Cash vs. Financed Deals Is 21 days enough time to buy a home? If two of those days are a holiday (Dec. 24 -25) AND the Buyer needs a mortgage . . . almost certainly not. That’s because, with a financed deal, it takes at least 10-12 business days just to secure a mortgage. In...Read More
Wait a second! Aren’t there still almost three months left in 2016? Not if you’re contemplating buying or selling a home — at least, if a mortgage is involved. Then, the window to complete a deal this year is rapidly closing. That’s because the typical lag time from consummated Purchase Agreement to closing is 6-8...Read More
April Deals Bring May (& June) Closings If you assume that mid-April is the peak of the Spring housing market (correct most years), and that the average lead time to close a home purchase is six weeks (true), that makes the peak for closings . . . right now. In fact, when the last day of the...Read More
Benign (and Not So Benign) Explanations The benign explanation for why there’s a “For Sale” sign in front of a home, but it’s not formally listed on MLS, is that there’s a brief timing difference. The sign installation companies typically show up anywhere from 3-5 days after receiving an order, and can be behind schedule...Read More
Frozen in Place “For Sale” Signs Given the still-slow pace of new listings this Spring, you might guess that the lead time to have a “For Sale” sign installed would be unusually short. Wrong. It turns out that, due to this year’s unusually cold winter — there’ve now been 50(!) nights below zero in the...Read More
Want to Be Ready for Spring, 2012? Start Now One of the questions that can come up when you list a home that needs significant updating is, “If we buy this home and put $50k — or $250k — into it, will we overshoot values on the block?” Fortunately, when a $1 million-plus new...Read More
