This is the time of year where I get the question of “Should I wait until Spring?”. Here is the simple answer: no. Here are the reasons why:

Right now many people think that nothing sells and they should wait until next Spring. What that means to you: you have less competition when selling your home.

Right now interest rates will start to drop, historically. What that means to you: motivated buyers are out there getting more motivated.

Right now unmotivated buyers start to drop off because they are not motivated enough to look, and especially move, in the winter. What that means to you: Your house will be shown to more motivated buyers. You don’t get a lot of pointless showings. You show to people who are ready to move.

What all of this means to you: You can put your house on the market at a time when you have less competition in the market and the percentage of your buyers who are motivated is much much higher. To me, having less competition for highly motivated buyers sounds like a goldmine. How does it sound to you?

If you are looking to buy a home, sell a home, or invest in real estate: get me on your team! You can reach me at 515.639.0047 or RyanLynch@KW.com.

~Ryan Lynch

The Des Moines Area Association of Realtors (DMAAR) has already surpassed 10,000 houses sold in 2017! To put that in perspective, we are about 600 houses ahead of this time last year, and it took until December to break that magical 10,000 houses sold, and last year was a record breaking year!!!

What does this mean to you? It means that if you are a seller, there is a HUGE demand for getting your house on the market. Houses are still selling and they are selling quickly. It means that if you are a buyer, that you have had more houses to choose from in 2017 than in any other year. Interest rates are still low, and there are so many houses to look at.

If you or someone you know is looking to buy a home, sell a home, or invest in real estate, I am the realtor for you! You can reach me at 515.639.0047 or RyanLynch@KW.com.

~Ryan Lynch

A study at Harvard University by the Joint Center of Housing Studies released their housing study of 2017 so far and this jumped out at me:

“For the fourth year in a row, the inventory of homes for sale across the US not only failed to recover, but dropped yet again. At the end of 2016 there were historically low 1.65 million homes for sale nationwide, which at the current sales rate was just 3.6 months of supply – almost half of the 6.0 months level that is considered a balanced market.”

I have been shouting from the mountaintops for years now that we are in the strongest Seller’s Market in a long time. I wrote about it last year and the year before. 2016 was stronger than 2015, which was stronger than 2014. 2017 is putting them all to shame. I have buyers that are just waiting for the right house to come along and they are ready to pull the trigger. If you are thinking about selling, you are going to be hard pressed to find a better time than now. I said that in 2015 and 2016, and it is actually more true today in 2017.

If you or someone you know is interested in selling (or buying), I want to help! You can reach me at 515.639.0047 or RyanLynch@KW.com. Let me help.

~Ryan Lynch

I have had many conversations lately where people were asking me about whether they should sell their home or turn it into a rental. My advice might not be expected, since my job is to sell houses. I pretty much always tell people that owning rentals is a great way to financial independence. (Here is why I say that.) There are a few thoughts I would talk about before anyone goes down that path.

The first and most important is that you should get a property manager or property management company to take care of it for you. It is not an investment if it is your job. Depending on the tenant, it can be a full time job. Also, if anything goes awry and you do not follow the letter of the law, the tenant gets all of the power, since it it the home that they live in. Paying someone who knows exactly what to do in that situation is well worth it. (I am very happy to refer the one that I use if anyone wants a great referral.)

Second, you need to understand that this is someone’s home. Trying to squeeze every last dollar out of a property can make someone a terrible landlord. No one is looking for terrible landlords. Be prepared to put money into the investment when needed.

Third, hands off is the best approach in my mind. If you have a good property manager and you are fixing the things that a tenant wants you to fix, don’t micromanage. For some people that can be a very hard challenge, since it is THEIR property. Unless you are just adding on tons of value, let people live in their home.

If you can handle those three things, than I say turning your home into a rental property is a great thing to do for all the reasons that I wrote about previously. If you think any of the three above things disqualifies you, and you know that selling is the way to go, then I am the realtor for you. You can reach me anytime at 515-639-0047 or RyanLynch@KW.com.

~Ryan Lynch

One thing was sure at the beginning of this year: interest rates were going to go up. The Fed said so. Banks said so. Pundits said so. They were all wrong. As of June 1st, interest rates were below 4% on average according to Freddie Mac. As of today (June 14th, 2017), BankRate.com has the average at 4.04% for a 30 year fixed mortgage.

So what does this mean to you? It means that if you are looking to buy than you are still getting historically low interest rates. A simple example of what this means. Say that you wanted to buy a home for $200,000 with a 30 year fixed mortgage. Here are what different interest rates would do to your payment (principal and interest only):

8.12% – $1,484

6.29% – $1,237

4.01% – $956

A change in interest rates can save you (or lose you) $100s of dollars a month or thousands of dollars a year. The Fed, banks, and pundits are all still saying interest rates should go up. Going out and utilizing these low rates is absolutely in your financial interest. If you or someone you know are interested in buying a home, selling a home, or investing in real estate; I am here to help.

~Ryan Lynch

Are you thinking about selling your home? Here are two very simple numbers to look at that are saying it is a great time to sell:

Number of Active Homes on the Market (As of 5/16/2017): 3006

Number of Homes that are Currently Under Contract (As of 5/16/2017): 3056

This is insanity!!! Right now there are more homes under contract then there are homes for sale. To put that in perspective, the average number of days that a house is under contract is 30-45 days. 30 is the norm. That means that at least half of those homes have sold in the last 30 days (1564 have sold in the last 30 days to be exact). Buyers are out and they are hungry.

Here is why you should use a Realtor: right now people are selling their homes for sale by owner because they think they will save the realtor fees. I have repeatedly talked to for sale by owners in the $150,000 to $250,000 range in the last month whose house sold for more than $20,000 less than their neighbor who used a realtor. Here is some simple math:

Realtor fees: 6%-7%
Realtor fees on a $250,000 property: $15,000 to $17,500

If you had sold using a realtor that means that you would have made at least $2,500 more than you would selling by yourself. ($20,000 minus $17,500) That is not to mention the negotiation abilities in the sale and in the inspection negotiation, let alone the protection of having someone there to guide you through the many possible landmines that can show up in a real estate deal.

Get your house on the market. Use me! You can reach me at 515.639.0047 or RyanLynch@KW.com.

~Ryan Lynch