The current pandemic has raised many questions for families who were planning to buy or sell a home this Spring. How does the pandemic affect home sales or looking at new homes? What can you do right now to optimize your home sale? Are there good reasons to think about selling or buying right now? We checked in with Kevin Correia, realtor at Team Correia Real Estate, for information and advice.
We need to put our house on the market for a planned move/job, etc. What can we do to make our sale successful during this time?
We understand that during this stressful time you may be worried about listing your home for sale. The good news is homeowners are still listing and buyers are still buying. As of right now, we are in a very competitive seller’s market. The way we schedule appointments to sell homes has changed a bit. In order to limit in-person contact, we are doing virtual listing appointments for our initial consultations and all documents for listing the property are being signed electronically. We will have a videographer come in and take a virtual tour of your home, which we will send to buyers before they schedule any in-person showings. This eliminates buyers who are just browsing from entering your home. Following the CDC’s recommendation, we are asking anyone entering your home to wear a mask. As an added precaution, we also ask people to wear gloves. If you are questioning whether to list now or wait, you want to list now in order to capitalize on the current prices. They may drop in the near future depending on economic conditions. As of now, prices are remaining steady.
We'll be selling sometime soon. Are there things we can work on now to make it easier to sell later in the year, such as small home improvement projects?
If you plan on selling now or in the near future, there are some repairs you should definitely consider. When the exterior of your home looks bad, people tend to assume you don’t take care of the interior. The best thing you can do is make sure you have no chipping paint on the inside or outside of your home. Many loans have issues with chipping paint on homes due to potential health concerns. These small upkeep items help your home show better and create more buyers for your home. Also, another big thing we see is rotted windowsills. This is a scary thing for many buyers, especially first-time buyers. You should have these repaired. As far as upgrades go, in most cases you will not get back 100% of the cost of the upgrades you make to the home. This can vary depending on the market you are in. You are better off to reduce the sale price and not pay for the upgrades. Let the new owner make their own upgrades to their liking. Another interior fix you can do is paint all your rooms a light color. White, off white, or light gray brighten your home up and make it more appealing to potential buyers.
We'd like to keep looking at local homes. How can we do that safely?
Currently the best way to view homes is virtually. If you think you have found a home you are very interested in seeing, your next step should be to drive by to make sure you like the location and the placement of the home on the lot. If you are still interested at this point, we will schedule an in-person showing to view the home with proper precautions by wearing masks and gloves.
Anything else to consider with the current real estate market?
It’s a perfect time to sell and buy in the current market. Rates are currently in the low 3% range in most cases (depending on credit), which will benefit sellers and buyers. Even if you don’t buy or sell now, you should seriously think about refinancing for several reasons, including lower monthly payments, lower interest rate, and the ability to skip a month of your mortgage payment when you refinance. This could help you financially to get some relief during these hard times.
As of right now the market seems to be leveling out, and we are not seeing prices decline. If this situation goes past May we could see prices change, as consumer confidence may change. Definitely reach out to us for more market specific updates, since these trends vary depending on location.
Kevin Correia is the team leader and head listing agent for Team Correia, which is powered by Keller Williams Realty-Merrimack Valley. They are located in Lowell at 665 Rogers St on Route 38 near the Tewksbury Line. Currently they are offering free virtual buyer consultations with our buyer’s agents as well as virtual listing appointments for anyone looking to sell a home. Team Correia has over 14 years real estate experience, and Kevin has over 13 years of banking experience as well and can help advise on many financial situations. They have sold over 200 homes and are highly experienced in all types of residential real estate transactions, including real estate investing.
Contact Kevin Correia at 978-866-7368 with any questions.
Connect with us on all social media platforms at www.connectwithteamcorreia.com
Email us at teamcorreiarealestate@gmail.com
