The year 2022 continues the ongoing saga of strange times in the real estate industry, and there are plenty of ways to make your listing stand out in the ever-changing markets. To help you generate as much buyer interest as possible and get your home sold fast, here are 5 trends to help you sell your house in 2022.
Historically High Prices
The common thread through the last few years of high home prices is going to remain the same through 2022. This does a couple of things for you as a home seller.
First, you’ll have an easy time initially pricing your home above any data prior to 2020. Second, with a higher price ceiling, you have more wiggle room in order to price competitively relative to the other for-sale homes in your neighborhood.
Another thing to consider is that with rents going up substantially since the beginning of the global pandemic, more of those diehard renters are throwing in the towel and beginning to give a serious look at buying.
Needs Have Changed
It’s no secret that day-to-day life and work culture has adapted to a new normal in recent years.
Buyers are now looking for spaces in their homes where they can have a dedicated workspace available, if necessary. Another aspect of this change in life is buyers searching for homes where they can blend their family life alongside their work. Parents working from home have been saddled with the task of parenting through meetings and being able to transition seamlessly from one role to the other and back again is now a reality for many.
Speaking of generations, multigenerational households are on the rise as sometimes two or three generations of a family have pooled their resources to purchase a home that will last well into the future.
Highly Motivated Buyers
When the global pandemic first hit, the real estate market saw both buyers and sellers rethink their situations and wait things out to see what was going to happen.
Each spring since then, we have seen the normal influx of new buyers intermixed with old buyers that were around last year but couldn’t quite snag the deal they were looking for at the time. This layover of buyers has built up to a point where demand for homes greatly outweighs supply.
Traditionally, new construction acts as a mitigating factor in balancing supply and demand. However, the increased costs associated with new construction have helped to leave it by the wayside.
Fluctuating Interest Rates
The Federal Reserve has already increased interest rates once this year, and they have begun discussing the possibility of doing it again.
This translates to buyers having more difficulty obtaining a mortgage and then also paying more in the form of interest once they’ve closed on your home. Be prepared for buyers to cautiously tread through the bidding wars we have grown accustomed to, making it potentially more difficult to sell your house in 2022.
Something else to keep in mind is that letting a bidding war get too out of control could spell disaster if an agreed price is way out of proportion to the appraised value of your home. Mortgage lenders aren’t interested in approving a loan on a home that could immediately put them underwater.
Location Isn’t Everything
With the tidal wave of buyers inbound, they know that beggars can’t be choosers. The usual statement of “location, location, location” is being turned upside down as buyers eschew the older ways of looking for their new home in favor of simply finding a home that will fulfill their basic needs.
The selling points of good schools and proximity to shopping still count for something – and should be highlighted in your listing – but they are no longer the end-all-be-all selling point of a home.
Professional Help to Sell Your House in 2022
If you’re looking to sell your house in 2022 in Chicago, contact our team today at 773.233.2301!