Why Buyers Need to Strike First, Strike Hard & Show No Mercy
Hello and happy Spring!
Like many of you, during the year of Covid, I gained a few pounds and binge-watched too many shows. My recent Netflix indulgence – Cobra Kai - serves as an analogy for the current market. Kiro 7 spotlighted February’s Median home prices across Snohomish, King and Pierce counties with double digit percentage increases. The National Association of Realtors reported a single listing receiving 97 offers. On the Eastside, 65% of all residential listings in February sold for above asking price, for a MEDIAN difference of 12%.
Many buyers can’t even see a home before a seller takes a compelling, early offer. So, what does this have to do with my latest Netflix obsession? Cobra Kai is a series reboot of the beloved 80s film franchise the Karate Kid about two high school rivals who now, as adults, have each opened competing Dojos. When I think about our market, Cobra Kai’s motto is an apt but scary analogy. Their motto is Strike First, Strike Hard, No Mercy. Right now, successful buyers are ones that Strike First by seeing homes as soon as they hit the market followed by Striking Hard with an early offer that Shows No Mercy by including such aggressive price and terms that a seller is persuaded to take it leaving the rest of the potential buyer pool disappointed.
As I did while watching the show I long for these aggressive tactics to calm down and for a more level playing field so the “underdogs” can have their day in the sun and be the victors. But, I don’t control interest rates or the dynamics of supply and demand contribute to our market frenzy. But, I do see three things starting to happen that may bring some balance.
First, buyer fatigue is setting in. Just how many kicks to the head can one buyer take? We are also creeping up against the affordability ceiling. For each home listed at 750 that sells for a million a new baseline is set for the next, similar home where the starting price will be 1 million. At some point, buyers will be up against their financial limit and the rise in interest rates is further impacting spending power.
𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞, 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭, 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐍𝐨 𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝. 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐚 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐝𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. 𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥, 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞-𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮.
Either way, I’m here to help you navigate the market and answer the questions you may have so please don’t hesitate to reach out. 425-495-0926
Call/text or email me anytime! ginam@windermere.com.
