Happy New Year, everyone. This is David Brooke and welcome to the Brooke Team Market Update for January 2023. 

Well, there must have been a lot of New Year's resolutions being made by home buyers because all of a sudden our phones have started to ring a lot more than they had in the previous months because interest rates had ticked up quite a bit. We had seen buyers pull back and they were concerned about what the market was going to do; but now as the spring market has started to approach, buyers are coming back in and sellers are asking, “Should I list my house?” But they've each got a couple of questions that we're going to help you answer right now.

Buyer: How do I get my monthly payment to be lower so that I can afford housing right now?

David: That's a question that a lot of buyers are having now. One of the things we usually ask is, are you open to having your rate more significantly reduced and your payments reduced temporarily? Or would you like to have them reduced just a little bit but for the long term?

Buyer: I think I would prefer long term, but can you go and explain a couple of the different options? 

David: So, any time that the market shifts banks are going to respond in order to help people continue to buy houses. And so what they're doing now is, they can actually take all the interest that you'd have for maybe three years and they'd actually have you pay it up right up front, which might not sound good, right?

Buyer: If we’re taking affordability, yeah

David: So what we're doing is, a lot of times, we're having the seller pay all that money up front, which lowers your monthly payment for three years so that it makes it a lot more affordable for you to buy a house 

Buyer: And the seller pays for that? 

David: Yeah, many times we're actually negotiating that in, so the seller pays. Now the other opportunity is to have a more permanent solution, in which case you still would pay some fees up front but it would lower your interest rate for the long term. We're not recommending that because we anticipate rates to cool a little bit more, but it's making things more affordable. 

Buyer: That's awesome. Thanks for providing that as a solution. Even though that's a solution to help me, I don't really see a lot of houses right now.



Seller: Yeah, there aren’t many homes out there, and I'm not sure if I should lose my own.

David: Yeah, I totally understand. Lots of sellers are saying that, but just like the lenders are providing solutions to buyers for all their loan concerns. The Brokers are actually the ones who are collaborating right now together in order to help buyers find houses off the market. So that's why sellers can still list their property, but not put it to the MLS right now. 

Seller: So you're telling me you can find me a home even if it's not listed on Zillow?

David: Yes, we have an amazing opportunity for you to actually withhold your home from the MLS and we can still match you with a buyer off of the market. 

Seller: That is awesome. 

David: Yeah and so right now, if you're looking to make a move before or in the new year, I would definitely reach out to us before March

Working with the team brokerage that collaborates with others is more important than ever before. It's typically traditional in order to stay with someone who is just going to look on the MLS and try to find you a house, but you cannot do that in this market. If you've made it a resolution in order to find a new home, or sell your home in 2023, REACH OUT NOW before the March spring market starts, so that we can get a leg up on the competition and actually get you the information you need, so that we're ahead of the game.



Here are my predictions for the upcoming Market in 2023:

1. Inventory is going to remain low.

Right now, we are about under two months worth of inventory in many of the markets throughout the country. In fact, most buyers are asking that question that Cara did. “What should I do if I can't find a house off the market?” And just like Shaniqua said, “I can't find a house either as a seller, why should I list my home?”

Many agents are actually collaborating together, using our proper forms that we need in order to do TRANSACTIONS OFF THE MARKET, in order to help our buyers and sellers. What that means is that inventory is likely to remain low, over the coming months. Once March hits, we’re likely to see people put their houses on the market as they need to move. 

2. Buyers will enter the market and interest rates are likely to cool

Many buyers are expected to enter into the market place as interest rates are likely to cool as well, and like I had just told Cara posing as the buyer here, we're providing solutions to them in order to lower their interest rates, which lowers their monthly payments, making it more attractive to buy homes.



3. Increase in prices

Into the coming year, we actually see prices increasing slightly but nowhere to the degree that they increased over the last two years. So if you're looking to sell your house, now is a great time to get a leg up on everything. Reach out to us before March in order to get started today.
 

We'd encourage you to reach out whether you're looking to buy, sell or invest in real estate, and remember, we're never too busy to serve your referrals. Find on us Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.