Happy 2021 this is Gina Madeya, Windermere Yarrow Bay with January's Market Minute. It goes without saying that 2020 was unprecedented for many reasons. Despite the global pandemic real estate activity in our area remained undeterred. Spurred by historically low interest rates and an increase in buyer demand, we had a record year.

According to the Northwest MLS, in December, brokers sold over 9,000 residential homes and condos for a combined total of 5.47 Billion. This represents a 27% increase in the number of transactions and a 43% increase in the total dollar value of sales from a year ago. On the East Side, 49% of listings sold for above their asking price while in Seattle 34% of all sales sold for above their list price. While this makes it difficult for buyers in this market, it's a great time for sellers!

Now is a great time to sell because:

• Pent-up buyer demand and a later-than-usual hot market shows no signs of slowing and potentially will increase as vaccine rollout continues

• Low inventory might make homes more desirable, even if they don’t have all the bells and whistles

• Combination of low rates and inventory has resulted in unprecedented buyer interest, meaning more buyers are out there with not enough homes to go around

• Flexible work-from-home policies have resulted in a desire for more space including multiple home offices and buyers are willing to compete to get it

But if you’re concerned about how to pay to prepare your home for market, let our exclusive Windermere Ready Program provide funds to get that work done at no cost to you! Exclusive to Windermere East Inc offices, this program provides up to $50,000 at no cost to you to cover everything from major repairs, deep cleaning, painting etc. to make sure your home is set up for sales success.

(In the video) These before and after pictures show how one of my recent sellers took advantage of this program to help his previously rented and tired looking rambler become the cat's meow, commanding multiple offers and selling for 5% above asking price. He used these funds to paint the interior & exterior, install new carpeting, doors & trims as well as stainless appliances.

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐄𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐈𝐧𝐜 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠.

425-495-0926 - ginam@windermere.com