It's Time to Sell

By Peter Hebert

One generation comes. And another generation goes. And, we are selling our home in Windermere. We have already found our new places in the sun, and are anxious to write the next chapter of our lives.

Our home should be on the market April 28, 2022.

Life Upon Windermere
Almost every new comer to Windermere has said the same thing after being here for one or two years: "We could not afford to repurchase our home if we were in the market today." Since day one, the steady and certain trend in home prices has been upwards. Home prices in Windermere tripled in the few years between the late 1970s and the early 1980s. But that is not the entire story. Home prices in Windermere, in fact, have gone up twenty fold from when these homes were first built in the mid-1970s up to 2022.

The adages are ever true. Real estate is the best hedge against inflation. And, when it comes to real estate, it is all about location, location, location.

Windermere has it all. Pool, tennis courts, playgrounds, and a private section of woods with a creek for hiking. Better yet, it is a planned community with protective covenants, buried cables, and competent property management. Well located near I-270 and I-495 for commuting, close to National Institutes of Health and Suburban Hospital for health care needs, close to great schools and an over abundance of shopping, and just down the road from Cabin John Park, the Potomac River, and the C&O Canal. Superb vineyards are located nearby in Comus and in Middleburg. And, Dulles International Airport is not far away for those getaways to far away places that are only hours away by flight.

The Seminar Guest Speaker
Somewhere in the real estate industry, someone appeared on a seminar stage standing before an audience of eager real estate agents. And, he sold them the notion that to create marketplace frenzy, to induce many more buyers to write an offer and stroke the check with a big number on it for the deposit, a "compelling price" must be offered. And, that "compelling price" is set below market value or at least last year's home price. What followed in the marketplace was a circus like environment resembling the grimy smoke filled auction houses with the barker at the microphone recognizing the bids being raised and the call if he can hear a price a click higher. Throwing red meat off the side of the boat will always attract the sharks to circle and stir up the water.

I have spoken with several real estate agents over the last year in order to gauge the pulse beat as to what is actually happening, and the most disturbing fact uncovered is this: Price the property at twenty percent below market value. And, maybe the marketplace will come forward to bid the property up to full value. And, maybe that will not happen. The fact is discount pricing only makes sense in a market with a glut of inventory. No one needs a licensed real estate agent if they are agreeing to price their home at twenty percent below market value in an inflationary market. All one has to do is put up a for sale by owner sign in the front yard, open the front door, and in this market, say "Come and get it!"

Discount pricing real estate in an inflationary market is a cruel business model that likely robs home owners of net worth, and in fact makes the large numbers in the out matched buying public feel hopeless. This is why I wrote this article.

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