It was fascinating to hear the stories of the multiple buyers who wrote offers on our condo at 123 S Clark PH 4. One buyer is disabled and it’s unusually convenient that our condo is 2 floors with a separate exterior door to the elevator on each of the 2 floors. A second buyer happens to have a grandson who lives on the first floor. A third buyer loves to garden and it’s unusually convenient to have a rooftop deck on a condo where he can garden. Even though interest rates went up and so seemingly buyers’ buying power went down, in conversations with all the agents representing the buyers, the offer amounts were not affected by affordability or increased financing costs. The price shot way over asking with all the buyers vying to go higher and higher to buy the condo.
On our listing at 842 N Mansfield, the owners considered multiple offers before putting their house on the market – from agents who offered a reduced commission to sell pre-market to a developer and from neighbors who knew the house was going up for sale. I was positive when I promised the owners that going on the market, the price they’d get for their house would net them a higher figure post commissions than the amount they’d net from every premarket offer. I actually love when we start a listing with premarket offers because then there’s a frame of reference to measure the value we added and the integrity of our service. I’m grateful that we opened escrow this week and as expected the owners are netting a lot more money from hiring an agent and listing on the MLS.
It’s a rough market for buyers. As buyers agents, the market is so competitive right now that it’s hard to buy a property. It makes sense for buyers to be most prepared by calling around and finding the best lending rate available that gives them maximum buying power since prices are still shooting so high. A lender we like, John Murphy, told us of a 10 year fixed product at 3.5% interest, with no prepayment penalty if a buyer refinances as soon as interest rates go down in the next 10 years. Berel on our team discovered a 3.7% fixed rate on a 30 year loan with stated income (there’s a reserve requirement on it). Another favorite is going to an investment bank where the borrower has retirement or other investment funds as collateral, which makes it super secure and the interest rate lower.
I’m excited for all our sellers who are choosing to sell to take advantage of the current competitive market. I love the process of preparing the houses for sale, and also the journey we take with the sellers from the time they start to think about upending their lives and selling their house to the time their house is sold and their plans for their next house are finalized. The whole process of going on listing appointments to preparing houses for sale to getting them sold makes my soul sing. After 16 years, I still get excited each time as if it’s the very first time I get to live through the experience.
The night of the Passover Seder is my husband Seth’s favorite night of the year. Seth loves the Passover Seder. He owns probably every book ever written about the Haggadah and he’s spent weeks in advance of Passover for so many years reading, studying, and analyzing all the facets of the Passover Seder. He has notebooks where he journaled his thoughts and the points he’s wanted to ponder and to share. I asked Seth at a Passover Seder a few years back why he loves the Passover Seder so much. He answered that it embodies what he values most in life – spirituality + a super strong belief in a high power and purpose, in a setting of an intimate meaningful gathering with family where the agenda is to impart values from one generation to another. This year, having experienced so much that’s out of our control in the world around us in the recent past, we’ve learned that the only facet of life in our control is the feelings we have in our heart: for our values, our beliefs, our attitudes, and the love we choose to shower on the people around us.
I’m extraordinarily grateful to be spending Passover at home. Our homes are such an important part of us. Meaningful experiences are that much more meaningful when they happen in our homes. I wish for everyone’s homes to be filled with love, light, and incredible memories over this holiday weekend!
Xoxoxo,
Sheri