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How to Get Multiple Offers On Your Home For Sale In Northern Virginia

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Unlike the weather, the real estate market is HOT!

WINTER SCENEWe currently have a 1.8 month supply of houses on the market in Northern Virginia.

Interest rates remain low so buyers are buying homes and jobs in the DC Metro area continue to be created so people are looking for housing in our market.  We expect this trend to continue for the next several months.  Sellers are in the proverbial driver seat if they do the right things to their property before putting it on the market.  If you are considering selling your house, read more below…

As I mentioned, right now our biggest issue is finding houses to sell.  We currently have 3,850 properties for sale in all of Northern Virginia – down from a high of the last year when we had 6,005 in the second week of October.  That is a 36% decrease in houses for sale in just 3 months.  We expect more properties to come on the market as the ice and snow melt, as well as, into the spring market but we have a lot of people looking so I don’t see that it will have a huge impact in regards to our inventory level moving forward.

The low inventory situation has resulted in multiple contracts on properties that are in great shape, priced well and show well.  As properties come on the market that are in the same situation, they too will have multiple contracts.  Therefore, buyers need to be prepared.  We have developed a strategy to help buyers position their contracts to win when in competitive situations – check out my blog to learn more – www.scottymacsblog.com simply search for multiple contracts or click the link here.  Sellers need to seek our advice when selling so we can help stage the house, give direction on what improvements/repairs need to be made and to price the home properly so they can take advantage of the market.

REMAX FOR SALE SIGN SOLD

As always, I am available to answer any questions you may have in regards to your personal situation so feel free to contact me anytime.

Scott MacDonald

RE/MAX Gateway, LLC

(703) 652-5777

scottmacdonald@remax.net

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Is it over yet? Why Northern Virginia Home Sales Went On A Wild Roller Coaster Ride

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October took the real estate market roller coaster ride.

Rates went up, rates came down.  Sales went down, sales went up.  Inventory rose, inventory came back down.

Real Estate Market Roller Coaster Ride 31OCT2013

In some areas, the number of multiple contracts went down, then they went back up.  Inventory of short sales and foreclosures were down, then they rose but luckily by not too much.  The government shut down and the government opened back up – luckily, it was not too long and did not have a tremendous impact on the housing market.

Our emotions went up, our emotions came back down, as there was a lot of concern about delays in closings associated with the shut down because of the reduced number of employees at FHA and the IRS, but we avoided a potential disaster there.  Additionally, we were worried about the government defaulting on their debt which would have sent interest rates skyrocketing, and again, fortunately, this did not happen.

Even though there were so many ups and downs, the market in October this year was still better compared to a year ago.  There were more home sales, higher home prices and more homes for sale for buyers to choose from, although the uncertainty skewed people’s perception.  So now you know why October was such a roller coaster for real estate.

What lies ahead on the horizon as we enter the winter market?  My belief is we will be in our typical winter market.  Homes will come off the market for the holidays.  Motivated, savvy buyers will be out buying homes.  Interest rates will remain in the low 4% range.  Home prices will continue to stabilize throughout the Northern Virginia area.  Houses that are priced right, in the right condition and right location will see multiple offers and our market won’t be as up and down as it was in October.  Basically, we will continue to have a robust housing market locally.

To learn more about your situation, please feel free to call me today. Scott MacDonald (703) 652-5777.

Scott MacDonald

RE/MAX Gateway, LLC

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Top 3 Reasons Why You Should Buy or Sell a Home in Northern Virginia NOW!

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Wow, it has been a crazy 8 weeks for interest rates.  As we have discussed in the past, if someone was considering buying or refinancing, they should do it then.  Well, I hope you took that advice because interest rates have gone up three quarters of a point in just the past 2 months.  This week, we saw the largest increase in rates since April of 1987 – that’s 26 years!  The reason behind the increase is Ben Bernanke of the Federal Reserve made remarks that they may be tapering its bond purchases later this year if the economy continues to improve.  Although the stock market was up the second quarter with all three indexes recording gains of between 2% and 5%, it too took a hit on these comments.  We will have to keep a close eye on the economy and see where rates will go moving forward with this type of news on the forefront.  If you recall, at the beginning of the year, we predicted rates to rise to around 4.5% which I believe will still be the case, I thought it would be more gradual and not so drastic.

Largest interest rate increase since April, 1987

Largest interest rate increase since April, 1987

All of this being said, interest rates from a historical perspective, are still very low.  Today 30 year fixed rates are 4.25% with .75 points on conforming loans above $417,000.   While the increase in interest rates will certainly dampen some housing activity, the effect will be softened by the high level of buyer affordability, and home sales should still remain strong.

What else do we see in our real estate market?  We continue to see housing prices increase throughout the area as demand remains strong despite the increase in rates which is good news for our sellers.  We are also seeing more houses coming onto the market in Northern Virginia which is good news for our buyers. The inventory of resale homes is above 5,000 for the first time since the third week of October 2012.  Since the beginning of the year, inventory levels are up nearly 37% but we are still in a seller’s market with just a 1.4 month’s supply of homes.  The market still remains competitive with many properties receiving multiple contracts.   We had one house with 3 contracts on it this week in Virginia Run.  Distressed property inventory remains very low as well – just 6.9% of the market which is good news for everyone.   We should continue to see these trends continue throughout the summer.

Lastly, we are excited to announce we have signed a lease on our 5th office.  It is in the Clarendon section of Arlington and is located at 3000 10th Street – look for our grand opening announcement soon.  Please let us know how we can serve you.

Scott MacDonald

RE/MAX Gateway, LLC

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High Performance In Real Estate: From Basketball to Business

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It’s that time of year again – college basketball’s Final Four time.  As you think about the potential winners of this year’s tournament and past winners, the teams that will win or have won in the past are all high performing.  This got me thinking, what represents a high performing team and how can this relate to your business?

HIGH PERFORMANCE from Basketball to Business scottymacsblog.com

Here is what I came up with for you to consider:

  • High energy – Get rest, exercise and be ready to tackle any challenge that comes your way.  Do what it takes to pump yourself up.  Read motivational quotes, talk with mentors, rally yourself or do whatever gets you excited to have energy.  High energy is contagious.
  • Integrity – Always do the right thing for your clients and your team – especially when no one is looking.
  • Goal oriented – Each and every team needs to be working towards a common goal or goals to keep them focused.  Review with the team on a regular basis and make adjustments quickly and as necessary.
  • Happy – Always be positive and optimistic and remember to celebrate achieving your goals.  Also, high performing teams have fun and laugh with and at each other to keep the atmosphere light and entertaining.
  • Performance driven – The best way to be performance driven is track and measure results of the goals you have set.  Depending upon the goal, this can be daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly.  I wouldn’t go out any further than quarterly so you can make adjustments to keep you on track.
  • Educated – Always be seeking to learn new things about your business, your clients, and other industries that you can take and adapt to your business.  Review what was done right or wrong to build upon your accomplishments or learn from mistakes.
  • Resilient – They don’t get down easily. Failures are learning experiences and setbacks are temporary.  They understand that no is not personal and gets you closer to the next yes.
  • Forward thinking – Incorporating strategic planning, careful analysis of trends, and reviewing industry data will enable you to think about the future and make the right decisions for success. Don’t get caught up in what you have now, but project on what you will have one month from now, two, etc. Agents always get hung up on what they have going on now that they often times forget to prospect for the next month, and going forward.
  • Opportunistic – They continuously look for opportunities in their fields.  In the recent past it was foreclosures, short sales, and working with investors  but remembering to work and grow their database is important.  Recognition of trends is key.
  • Realistic – Remember to never get too high or too low.  Set attainable goals, stay the course or make the appropriate adjustments to be on top of your game and focused where you should be spending your time.
  • Money driven – They are driven by money but not money focused and they don’t sell from their wallets.  They realize by helping others, they too will succeed.
  • Accountable – The teams are accountable to each other but most importantly, to themselves.  The leader keeps himself accountable through meeting with the team or trusted advisors regularly.  The leader needs to set the example.
  • Nonconforming – They set the pace and don’t follow, they are leaders and approach things differently from others.  Additionally, they look at things from all angles to determine the best course of action.
  • Communication – They provide positive feedback and praise in public, constructive criticism in private, face to face meetings, emails, texts and phone calls on consistent basis is critical to achieving great things.  Most importantly, you need to be consistent in your communication, i.e. messaging, relevance and timing.
  • Enthusiasm – Be ready to tackle any challenge and celebrate your success.  As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm”.  Be enthusiastic.

HIGH PERFORMANCE success tips from Basketball to BusinessNow that you understand a little more about becoming a high performance individual or team, incorporate these philosophies and make things

happen.  Get it?  Got it?  Good!

Now, go sell something!

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Magic Tricks Inspire Leadership and Growth In Northern Virginia and DC Metro Real Estate

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In our Vistage meeting this week we had a very dynamic speaker by the name of Andrew Bennett. Andrew has a very interesting background and actually uses magic in his presentations to aid in engaging his audience.  He spoke about analyzing your business through the skills magicians use: appear, disappear, and restore.  Using slight-of-hand, Andrew evokes concepts: what in your company do you need to take on as a new initiative to grow your business,  what do you need to eliminate from your business that is unproductive or preventing growth, and what needs to be fixed – worth keeping, but hasn’t been tweaked to operate at full capacity.

The Magic of Andrew Bennett Blending knowledge of leadership, organizational culture, and mental management with magic.

Key areas we discussed were culture and employee engagement.  It all starts at the top and filters down to employees.  Look at how you use your words, how you inspire, develop relationships, develop your self-awareness, display your authenticity and utilize discipline; apply the appear/disappear/restore analysis to your business. Let’s look at each of these areas individually.

  • WORDS – Researchers say you have 60,000 thoughts a day – 57,000 were thoughts you had the day before.  What do you ask yourself so as to drive yourself to be successful?  Be intentional in your thoughts and in the questions you ask yourself.  To change your thoughts, change your words.  Think in terms of, “what I speak is what I create”.  Think about what you say to others and more importantly, to yourself.
  • INSPIRATION – the definition is “to breathe life into”.  Inspiration comes from the inside, so touch what matters to others – help them believe the impossible is possible.  As a leader, deliver the power of WOW.  Passion and hope come together and become inspiration.  Build on emotions and sense of accomplishment.  Think about what inspires you about your business?  What are you willing to suffer to get what you want? Why is that important to you and why does that matter to others.
  • RELATIONSHIPS – Your individual supervisors and the amount of communication they have with your people are critical to employee engagement – know personal things about your people to build trust – recognize other’s mannerisms to determine how can you help them.
  • SELF AWARENESS –  What we believe is what we see.  What do you see?  Who fosters these beliefs to encourage you to greatness?  How do my beliefs result in how I show up each day?  Pay attention to this area – how you show up is critical to the culture you are developing.
  • AUTHENTICITY – Transparency and vulnerability are your keys to authenticity.  Ground yourself in reality but be hopeful.  What are your challenges or struggles and how will you overcome them?  Be true to yourself and you will be authentic to others.
  • DISCIPLINE – do what I say, it is that easy!

Things to consider as you contemplate these topics:

  • What excites you about our organization?  Communicate this with others.
  • Who are your trusted allies?  Seek them out and ask for feedback.
  • Where are your blindspots?  We all have them and your trusted allies can help guide you through discovering them.
  • Deliver your message consistently but paint the picture in different ways to appeal to your team members.

As you move in this direction be passionate about what you do, help make a difference in other’s lives and build something greater than yourself through inspiring others to achieve more.  Get it?  Got it?  Good.

Now, go build something!