I’m going to be totally honest with you. The Charlotte buying market is brutal right now. The selling market is too easy right now. The power differential between buyers and sellers is way skewed to the seller’s advantage. There is no sugar coating that fact. See the problem?
How did we get here?
One of the main reasons we are in this situation in Charlotte is the low inventory. Hence, the freeing up of inventory is just what is needed to create a more balanced situation between buyers and sellers. The problem is sellers who want to sell are terrified they won’t find another house. I get it. However, as scary as it seems seller’s sell and find their new homes every day here in Charlotte. We make it happen.
What can be done about it?
Selling and buying a home in this market requires equal parts a good real estate broker that’s creative, on their toes, ready to strike and a creative and courageous client. Creativity on both sides is what’s key here. I’d like to share a few real life tales of buying and selling.
Tales from the frontlines
My client Craig came to me wanting to sell his home in the very hot neighborhood of Belmont in Charlotte’s 28205 zip code. He had purchased his first home with me as his agent in 2013. It was a small funky updated home in primo locale. Fast forward 2021 and he is ready to scale up a bit. The problem is where to go next? Craig knew he needed the equity from his sale to not only purchase his next house, but to be competitive in the offer process of his next home. Craig and I discussed the options, worst case scenarios, and not doing anything at all. Craig wanted to try his luck with a bit of a conservative bent. We devised a plan to not list his property to the masses. Instead we offered his property as an “office Exclusive” listing that would just be marketed to within my firm. This allowed a more controlled sale while the seller, Craig, imparted his needed terms to sell. Craig sold his house without listing for a great price AND negotiated outside of the sale a rent back from his buyer for a limited amount of time. Craig and I found a fantastic house for him in the equally hot and much sought after Commonwealth neighborhood. Because he had his equity from his house at his disposal it gave him very strong buying and loan power. This was such a success for him and he is due to close next week.
Meet Melissa
Melissa is a smart, young, single Mom that also had a fantastic property to sell in the neighborhood of Collins Park. Her great but smallish mid-century modern ranch was likely to sell like a hotcake, but, like Craig, she needed the equity before being able to buy. She was smart enough to know what she had to do and made some very bold and strategic decisions before she even called me. First, Michelle moved her 2 young kids into an apartment. This allowed her to fully vacate her property. She then called me with questions about updates and what to spend money on in order to get the best return on her investment. This process began in the winter of 2020 with the plan to be on the market by spring of 2021. Melissa stayed the path, chose to completely update and reconfigure a bathroom and initiate a few needed repairs and landscaping. Her proactive thinking not only gave her a house that was ready for a quick sale but allowed us to get the home on the market as she originally wanted. Stella Home staged the property and of course her house sold like a hotcake, as predicted. It went under contract for well over asking and she is due to close this week. Now Melissa is in a fantastic position to be trigger ready for offers on homes.
A growing family
The last tale for now is a sweet young family that needed more space. The house they want to sell is too small for the growing family of three. Not everyone is in a position to be able to make this choice, but they choose to buy first. In order to make this choice and be competitive they had to borrow from themselves from savings and areas of their savings they really didn’t want to but they are banking on the fact their house will sell quickly and they can pay themselves back.
There is hope!
Don’t despair sellers who want to sell and buy. We can figure this out. Give me a call and let’s find a creative solution that works for you!
And if you want to make an offer, here’s a little help to craft a winning offer or the perfect offer letter to help yours standout among the competition.