I am seeing a few things now that I think can really inform people who are not in real estate every day. Here are a few things to keep in mind if you are thinking about buying or selling in 2017.

For Sellers:

1. I am going into listing after listing looking at huge Seller’s Markets. It is a Seller’s Market when there is less than 4 months of inventory in the market. (Here is an explanation of market inventory.) As of March 20th, the market inventory for the entire Des Moines Area Assocation of Realtors is at an average of 2.1 months. I was at a listing presentation this morning where they had 0.87 months of inventory.

2. There are a lot of buyers out there! For a simple explanation of that, as of today (March 22nd, 2017) there are 2,908 active houses for sale in the Multiple Listing Service. There are currently 2,348 houses pending. This means that there is almost 81% as many houses under contract to sell as there are houses for sale. To put that in perspective, the average house is only pending for 30-45 days.

What this means for sellers is that right now there is a lot of pent up demand for houses, and very little competition when you actually put your house on the market. Getting a professional who can make sure that you are hitting the market priced well and ready to sell means that you will.

For Buyers:

1. Looking at point number two up there, things are moving incredibly quick. The average days on market for those 2,348 houses that are pending is 55. The average for 2016 was 102. (My average was 40.)

2. Also looking at point number two up there, that means that between active and pending houses for sale there is currently 5,256. Historically normal market levels are around 5,000. We have normal market sales. We broke records for houses sold in 2016. There is a lot of inventory out there, it is just moving very quickly.

3. Interest rates are going up. I am not saying this to scare you. Even if interest rates were to raise a full 1% this year (very doubtful) we are still at historically low interest rates. That said, every 0.25% interest rate bump means that you can now afford less house.

What this means for buyers is that you have to be ready and able to move quickly. If you are not directly plugged into the market with reliable data (I am constantly getting buyers asking me about houses on Zillow that sold two years ago.) you are going to miss a lot of good houses. My last listing sold before it even hit Zillow, Trulia, and the like. And it took a whole two days to sell. You need help to make sure you are seeing what is available, and that you are in the best position to make the best offer when you find what you are looking for.

Right now the market is incredibly on. I want to help you take full advantage of that fact. You can reach me at RyanLynch@KW.com or 515.639.0047. Let me know how I can help!

~Ryan Lynch

Here is a great, little-known tip. If you have mortgage insurance, you are paying to protect the bank. Mortgage insurance on a loan does absolutely nothing for you as the consumer, except make it easier for you to get a mortgage since it gives the bank less risk. If you have been in your house for at least three years, and you have mortgage insurance, call your bank and ask them to reassess how much you are paying for mortgage insurance. Depending on where you are with the value of your home and the amount of your mortgage, you should easily be able to get your mortgage insurance payment reduced.

It is important to note that you have to have had your mortgage for at least three years. The day that you hit three years though, you should make this call.

Why is this so great now? Because on average housing values have gone up 5% each year for the last three years. So without even taking into account compounding, there is a good chance that your mortgage is 15% less than your current home value. That means that if you put 5% down, you might even be able to get rid of mortgage insurance all together. 5% down plus 15% growth gets you the 80% loan to value that means you no longer need mortgage insurance. Even if you are only at 90% loan to value and previously you were at 97%, your payment will go down.

Don’t pay for something that gives you nothing. Reduce your mortgage with a phone call. (There could be a cost incurred from this if they want to do a new appraisal. The cost savings will kick in after a few months of your reduced payment.)

If you, or someone you know is looking to buy a home, sell a home, or invest in real estate, I would love to help. You can reach me at 515.639.0047 or RyanLynch@KW.com. Have a great week!

~Ryan Lynch

I have been running into the same thing over and over again for the past few weeks. People have been asking me to come see their house, give them an idea on pricing, and give them ideas on things to do to help the house sell faster and for more money. I love doing this, as I think the more value that I can add means the more value my clients see in me. I am noticing a very obvious trend:

Right now it is a huge Seller’s Market in most areas.

Meaning that inventory levels are at the lowest level they have been since this time last year. I am finding house after house with, on average, only a month’s worth of inventory around it. To put that in perspective, up to four months of inventory is still a Seller’s Market. If you want a full explanation of what that means, you can read my past post on What a Buyer’s Market and Seller’s Market Means.

It is anecdotal evidence, but I currently have a larger list of buyers that I am working with than I have ever had in my career. So I know that the buyers are out there waiting for the house that will get them to make an offer.

What does this mean to you? It means that right now is historically the time of the year that you have the least competition in the market. Right now, there are a lot of buyers out there getting frustrated that they do not have more houses to look at, and antsy to find one they can buy. Do you want to be that one?

You need someone who can put you in the best position for getting your house sold for the most amount of money in the least amount of time. I am that person. You can reach me at 515.639.0047 or RyanLynch@KW.com. I want to help you!

~Ryan Lynch

In 2016 my average days on market for the entire year was 40 days. For the Des Moines Area Associate of Realtors, the average days on market was 102. That means that if you listed with me you sold 60.8% faster than if you listed with the average Realtor.

That is actually better than I did in 2015. In 2015 I sold in 35 days on average, and the Des Moines Area Association of Realtors sold in 85 days. That means that I was selling 59% faster.

Since I became a Realtor I have put close to $40,000 into training, coaching, and education to make sure that I am doing the best for my clients. I help my sellers sell faster and for more money. I help my buyers make sure they get what they want and are not paying more than they need to.

Would you like a Realtor who invests in making sure they are giving you the best information possible? I am that Realtor. You can reach me at 515.639.0047 or RyanLynch@KW.com. I am always happy to help.

~Ryan Lynch

2016 was one heck of a year for real estate in the Des Moines Area Association of Realtors. The latest number that I have seen is that 13,951 deals closed. There is a good chance that there are at least 50 more working their way through and we broke 14,000 deals. That is a huge number for our area. 2017 started with less than 3,000 houses for sale (2,977 to be exact as of January 1st). In our local market, only two months were not a Seller’s Market. Meaning there was less inventory than there was demand for that inventory. And both of those months were a balanced market.

The National Association of Realtors just put out a report on sales percentage change in several price ranges. In $100,000 to $250,000, there was 20.7% more sales in 2016 than in 2015. $250,000 to $500,000 went up 35.4% over 2015. $500,000 to $750,000 sold 31.9% more units than 2015. $750,000 to $1,000,000 sold 43.2$ more than 2015. And over $1,000,000 sold 33.9% more than 2015. Then only range that went down was $0-$100,000 which went down 2.4%. And that is primarily because that price range is shrinking with average house prices going up.

So what does this mean if you are thinking about buying or selling a home? If you are thinking about selling, it means that prices are continuing to rise at a record pace, and right now you have less competition than at any point in the year historically. So get your house on the market with a professional who can take full advantage of that fact. If you are a buyer, interest rates are still historically low, and you still have a lot of competition, so hire a professional who can get you in fast and help you get the home that you want.

I am that professional. You can reach me at 515.639.0047 or RyanLynch@KW.com. Reach out today!

~Ryan Lynch

I have had a lot of people ask me about the accuracy of their Zestimate. (The Zestimate is what Zillow is guessing your home would sell for.) So I thought the best place to go to answer that question would be directly from the horse’s mouth. Zillow has a four star rating for how good its Zestimates are. Here is how those ratings break down:

4 Stars – Best Zestimate
3 Stars – Good Zestimate
2 Stars – Fair Zestimate
1 Star – Tax Assessor’s Value, or unable to compute Zestimate accuracy

So how does Zillow hold up around here? If you go here, you can download a chart that gives you a rating for every county that Zillow covers. Here is your cheat sheet for central Iowa:

Polk County – 1 star
Jasper County – 1 star
Dallas County – 3 star
Warren County – 2 star
Madison County – 1 star
Story County – 1 star
Marshall County – 1 star

For the majority of central Iowa, Zillow is either just copying the assessor’s value, or is unable to compute Zestimate accuracy. The very best that it can do is one Good and one Fair.

Now, when you put that into real numbers, you can see what that means to you. The economist John Wake started to run numbers based on Zillow’s information. (All of this data is of July of 2016.) Zillow reported the average sale of a home in the United States is $229,737. It also self reported that its median error is 6.1% different from the price. So that means that the median ERROR IS $14,000. Now, you also need to take into consideration that that means that half of the time the error is MORE THAN $14,000.

So what that means to you is that if you are using Zillow to guess your homes value, you are most likely over-pricing or under-pricing your home. If you over-price your home, then you get few to no showings, and no offers. If you under-price your home and have no idea what you are doing, then you are most likely leaving quite a bit of money on the table. All of this is to say that there are always shortcuts. If you want a professional realtor to take into consideration more than just going and looking at the assessor’s site, I have good news for you. When I look at a home’s value I am looking at past sales, current competition, absorption rates, condition, neighborhood, the micro market, the macro market, interest rates, and even more. Plus, that is just the first step in what hiring a professional can do for you. Think about negotiations, repairs, experience, understanding of the bumps that can come along, and understanding of your individual market. Think about this being one of the largest financial transactions in most people’s lives. I know that I would want a professional helping me. Let me be the professional realtor for you. You can contact me or call me directly at 515-639-0047.

~Ryan Lynch