Spring is here in Colorado, which means we’ve seen warm weather and sunshine, as well as snow! While the weather may not be a clear indication of the change in seasons, the real estate market tells a different story. This is historically the hottest time of the year with more sellers entering the market, resulting in higher levels of inventory, which also brings more options and opportunities for homebuyers.
Make no mistake, even though it's the most active season for real estate, you still need to put your best foot forward - on either side of the transaction. Yes, there are more listings going active, but that doesn’t mean buyers won’t have to compete with other offers in some scenarios. And as a seller, it still pays to go all-in on merchandising your home to receive enough attention to sell quickly and at the price you want. Fortunately, here at 8z, we have the best modern solutions to help you win in this market.
If you’re looking to buy right now, you’ve probably accepted the reality of our current interest rates. Making a higher mortgage payment also means you likely don’t want to tackle any major projects or renovations with your new home - you ideally want something that’s move-in-ready. However, if a beautifully updated, turnkey home is what most buyers are looking for right now, that also means you’ll likely have to be more competitive to beat out other offers. And what’s the most competitive offer you can bring to the table? Cash. Coming in with an all-cash offer creates the most compelling scenario for a seller, and will often beat out higher contingent offers.
Our 8z Cash Buyer solution gives you the advantage and the confidence to shop for your dream home, regardless of the competition, with an all-cash offer. And once you’ve made that purchase, you don’t necessarily have to be stuck with that interest rate. If you close with 8z Mortgage, you can utilize our Refinance Rewards Program anytime within the next three years. Essentially if rates drop, they’ll cover all lender and appraisal costs. In the Denver Metro, we saw new single-family listings jump from 2,586 in February to 3,809 in March. With so many more listings on the market, it’s a great time to find your dream home!
As we alluded to earlier, selling your home right now isn’t as easy as it was back in 2021 - you can’t just list any home with little to no strategy and expect to close over asking, or even close at all these days! The frenzy we saw between the second half of 2020 and the first half of 2022 was truly unprecedented, a complete outlier when you look at historical data.
Yes, demand clearly still outweighs supply - the month’s supply of inventory (how long it would take for all current listings to sell at the current market pace) in the Denver Metro is just 1.2, with 6 months being a balanced market. However, just because it’s technically a seller’s market doesn’t necessarily mean you can sell quickly over asking.
Now more than ever, it’s crucial to fully merchandise your home: professional photography and video, 3D Tours, staging, etc. As we mentioned earlier, buyers want a turnkey home. They don’t want to deal with repairs, remodeling, or painting. If you want to attract as many buyers as possible and close over asking, you need to do all of that before going to market. And wouldn’t it be nice to have an all-in-one service that can handle those touch-ups and repairs for you? What if you didn’t even have to pay a dime for that service until your home is sold? With 8z Listing Concierge, that’s the reality - we take care of all needed updates and repairs before going to market, and you pay it back at closing. And again, with your home in tip-top shape, there’s a higher chance you close over asking, giving you a greater return on investment.
