Des Moines House Selling Specialists

Real Estate Consultants in Central Iowa

More Motivated Buyers Plus Less Competition Means More Money for You!

House Selling Strategy

I have been having a certain conversation over and over again, so I thought it might be on some of your minds as well. I am told: I am just going to wait until the Spring to list my house.

Here is why you might want to reconsider that. Right now mortgage rates are still incredibly low. I feel like I have been saying for years now that they have to go up eventually. And yet we are currently at 3.44% as the average national rate for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage according to www.BankRate.com. The same website puts the 15 year fixed rate mortgage at an average of 2.72%. That is lower than inflation. There are a ton of buyers out there right now who want to take advantage of that.

As of the writing of this (October 26th), there are currently 3384 houses listed for sale on the Multiple Listing Service. That is a dramatically low number. Pendings are at 2117 houses that are currently under contract. If you have been reading my previous posts, that means that out total inventory has gone down 6% in the since late July. (5,501 as of today, 5,791 as of July 20th)

So, does it make sense to put your house on the market when you competition is going down (the inventory trend has only ever been downward from now until January 1st in the last ten years) and your buyers are more highly motivated? Or does it make sense to wait until Spring when your competition greatly increases and you have no idea where interest rates will be?

If you, or someone you know, are interested in taking advantage of these facts you can find me at RyanLynch@KW.com or 515.639.0047. I would love to show you what working with an agent who actually pays attention to all of these factors and more can do for you. Call me today.

~Ryan Lynch

How to Pick a Comparable Property

Choosing Your Comps

A couple of posts ago, I spoke about finding out if you are in a Buyer’s Market or a Seller’s Market. I had positive responses to that, so I thought I would go into other indicators for pricing your house for sale. The prime one that people know is comparable sales. Meaning houses that are very similar to yours that have sold recently. Here are the primary criteria that I use:

  1. Within one-half mile of the subject property
  2. Within 100 square feet of the subject property
  3. Number of Bedrooms/Bathrooms
  4. Style of House (Ranch, Two Story, Etc)
  5. How long ago it Sold (up to 6 months preferably)
  6. Number of Garage Stalls
  7. Age Range from the subject property

From there, you can go deeper. You could look at is it a brick house or does it have siding. You could look at size of the lot. You could look at basement finished square footage.

All of these are ideal. In order to find enough comparables, sometimes you need to extend. Where I tend to primarily extend is up to a mile from the subject property, and up to 200 square feet from the subject property.

When you can find enough comparables to get some solid data, you are at a very good starting point for pricing the house. After that, you can look at what type of market you are in, what is your current competition, how quickly are your competitors and comparables selling, and much more.

Knowing how to price your property correctly helps me get your home sold faster, for more money, and with you in more control. By that I mean, who has a stronger negotiating position: the person whose house sells in days, or the person whose house sells in months?

If you want to be in the best position possible when selling, or you know someone who does, contact me.

~ Ryan Lynch

Everyone Wants a House

Our year continues to go strong. As of today (9/8/2016), the 30 year fixed mortgage rate nationally is 3.56% (according to www.BankRate.com). The 52 week average has been 3.84% (also according to BankRate.com). That means that rates are still at some of the lowest points they have been in the last year. Buyers are out in force still. Houses are moving. If you are thinking about buying, you are getting some of the cheapest money in the last 30 years, and that is really saying something.

If you are thinking of selling, right now is when people start to self-eliminate themselves. They think that nothing sells during the Fall and Winter, and so they will wait until next Spring. So let me ask you: what sort of a position does it put you in if you have buyers out there hunting for homes in record numbers, and less sellers to compete with?

I have been talking with several people lately that were considering putting their house on the market for $5,000, $10,000, and even $20,000 less than the market would bare. If you would like to know the true value of your house, I am happy to help. You can reach me here.

~Ryan Lynch

A Basic Way to Know Your Market

Des Moines Housing Market

I aim to give my clients as much information as possible to help them make the most informed decisions possible. I have received A TON of training and coaching in my field, and I believe that passing that information along is a value add to my clients. I don’t tell them every single factor I put into finding the market value of a home, because some things would just not be worth taking the time to explain unless they themselves wanted to be a realtor.

One of the things that I always do though, is find out what type of market their micro market is. Every time that I evaluate a house, I look at the micro market of that house. By that I mean I look at a mile radius around that house. This is standard for most appraisers when they are working to find value, so it is the measurement that I use. Within that mile radius, I look at the number of houses that are pending and sold, and the number of houses that are active.

Here is an example:

Let’s say you have a house that has 18 houses currently active within one mile of it. In the last year, 97 houses have sold within that one mile radius. The first thing that I need to find is how many houses sold per month on average. 97 (total sales) divided by 12 (months) is 8.08 houses sold per month on average.

With 18 houses currently for sale, I can divide that number by 8.08 (monthly average) to find that there are currently 2.23 months of active inventory. This means that if no other houses came on the market, and the average (8.08 houses sold per month) stayed the same, then all of these houses should be sold in 2.23 months.

Then I just need to know:

0-4 months equals a Seller’s Market

4-6 months equals a Balanced Market

6+ months equals a Buyer’s Market

Now I can look at this house and say that they are in a strong Seller’s Market and that their competition right now is relatively low. That adjusts how I price them. This is just one factor in pricing. If you are interested in knowing the price of your home, reach out any time.

~Ryan Lynch

That’s a Great Number!!!

Lynch Sells Homes

I was running numbers for my business and my performance, and I was pleasantly surprised. My average list price to sale price for 2016 up to July 31st is 99.6%. That means that if I was to list a property at $100,000, I have gotten my clients $99,600 on average. This is up from my ratio in 2015, which was 98.3%. On top of that, 41% of my listings this year have sold at or above list price.

I focus on getting better and better for my clients. Last year, education and training were my second biggest expense in my business. That will be true again this year. This is because I want to serve my clients to the highest of my capability, and my capability can always go up.

So today’s post is short and sweet. If you want to get your house sold for the most amount of money, I will put my knowledge and experience to work for you.

Call me at 515-639-0047 or email me

~Ryan Lynch

Know Your Numbers

Real Estate Numbers

Watching the numbers is critical for understanding your strategy when buying and selling a home. Two numbers that I have been very interested in as of late are active listings and pending listings. Allow me to explain.

Active Listings are listings that are on the market, and anyone still has the chance to purchase.

Pending listings are houses that are on the market, and another party has put it under contract, saying that they have the intent to purchase (or close) on it.

As of this writing there are 3,287 active listings in the Des Moines Multiple Listing Service, and 2,504 pending listings.

A couple of things to note with these numbers: The first is that there are about the same number of active listings as two weeks ago, and about 150 less pending listings as of two weeks ago. This tells me a few things:

Things are moving toward slowing down. Having a pending number that close to active is crazy. Usually a house is only pending for 30-45 days. That means in the past 30-45 days, probably about 80% of those houses sold. Losing 75 houses per week on average means that buyers are out in less force, and (according to history) will only continue to be this time of year.

So if you are a buyer and frustrated with how fast houses are moving, the good news is that the market is trending your direction. If you are a seller, it means that less houses are coming on the market, since the active number is not going up while the pending number is going down.

So what does this really mean to you?

Buyers – The fast market of 2016 is slowing down right now. There is still a higher number of inventory than normal (5,791 versus the norm of 5,000 around this time of year). You will have more time for houses being on the market and you will still have incredibly cheap mortgages. So things are looking good for you.

Sellers – Inventory is trending down, which means that you will have less competition. Great! At the same time, buyers are trending down, which means that you will be competing for a buyer with less of them available to you. My recommendation is to get on the market now, instead of waiting for this trend to continue.

I know that my clients want me to be fully informed. I stay on top of the market, my client’s wants, and what is going on in each micro-market that I work in. If you like having a skilled professional in your corner. You can reach me at 515.639.0047 or via email.

~Ryan Lynch

Find Us On:

Office Location:

House Selling Specialists
Keller Williams Greater Des Moines
4001 Westown Parkway
West Des Moines, IA 50266

We Help You Sell Your House and Find Your Dream Home

Our goal is to help you get your current house sold in less time, for more money, and without all the hassles. This will allow you to get into your next home as soon as possible.