Email Elizabeth2013 real estate predictions
Selling Sacramento Short Sales in December
I will see you four Bank of America short sales and raise you one Wells Fargo short sale. Selling Sacramento short sales is like playing poker and winning all of the time. So far this December I have closed 5 short sales in Sacramento, six if you count an intense client whom I referred to a Sacramento short sale agent better suited to handle the more colorful characters. Before the month ends, another 6 of my short sales will close, bringing my total for the month to seven Bank of America short sales, three Wells Fargo short sales and an SLS short sale. That’s not a bad December for December being a relatively slow month, even without a partridge in a pear tree.
Most people who do a short sale can choose when to list their home as a short sale. Since there are historically fewer numbers of people who are willing to cross the desert barefoot and without water to do a short sale, it’s better to put a home like that on the market when there are larger numbers of buyers available. There will be larger numbers of buyers in January than in December.
Yes, I realize there is no inventory in Sacramento. As such, I am careful to keep my fingers out of its hot oil when I gingerly drop a home for sale into it and step away from the stove. After it’s a golden color, I scoop it up and let it cool on paper towels. If it’s not cooked all the way through, I cook it longer on one side, even if it’s a little browner, because people only see the golden side when they eat it. I’m pretty darned organized.
I’ve got my real estate predictions for 2013 completed. I expect to list a lot of homes in Sacramento this coming January and February. Probably not enough homes to meet the pent-up demand. Interest rates are extremely attractive, under 4%, and the government announced it intends to keep rates low until unemployment dips to 6.5%, which will be a very long time. But when it comes to a short sale, people can decide the best time to list a home, and that time is not around the holidays. Selling during the holidays is not really necessary for most people. Which means this Sacramento short sale agent can take a vacation. Yowsa!
Don’t think I am going hogwild off the beaten path, though, I am bringing my laptop.
Weintraub’s 2013 Real Estate Predictions
This Sacramento real estate agent and About.com homebuying expert finished her 2013 real estate predictions and forecast yesterday. It seemed like December 1 is a good target date to try to hit every year. It provides a healthy amount of time for people to argue with me before I head off to — this year it will be French Polynesia — my holiday vacation. And every year I get the same question: Elizabeth, how do you know this stuff?
I know this stuff because I look at the way things are going and I predict they will continue to move in that direction. Most of the time I am 100% on target with my forecast. Sometimes, things take a right or left turn or spin around and blow up, but not very often.
For example, one of my predictions is home prices will rise in 2013. They’re going up now in most major metropolitan cities. It doesn’t mean we have a recovery. It means inventory has shrunk and demand has grown. We’ve run out of homes to sell and buyers are clogging up the streets. I throw a home on the market and it’s like tossing bread crumbs to starving pigeons. They swoop down in droves and peck each other, jockeying for position to get a nibble.
Last year in my real estate predictions I talked about short sale fever. Oh, darn, there goes that song again in my head, White Line Fever. Nevertheless, I was spot on about that. Short sales took over and surpassed the position occupied by the foreclosure market. Many of the REO agents turned to try to do short sales. I don’t really agree that an REO agent is a good candidate to do a short sale because the qualities that make an REO agent successful are pretty much the opposite of the qualities inherent in an excellent short sale agent. 2013 will pretty much continue to be the year of the short sale.
The year 2013 will be an interesting ride. It marks my 39th year in the business. If you’re looking to buy or sell in Sacramento, Yolo, Placer or El Dorado County, rattle my cage. The Elizabeth Weintraub Team is well positioned to handle all of your real estate needs.
