Thursday, July 28, 2011

Prices are down in the DFW Area

There.
I said. it.
House A -- Murphy
2008 = $199,900
2011 = $185,000
The thing is, people have been forecasting doom and gloom on the real estate market for years now.  Maybe they were well meaning sorts that wanted to slow down an out of control industry that was lending money to people who couldn't afford it.  Builders were starting up new editions anywhere there was open land.  REALTORS.... well, we brokers and agents just ride the waves, right?  Wrong.  We were all too happy to push folks in and out of transaction in order to cash checks.

But now, 3-4 years later, I can show you several instances of prices sliding.  Now, don't panic.  We're still only talking about a decline of less than 10% in the NE Dallas area.  But that's a real decline and there isn't any denying it.  Some areas will resist the drop in price better than others.  If you have updated your home regularly in the 5-7 years you've owned it, you won't see a drop but an increase in sales price.  But it won't be as much as you'd like.
House B -- Richardson
2008 = $140,000 (needed updating)
2011 = $160,000 (updated, should have been > $170K)
In a buyer's market you have more inventory than you do buyers.  More supply than demand.  Hey, I got a C+ in Economics at Blinn Jr. College (Go Buccaneers) and I leaned this stuff in between keggers, so you can too.  If you and three other guys are trying to sell the same thing to the same one guy, you have to make yours stand out.  So you fancy it up and you sell it for less than the other two guys.  Note I used the conjunction "and" not "or?"  I could have said "or" ...I didn't.

In a buyer's market you have to consider that every buyer wants more for the same.  You and the other two sellers have to offer more house, more amenities, more updating than each other.  One of the amenities is the price.  So, put in your granite, your slate, your butlers with shoe-shine kits, and lower the price.

Fear not, we are likely near the bottom.  But don't forget this advice because ours will not be an overnight change.  Dallas resisted the recession and we'll likewise ease into the recovery while Californians are screaming hallelujah---or whatever you scream when you're happy in California.

Want to know what the value of your home has done in the last three years?  Want to know what it is worth, today?  Email J.T. and he'll produce for you a detailed and logical market analysis for free and without any arm twisting run-you-out-of-your-house-pressure.

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