If you are like me, you cannot wait for 2020 to be over and gone and have visions of life getting back to a more normal reality. Of course, it will take some time for that to happen and with the prospect of new vaccinations on the horizon we can start to plan to breathe a little easier. So, with hope on the horizon, what are your big goals for 2021? Are you going to get back into the full swing of things or take to heart some of the lessons we learned in this challenging year and finally slow down, take some time for you and your family and live a less hectic life?
Did you put off buying or selling a house this year? You were not alone. Many people decided to wait to sell their homes during the chaotic time. Keeping your house picked up and show ready is already a challenging job but when you have strangers coming through during a pandemic it can be terrifying. You take all the precautions to keep you and your family safe, but you have little control over people who view your home. Agents have done an excellent job in informing sellers, other agents, and buyers of safe protocol and that helped a lot. Some sellers opted for limited showing times to minimize exposure and allow them to deep clean and sanitize to maintain a safe environment for themselves and family. All in all, the public was understanding and willing to abide by the seller’s wishes and that was greatly appreciated by all.
If you were on the buying side, you may have felt uncomfortable entering people’s homes through the pandemic even with safety protocol in place and that makes sense. If you did not have to buy and move, you had the luxury of hunkering down in place and waiting for better times. Our local market has been crazy with homes selling in record time and above their listed prices. The pandemic did not help our local builders as many had to shut down or significantly limit the number of “trades” in the house at one time adding delays in schedules and completion times. Other factors were severe shortage of building materials and hopefully with the end of the pandemic in sight, production and availability will improve.
So, is buying or selling a home in your 2021 goals? I would appreciate the opportunity to visit with you, learn of your goals and see how I can help you realize your real estate goals. Let’s have a discussion about home values whether you are buying or selling to make sure you have the latest and greatest information in order to make an informed decision.