Summary: With <a href="http://terrystory.com">Terry Story</a>, a 31-year veteran with Keller Williams located in Boca Raton, FL<br> During this week’s Real Estate Roundup, Steve spoke with <a href="http://www.terrystory.com/">Terry Story</a>, a 31-year veteran at Keller Williams, about the state of the housing market amid the coronavirus crisis. They also discussed interest rates and whether this is a good time to sell your home.<br> How The Coronavirus Is Impacting The Housing Market<br> Clearly, the coronavirus is affecting every area of industry, just in different ways. Terry says that as far as the housing market is concerned, “the biggest impact that we’ve seen is the lowering of the interest rates.”<br> Steve mentioned that many homeowners aren’t looking at the fact that they have an opportunity to save a lot of money by refinancing their mortgage at current interest rates that are at 3% or lower. People can also consider investing in a real estate property. “You borrow money at two and five-eighths and invest it in something that can throw off cash flow for you as an investment property,” Steve said.<br> Terry agreed that it’s a great time to do a refi, or even do a cash-out refi and put some extra money in your pocket.<br> The Issue With Inventory And Buying A Home<br> Housing market inventories are still low right now. Terry reported: “A normal market—or what we call a balanced market —is around six months’ worth of inventory. On a national level, we’re just at 3.1 or 3.2 months’ worth of inventory.”<br> What’s important to understand, though, is that sellers hear about this and think that if they put their house on the market, they’ll get a lot of money for it. But Terry pointed out that sellers are going to get market value for their home, and it’s the buyers who generally determine what that value is.<br> “One can argue that, at the end of the day, buyers buy based on condition, location, or price,” Steve said. Since you can’t move the home, it really becomes about condition and price. Terry agreed, noting that you can enhance condition to match price or lower the price to match the condition. Steve added that there is upward pressure on prices right now because as interest rates drop, the same payments can afford you a more expensive home.<br> Keep in mind, though, that you should still buy a home with a price tag that’s within your comfort range.<br> It’s A Good Time To Sell<br> Price really matters when you’re selling your home. If you overprice your home, it won’t sell. But when a home is priced right, multiple offers roll in, and it sells quickly.<br> “And right now is absolutely the right time to sell your home,” Terry said. “We’re coming into the spring season. We know inventory levels are low, but historically, there’s an uptick of inventory the closer we get to the end of the school season. Sellers could get ahead of the curve by putting their home on the market now.”<br> On top of this, housing starts have increased 9% between December of last year and January of this year. Developers aren’t deaf. “They know there’s an opportunity because of the housing shortage”, Steve said. And there’s a chance that the economy and housing prices may soften.<br> The bottom line is this: It’s a great time to sell. You may have a chance to sell your home at the top of a bull market in home prices. If you’ve been thinking about selling, then get your house on the market and get ahead of the curve.<br> If you’d like to learn more about buying or selling a home, check out <a href="https://www.kw.com/kw/">Keller Williams</a>!<br> Disclosure: The opinions expressed are those of the interviewee and not necessarily of the radio show. Interviewee is not a representative of the radio show. Investing involves risk and investors should carefully consider their own investment objectives and never rely on any single chart, graph or marketing piece to make decisions.
