Thinking About Buying or Selling on Your Own? Think Again.

You’ve heard it time and time again; the current real estate market is hot and its a great time for homeowners to consider to cashing in and selling their home if they haven’t already taken the leap. Buyers are also taking advantage of the record low interest rates despite the competitive conditions created by low inventory. This has created a fast moving market with many moving pieces to consider when partaking in the transaction process. Some home buyers and sellers make the choice to attempt to fly solo on their transaction to avoid paying a commission to a real estate agent, but many find out the hard way that now is not the time to go that route.

According to the National Association of Realtors, “FSBOs accounted for 8% of home sales in 2020. The typical FSBO home sold for $217,900 compared to $295,000 for agent-assisted home sales.” That’s nearly an $80,000 difference; much more than the owner would have paid their agent in commission had they listed and sold with an agent.

ERA Team VP Real Estate Agents also have some insight regarding the topic. According to Jerod Zahn, top producing Licensed Real Estate Agent with ERA Team VP, “Most sellers are purely thinking profit. They’re number one complaint is paying commission. They have a hard time grasping that when offering their property for sale to only their ‘private market’ they’re missing out on an opportunity to offer to the entire world. The small traffic they produce from minimal marketing will miss thousands of qualified home buyers.”

Denise Whipp, ERA Team VP’s Director of Agent Support and Associate R.E. Broker also notes, “Stories of how much people and making on their properties with multiple offers does make it sound easy but it’s actually even harder to navigate the process under these crazy market conditions. Pricing is harder, the handling of multiple offer, buyers having remorse, etc. makes things difficult. You shouldn’t go it alone! Agents are more valuable than ever!”

Deryle Pinney, Licensed Real Estate Salesperson with ERA Team VP, adds, “Real Real Estate agents have access to the most up to date information & availability of properties & have a legal obligation to be fair & honest where many websites do not.

When discussing whether a home buyer or seller should use an agent or not, Tonya Studley, Licensed Real Estate Salesperson with ERA Team VP simply asks if the buyer or seller has experience in all of these areas: inspections, negotiations, appraisals, closing details, warranty, disclosures, escrow, contract contingencies, mortgages, surveys, repairs, and much more. If not, then the answer is pretty easy!

In summary, here are the top reasons to use an agent in today’s market, whether you’re buying or selling:

If you’re interested in learning more about the real estate market in your area, or thinking about buying or selling a home, visit www.erateamvp.com.

A Look at the 2021 Real Estate Market So Far

Its no secret that the pandemic has taken a toll on many industries; some for the better and some for the worse. The real estate market has been no different, but the effects have been much different than what most expected at the start of the pandemic. Let’s take a look at some stats outlining figures for January-June 2020 in comparison to the same figures for January-June 2021 in Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Wyoming, Warren, McKean, Allegany, and Erie counties.

Its interesting to see the average sale prices of homes significantly increased across most of the counties in the report. For example, there was an average YoY increase of 31.81% in the average sales price of single family homes across New York counties (Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Allegany, Wyoming and Erie), with Cattaraugus County seeing the largest increase of 55.76%. Notably, the town of Ellicottville, which is one of Cattaraugus County’s largest vacation home markets, saw an astonishing 105.72% YoY increase in average sales prices of single family homes which was a major contribution to the county’s large increase.

The Pennsylvania counties also saw a spike in average sale prices. McKean County had a 31.90% YoY increase in the average sale price of single family homes, while Warren County had a 23.07% YoY increase.

When it came to the average number of days on the market, each county saw a decrease, meaning homes sold quicker than they did this time last year. The largest decrease took place in Allegany County, with the number of days on the market decreased by 32 days. Take a look at the stats for all of our New York counties:

The Pennsylvania counties saw an even more dramatic difference! In McKean County, the average days on the the market fell by 113 days in comparison to 2020, while in Warren County, the average was decreased by 63 days; proving once again that homes are selling much more quickly than this time last year.

Its very apparent that the overall trend in all markets shown is that homes are selling for more money in less amount of time, creating a great time for homeowners to consider listing their home for sale. Of course, this does create a much more competitive market for buyers, but with the help of a knowledgeable real estate agent and solid financing, buyers can still get into their dream home. For more information about the current real estate market, contact ERA Team VP today!