found on the market. They had a house that they were hoping to get sold at a specific price, and all of the evidence that I found ended up showing that their house was worth about $30,000 less than they were hoping for.

This act makes me sad because I never want to be the one bearing bad news. If I could do this job and only tell people what they want to hear, my job would be much easier.

The reason that this makes me happy is because I think that I am unusual in telling people what they don’t want to hear, but need to hear nonetheless. If every house out there that is like yours is selling within a $10,000 range that is $30,000 lower than you were hoping for, then the market is setting a pretty specific value on properties like yours. You can find this out upfront and get your house sold.

Or someone can tell you want you want to hear and you can find out months down the line. Months of frustration. Months of holding you back from getting to where you want to be. Months of being upset.

I believe that this is a part of my job, and a part of what makes me a great realtor. I am going to tell you what I actually find. I am going to tell you what is actually going on in the market based off of facts and numbers that are happening to houses that are strong comparables to yours. I am going to tell you what I actually think, instead of what I think you want to hear. I know that that automatically disqualifies me from being some people’s realtor. I also know that it automatically makes me a better realtor for the people who want a realtor that is more interested in getting them where they want to go than just getting another listing.

So that this is not all doom and gloom I will tell you that this situation is still the exception, and not the rule in today’s market. As of the end of November, 2018 we had closed 13,270 deals in the Des Moines Area Association of Realtors (DMAAR). That is a huge number in the Des Moines area market. At the end of November we still are in a Seller’s Market in Resale Properties. (We have 3.4 months of inventory as of November 30th, and up to 4 months is a Seller’s Market.) In November, 2018 689 listings were taken, and 894 listings went under contract. It is still a great time to sell and buy a home.

~Ryan Lynch

Client or Friend?

Which is More Important?

I Really Want to Know!

Has Anyone Seen the Signature?

More than a Call

What Makes Me a Great Realtor?

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