24 Offers In 24 Hours & 300 Attendees At An Open House -- Today's Real Estate Market Is Going Gang-Busters

In an effort to learn more about the “doings” of the Greater Boston real estate market the other day, I spent about 30 minutes with Medea Palandjian of MedeasHomes.com. Medea is a top agent for Century 21 Commonwealth of Watertown.  I chose Medea as this area's resident expert because she just returned from Century 21's top agent regent about a month ago.

After talking with Medea, I feel fully confident that this article/blog post is going to validate just how crazy the world of local real estate acquisitions are right now in the Greater Boston area. According to Medea: Belmont, Watertown, Newton, and Arlington are all seeing record highs being hit these days!

So if you are in the market for buying a home, or selling a home, you’re going to want to "eat up" every single word of this article from this point forward. 

Because the number of cash-in-hand, prequalified buyers running around this area is off the charts these day, I asked Medea to give us some of the facts that won't be released for another month or so to the general public. (The facts below will be posted to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) soon.)

• Since February, Century 21 Commonwealth has seen 18 of the 20 properties that were listed by all associated agents go under-agreement in less than seven days.
• An even more shocking statistic is that the selling prices on those same 20 homes has sold for an average of 5% over the asking price. In some cases, the selling price has been as high as 20% over asking price.
• As for the open-houses for each of these 20 homes, they're seing an average crowd of 75… sometimes, over 120 potential buyers have toured.

As for one of Century 21 Commonwealth's newest listing, a multi-family home in Watertown; Medea stated that just over 300+ attendees showed up to view it this past weekend.  Guess this takes "He who hesitates is lost" to a whole new level now doesn't it?!... 

“There’s No Better Time To Test The Uncommon”

Obviously, there’s a lot to talk about in the real estate world these days.  However, and, in an effort to bring those looking to buy a home from from clutter to clarity quickly, I had asked Medea to share 3 house hunting tips that could make a world of difference for those looking for the next place to rest their head.

1. Buyers need to be prepared with a stern offer - Being basic simply isn’t “cutting it” right now.  With the erratic purchasing patterns of the last 2 months, MANY real estate agents and their buyers have become frustrated with a lack of supporting comparables and available inventory -- no offer is a great offer anymore -- cash has become king!
2.  Be prepared for a bidding war- If you need even more evidence that there is NO BETTER time than now to sell a home, I asked Medea to share a story that would illustrate just how tough times are right now for buyers.
   
   "I recently had a client offer $25,000 over asking price for a home in Belmont.  I thought that would be good enough... But as a deal-strenghtener, I suggested that theyalso put 35% down just to be safe....  I was shocked when the agent told me that we weren't even close to being considered -- it's become a game of go bold or go home."
3. If you’re “on the fence” about selling, just list your home already - Average properties are selling for unearthly prices right now.  This is why it’s MORE important than ever that you work with an agent who knows how to handle the turbulent times of today’s marketplace.

In conclusion, the spring season typically sees the most amount of sales transacted in the Boston/Metro-West area most years.  So, if you are looking to buy or sell in the next 90 days, I strongly recommend you consult with an innovative expert that has been there and done this before. 

Best of luck and happy house hunting,

~ John Gosselin
Local Marketing Expert