REAL ESTATE
Seasonal Home Buying in DTLA
Oh , to have a crystal ball …
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It is an interesting time in real estate and that within itself is a great understatement . While traditionally , home buyers and sellers have considered the winter a slow season for sellers , the continued growth in DTLA as well as increased access to real time information have made this time of year as busy as most others .
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DTLA has always been a real estate island . Think back just 15 years ago when the major foot traffic in DTLA was paid for time by the hour . Things have changed and we are in one of the hottest real estate markets in the country . Brand new hotels are being built and opening to support the tourist and convention trade , national retail brands go head to head with trendy pop-ups to lease the retail spaces on Broadway , new restaurants and super cool venues open weekly while the population soars and the limited availability of both rentals and condos tightens .
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Downtowner ’ s will agree that we follow the beat of our own drummer no matter what the topic , but it is hard to move from the facts . Prospective homebuyers locked out of the spring and summer seasonal markets are still concerned with inventory as their biggest challenge , although they still prefer to believe the winter is a good time to buy because sellers are more motivated to sell and more willing to negotiate , or are they ?
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LA LOFTS Realty has been in the DTLA real estate game long enough to see it all . Our post apocalyptic ( real estate market , that is ) sellers have seen profits into the hundreds of thousands of dollars . This has created a listing frenzy , but sellers are still feeling empowered as they watch their neighbors sell quickly and for a maximum return . Imagine purchasing a home in 2010 for $ 150,000 and selling it less than 3 years for 2 to 3 times that amount . I would love to know somewhere else where you can see that kind of return on investment ?
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According to a survey of more than 1,300 visitors to realtor . com conducted from November 7th , 2013 to the November 16th , 2013 , 45 % percent of buyers in the market said there ’ s not enough inventory in their price range . The survey also found that a surprising number ( 19 %) of prospective homebuyers are planning to do all cash deals . This does not make it easy for the rest of us . Unless you have been squirreling savings away in preparation for this market conundrum your chances to win against all cash buyer bids can be difficult . The reasons most often cited for selling a home in winter were seller desperation ! Where oh where have those days gone ? Sellers are feeling confident and buyers are working hard to find their perfect deal .
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“ This summer and spring home-buying season was particularly challenging for buyers , especially first-time homebuyers trying to compete with all-cash offers and bidding wars because of reduced inventory ,” said Alison Schwartz , vice president of corporate communications at realtor . com , in a statement , “ In fact , a quarter of the winter home-buyers revealed they are in the market now because they were unable to find a home during this last home-buying season .”