The State of the Market, April 2023

Hi everyone, I’m Greg with Black Dog Realty, it is April 5th, 2023 and I just wanted to touch base with everyone regarding the housing market and give a little bit of an update.

Is now a good time to sell?

You know, a lot of people ask if now is a good time to sell or not, and it actually is a VERY good time to sell. Many people tend to think that, in the current market, it’s not a good time to sell, but it’s a seller’s market. There’s very little inventory right now.  Inventory is very low in Baltimore County, Harford County, and the surrounding counties. Because inventory is low, when houses go on the market, they tend to get many showings and multiple offers. They also tend to end up in a bidding war, and the price escalates and can even go over the asking price, which at the end of the day is very good for a seller. So it’s actually a very good time to sell a home.

Is spring a good time to sell your home?

It seems that a lot of people also think that the best time to list their home is typically in late spring, but what happens is because a lot of people think this, most people list then, and the competition becomes stronger. You want to list your home for sale when there’s the least amount of homes on the market and the least amount of competition, that way, your home listing will get traction.

Just to give you an idea, in the last seven days (March 29-April 4), in Harford County, there were only 34 homes that went active on the market. If you think about the overall size of Harford County,  34 is not a lot of homes. In the last seven days in Baltimore County, 100 homes went on the market, which are very low numbers for this area.

What if we don’t want to move before the end of the school year?

One of the main reasons people can be hesitant to list their home for sale at this time of year is their concern about moving while the kids are still in school. They don’t want the kids to change schools so close to the end of the year.  What we’re seeing a lot of right now is what’s called a Rent Back Agreement. This gives you the ability, as a seller, to sell your home now, to go under contract now, and then to stay in your home until mid-June when the kids are out of school. So if you don’t want to pull the kids out of school, but you do want to take advantage of this seller’s market, you can sell your house now, and we can use a Rent Back Agreement to arrange it so that you can stay in your house until mid to late June.

What if we sell our house and can’t find a new house we want to buy?

Another thing that can hold sellers back when inventory is low is concern about “Where am I going to move to?” “Am I going to be able to find my next house?” The best way to work around those types of concerns is something called a Home of Choice Addendum. What we are able to do is to put your home on the market, get your home under contract with a Home of Choice Addendum, and sell your house for top dollar. The advantage of this is you will know what your proceeds are, you will know how much you’re going to net from the sale, and with a Home of Choice Addendum, you then have, say, 30 days to find the home of your choice and to go under contract on that new home. If, for some reason, you are unable to find your next home in that 30-day period, then the contract will become null and void.

The Home of Choice Addendum prevents the stress and anxiety of selling your house, being unable to find another house, and then being stuck without a house to move in to. It allows you to sell your house now, look for another house in the next 30 days, and then go under contract.  If, for some reason, if you don’t find you next home, the contract for you on your house will become null and void, but it’s a great option to get your home sold now, in this in this great seller’s market.

How can Black Dog Realty help?

Here at Black Dog Realty we can help you navigate this challenging market. We specialize in selling homes for top dollar. We know the ins and outs, we know the way, and we know we can get this done for you. We would love to help you get your home sold for top dollar and we can help you navigate this market, all you have to do is reach out to us anytime and we’d love to help you.