Why List (& Sell) During the Holidays?

The holidays bring out the buyers that are determined. By taking advantage of the holiday characteristics, you are in a unique position to sell your home faster and for more money!

Every state’s real estate market is thriving year-round, including during the holiday season. Serious buyers never stop looking, and that is only one of many reasons favoring listing your house with me today. Once more properties hit the market in January, yours will likely receive less attention. List now to get out in front of competition.

Anyone who takes time out of their busy holiday schedule to shop for a new home is serious about buying now. During the holidays you’re far less likely to get casual browsers and new-home dreamers taking a tour. Reduced inventory means more buyers checking out your home, either online or in person. Without a reasonable number of similar, competitive listings for buyers to visit, the seller is in a unique position of power because of the scarcity of comparable homes. With inventory levels being lower than normal during this season, it’s a great time to list your home and showcase its strengths so that you’ll be most likely to receive a higher Sold Price off of your Listing Price.

Your home might attract fewer showings during the holidays, but the buyers who are looking are typically ready to make a decision. These buyers will be motivated to see your home, regardless of what the calendar says. For these reasons, it is important to  make it easy for the potential buyers to get a good look at your home by staying flexible with your open house times and be open to negotiating contract terms that work with their schedules.

Emotion plays a huge role in which home a buyer purchases, and you can capitalize on that by making your home cozy and cheery during showings. Tasteful decorations and a minimum of clutter will allow buyers to see their own families celebrating the holidays in your home next year. Make sure your decorations enhance rather than detract from your home’s best features; simple, refined decorations will give your home a warm, inviting feel you might not otherwise get during winter months.

 

Buyers generally have more time off to look at homes during this time of year than they do any other time of year. These families are spending more time together during the holiday months and have the opportunity to contemplate a new house.

If you sell now, you have a much better opportunity to be a non-contingent buyer when Spring arrives. This means you have an opportunity to sell your home high now with less competition on the market, and then purchase your next home low when there’s more competition on the market. You still have the option of Restricted Showings because as your realtor, I understand that things can be more hectic during the holidays. You can set it to whatever times you want each day. However, just know that the more flexible you are with your Showing times, the more opportunities you have to sell your home quicker.

Selling your home during the holidays can actually be a well-managed, stress-free experience. If you take the time to set ground rules and boundaries, you’ll find that you and your realtor will benefit from the understanding during the process. In the meantime, you might be the only home on the block that is visibly available for sale to the next out-of-towner or anxious first-time buyer that is out on the holiday house hunting prowl.

The holidays are stressful enough, remember to take a moment to remind yourself that if you don’t sell now, there’s always next year, which, luckily, is only a few days away!

If you, or someone you know, is interested in listing or buying a property call Maggie of Mega Luxe HomesMy direct line is 305.204.2462 and my email is maggie@megaluxehomes.com.

UNDER CONTRACT!

UNDER CONTRACT! Thankful for this great opportunity to sell the dream in beautiful Palmetto Bay! Congratulations to my clients and the new homeowners who are sure to enjoy this beautiful home in the years to come.

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If you, or someone you know, is interested in a property in the fabulous city of Miami, call Maggie of Mega Luxe Homes. My direct line is 305.204.2462 and my email is maggie@megaluxehomes.com.

Trump Calls a Bottom in Homeownership Rate

Trump just won the real estate agent/mortgage broker/home builder vote with the following tweet on July 30th:

Trump_Housing

As is customary with Trump there are no specifics in how he plans to reverse this powerful downtrend in the U.S. homeownership rate. However, if there’s one promise he can deliver on it’s probably this one given that the man has spent his life amassing a fortune in real estate.

Much has been made about this chart of the homeownership rate and while the trend for the last 12 years couldn’t be more clear, the scale of the y-axis on this graph should be noted; this chart makes a 62.9% homeownership appear as if it is close to zero.

information courtesy of Energyandgold.com

If you, or someone you know is interested in a luxury home please contact Maggie Sadowska of Mega Luxe Homes. You can reach me directly at 305.204.2462 and you can email me at maggie@megaluxehomes.com

Progressive Brokers’ Open

Wednesday 07/13/16 Noon to 2pm

COCONUT GROVE:

3679 Frantz Road
7/5/1 Offered at: $1,898,000
A10065801 with Jill Penman of One Sotheby’s International Realty
& Maggie Sadowska of Keller Williams Coral Gables-Coconut Grove
2300 Tigertail Ct.
4/4/ Offered at: $1,399,000
A10108762 with Isabelle De Gaulejac Andrews & Alba Garcia Biondi of EWM Realty International

CORAL GABLES:
2915 Alhambra Cr.  4/4/ Offered at: $2,795,000 A10085885
with Silvia Miniet of The Rex Hamilton Corp.
6920 Talavera St.  4/4/ Offered at: $3,290,000
A10111782 with Sara Jane Lehman of RE/MAX Advance Realty

*Refreshments will be served*

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If you, or someone you know, are interested in a luxury home please contact Maggie Sadowska  of Mega Luxe Homes. You can reach me directly at 305.204.2462 and you can email me at maggie@megaluxehomes.com.

5 Key Takeaways from the FED Announcement

The Federal Reserve did not hike interest rates today – here are 5 key takeaways from the announcement:

  • The following excerpt from the first paragraph of the Fed statement is a clear signal that China is very much on the Fed’s radar and likely played a significant factor in the decision not to raise: “The Committee continues to see the risks to the outlook for economic activity and the labor market as nearly balanced but is monitoring developments abroad.” 
  • It’s all about inflation, or rather, lack of inflation:

PCE_Inflation_Fed

The lower end of the Fed estimates has PCE inflation consistently undershooting the Fed’s 2.0% mandate through 2018 and the median estimate doesn’t reach 2.0% until 2018.

  • Gold spiked higher and the US dollar tumbled lower following the announcement in a clear sign that the market views the Fed’s decision as more dovish than anticipated:

US Dollar Index Futures (15-minute)

DX

Gold (15-minute)

Gold

  •  The vote was 9-1 in favor of leaving rates unchanged (only hawkish Fed member Jeffrey M. Lacker voted against). This is an indication that the Fed might be at least a couple of meetings away from a hike.
  • One Fed member (we don’t know which one) is projecting a negative Fed Funds Rate through the end of 2016!

Fed_Funds_Projection

Notice the range of projections on the right side range from -0.1 to 0.9 this year and then -0.1 to 2.9 next year

This is a dovish announcement with lots of dovish nuggets contained within. Regardless of how much Fed Chair Yellen tries to walk it back and pretend to be hawkish during the press conference, markets have been given a green light that the Fed is on hold for a while longer (probably at least 6 months). Low inflation continues to be a challenge and with China currently presenting a big question mark there seems to be a much greater threat of low inflation/deflation than there is of staying at zero for too long and creating undesirably high inflation.

This is a clear positive for risk assets such as equities, precious metals, and real estate. On the other hand the US dollar should come under pressure and we should see some retracement of the recent rally in bond yields.

Co-authored with Energy & Gold