LET’S SPRING INTO ACTION!
Three’s a Charm
The number three was profoundly significant in Greek philosophy because the Greeks considered it the perfect number. To them, three signified harmony, wisdom, and understanding. In the Bible, the number three relates to the Holy Trinity, where three is shorthand for wholeness, perfection, and wisdom. In numerology, three correlates to self-achievement, creativity, and self-expression.
Three is important.
I am… not quite so high-minded here at the Glennda Gazette. To me, sometimes three just reminds me how many ex-husbands I have. But regardless of how anyone interprets the number three, I’m delighted to bring y’all this third edition of the Glennda Gazette.
This week, we’re covering all things spring because spring is most often considered the peak time to buy and sell. I mean, homes sold in May net a 12.6% premium (the amount above a property’s market value), as opposed to the 9.2% you’d see just days before in April, or the October low of 5.2%. Spring is a time for rebirth, rejuvenation, and re-listing.
Traditionally, spring is the perfect time to sell a house…or three. Because three is a magic number.
P.S. If you remember the video below, it’s time to add retinol to your skincare regime.
THE REALITY OF REAL ESTATE
It’s a Jungle Out There
Buckle up, buttercup, because real estate has been on a roller coaster ride lately with the one-two punch of rising interest rates and escalating home prices. Spring has always been the real estate agent’s ace-in-the-hole, with families anxious to buy, sell, and resettle before the school year starts in the fall. But this year, it’s tough sledding out there for first-time buyers, who are having to resort to all-cash and over asking price offers and still losing out on homes. And don’t even start me on how Wall Street is keeping buyers out of the market.
But per Danielle Hale, Realtor.com’s chief economist, there’s one particular group of homeowners who aren’t impacted by the twists and turns in the market right now. In an article by Andrea Riquier, Hale explains, “Older seller-buyers, who are likely to have a smaller mortgage balance and greater equity, are less likely to report feeling locked in and also more likely to report that they need to sell anyway. This is likely to mean that older households will continue to play a prominent role on both sides of the home sale transaction in 2023.”
So, for anyone struggling with the current market realities, perhaps the answer is just as simple as talking to your Nana. If she’s not downsizing yet, she’ll know which of her canasta buddies are.
@glenndabaker I’m selling houses today for original homeowners who started with an interest rate of 18%… She told me when they bought that house it took… See more
SUGAR & SPICE REAL ESTATE ADVICE
‘Tis the Season?
Sometimes the very best advice is to simply wait a beat if you’re not entirely sure about making a move. Right now because it’s spring, everyone’s asking, “Should I be selling?” (And I’ll cover that more in my Once Upon a Time section). But really, only you can answer that question. Below, I go deeper into the Austin Lakes example of what can happen for the homeowner who opts to stay put a tad longer.
@glenndabaker The “appreciation” in some areas… doesn’t seem sustainable to me. But I certainly hope it is! #GlenndaBaker #RealEstate #AtlantaRealEstate… See more
ONCE UPON A TIME WITH GLENNDA
Is Spring the Right Time to Sell?
People ask me all the time, “Glennda, when is the best time to sell my home?”
Now, spring and summer are better times versus fall and winter to sell, if the selling season is dictated by an amazing school district. And, ultimately, homes look happier and they show better in the spring and summer than they do in the fall (and especially in the winter).
There’s little more satisfying as a homeowner than making the detritus of months of snow and salt disappear, replaced with colorful flowerbeds and budding fruit trees. Drive down any suburban street in America the minute it hits sixty degrees and we’re all out there power washing our driveways and cleaning our windows. Nothing sounds more like spring than the hum of leaf-blowers and lawn mowers. Between the birds and the landscaping, spring has the most distinctive soundtrack of all the seasons.
Spring is when we feel compelled to tidy, organize, and clean out what we don’t want anymore, and there are long-rooted cultural traditions as to why. The tradition of cleaning in the spring dates back more than 3,000 years. Traditionally, Persians would participate in something called a “khaneh tekani,” which translates roughly to “shaking the house.” In Persian culture, they believed that sweeping, dusting, and culling clutter would keep them protected from bad luck in the coming year. Passover is also in the spring and the Torah dictates that no one can have traces of leaven in their home, and that’s yet another root of our collective imperative to want to tidy up on the first sunny Saturday.
So, there’s a natural inclination to want sell in the spring, because typically the springtime is when we get our home in picture-perfect condition. This works well for the market because every buyer wants a shiny new penny.
Because spring tends to be the time when our homes are in their most perfect condition, that lends itself to you getting your home on the market, putting its best face forward. I like to call spring the glamour shot season of real estate.
But with all of that said, the truth is, the very best time to tell your home is when you need to sell it!
Even covered in snow and ice, this place would be a beauty.
REAL TALK
Surprise, It’s a Double-Header!
Nothing makes me happier than to help y’all out. So I am pleased as a pig in a puddle to have received this question, largely because it comes from my guru this week, Stacey Stambaugh of Kentwood Real Estate Cherry Creek (Denver, CO).
If you could go back thirty years and tell new agent Glennda what to do, what would that be?”
Thank you for your question, Stacey! And it’s a shame you don’t have a time machine, because I know I could have made that thirty-year-younger Glennda far more successful, far sooner.
First, I’d tell Baby Glennda to preview five houses a day, five days a week. Then, I’d have her call the listing agents and get information that is not in MLS. What better way to show that she’s the expert, possessing the details that other agents don’t have? I’d make sure she takes copious notes when she chats with those agents. That way, when she’s out and about in everyday life and has the opportunity to talk to someone in her community about real estate, she has intimate information of the listings. Information they won’t find online, and that can make all the difference. (I might introduce her to retinol products sooner, too.)
GLENNDA’S GURUS
Learn from the Pros!
My name is Glennda Baker and I only give amazing advice. But mine is just one perspective. Sure, I’ve been selling real estate since Jesus was a baby, so I know a lot, but I don’t claim to know it all. That’s why I feel so blessed to offer access to Glennda’s Gurus.
I am thrilled to introduce y’all again to this week’s guru, Stacey Stambaugh.
Stacey’s a 3rd generation Colorado native, who grew up with an overwhelming sense of pride in her state. She entered the industry in 2006, and her combined experience in managing and selling real estate in Denver/the Denver metro area gives her an unparalleled knowledge of Colorado and its real estate market. She has a proven track record of exceptional marketing, negotiating, and creating innovative solutions to meet her clients’ goals. The key to her success comes from her driven personality and her client-first approach, with insistence that each client be treated like she herself would want to be treated.
Believe me, Stacey is such a pro and I could not be more delighted to have had the chance to sit a spell with her!
Thank you, Stacey—you’re such an inspiration!
GLENNDAISM
From My Lips to Your Ears
The road is paved with dead squirrels that failed to make a decision. Don’t be roadkill.”